Bowe On Lewis.

Bowe is one of the best boxers to ever use social media.

He goes out of his way to personally respond to nearly every fans comments and is always a perfect gentlemen, i have a lot of time for him.

I also welcome his bravery in finally outing LL for what a lot of the boxing industry always knew but kept quiet about LL's rumoured steriod use which had been speculated from very early in his career.

 

With all due respect how do you KNOW Lennox took PED's? you're stating it as fact as if you are privledged to some behind the scenes information that proves beyond reasonable doubt that he was a user

Its fine for you to have your suspicions and even to air the fact that you think he used them - but you should really clarify what you mean and that you are vocing your opinion rather than fact

(you also somewhat contradict yourself when you say Lewis was a RAMPANT user and yet had a long and successful career at the top of the game - where you state excessive use leads to shortened career and depleted mental capacities *Lewis' career was not shortened and he's mental facalties still seem perfectly fine and he's still as articulate as ever*)

Anyway - as for the question of a Bowe vs Lewis fight - I think its pretty obvious that Lewis would have won and that Bowe and his team were scared of fighting him and tarnishing their money earning potential

As for Bowe beating Holyfield in more convincing fashion than Lewis - yes and no- on the one hand he was able to knock Holyfield out but on the other hand he also lost to him hence the triology of fights. Lewis fought to out boxing Holyfield from range rather than look for the knock out (most likely to avoid a repeat of the one punch KO he suffered at the hands of McCall and later Rahman) but he was a clear winning in both bouts despite a pretty terrible decision in the first fight that was ruled a draw somehow.

 

Lewis's problem wasn't steroid use, it was his fragile chin. Only top level HW champ knocked out twice by second-rate fighters when he held the title - the only one.

Lewis was a great fighter, but nowhere near as great as some claim. The greats just don't get starched by guys like Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman, period.

Lewis is borderline top ten at best, and not even the best HW of his era. He's lucky he never fought Bowe because he'd probably have a third early round KO loss on his record. :nod

 

Why exactly should anyone care that bitter blown-out circus act Riddick Bowe is accusing the fighter he ducked shamelessly of using steroids?

 

Lewis wanted nothing to do with Bowe.

People who don't know any better think Lewis had the rep he has now back then. He didn't.

He was not a feared fighter and he gave Bowe nothing to be scared of.

It was Bowe who was the better boxer back then. Not LEWIS.

 

Exactly, the idea that Bowe was somehow "afraid" to fight Lewis is an utter fabrication, cooked up by Lewis's PR people - and it's been repeated as if it were fact, with no proof.

The reality is, in 1993, Lewis couldn't draw flies to a funeral - there simply wasn't much money to be made facing him in the U.S., compared with taking a rematch against Holyfield.

Rock Newman wanted to take a take an easy defense against a washed up Dokes, fight Ray Mercer for big bucks and then rematch Holyfield. Jesse Ferguson upset that applecart by beating Mercer, so they fought him.

Meanwhile, with time, a Lewis fight would get built up into something more lucrative, as Lewis got better known and regarded in the U.S. And, in fact, after Bowe had lost the title to Holyfield, a fight with Lewis was on the table - basically ready to go. But then Lewis went and got KOd by McCall, and that ended that.

People forget that boxing is all about the cash. We fans may not like that certain fights don't get made, but that's the way it is.

 

And after the lackluster performance he put in against years past prime Tony Tucker should tell ya he would of had a very hard time with Bowe who was boxing like an authentic great under Eddie Fuch.

 

Lewis had a glass chin, but I think he beats Bowe..... Even Hide who probably had the worst chin of that period was able to outbox Bowe for a few rounds, he even had Bowe badly hurt before his Grade AAA china chin let him down.

 

What you on about?

Hide was a big puncher but he ran for his life against Bowe and was up and down off the canvas like a yoyo. Running away avoiding a fight isn't outboxing somebody.

 

Hide won the first few rounds, on his bike or not....

 

Personally I also don't believe Bowe was scared but he was carefully managed and protected when champion by Newman to ensure he took minimal risks hence why his first 2 defences were a joke and his resume as a whole was pretty weak other than the Holyfield wins.

Lewis may not have been the biggest draw in the division then but he was a draw. He made over $8 million vs Tucker, $4 million against Jackson and $8 million against Morrison. So he clearly was a relatively big draw just nowhere near as big as Bowe back then. But he deserved more then the low ball offer of $3.2 million he was offered to fight Bowe or the $2 million to fight on Bowe's undercard.

The purse for Bowe/Lewis then was a guaranteed $32 million while Holyfield/Bowe 2 had a guaranteed purse of $20 million with $11 million to Bowe and $9 million for Holyfield so you are wrong Bowe/Lewis was a more lucrative fight at the time, but of course more risky. Lewis only wanted a 25% split so Bowe would have made at least $24 million against Lewis but settled for less than half that to fight Holyfield again.

 

Zakman, Lewis was in 44 fights, let's say on average he was hit 100 times per fight, so out of 44 fights that's about 4400 punches which landed on Lewis, of which 2 KO'd him. Now also consider that Foreman was down more in 1 fight than Lewis was in his entire career and that puts things in perspective. Boxing is what it is, you get hit cleanly by a heavyweight wit power you're going down, especially if you don't see the punch coming, which was the case against McCall.

You should try stepping in the ring once in your life Zak, instead of hiding behind your keyboard pretending everyone has a glass chin but you.

 

The reality is that there was an agreement that the winner of Bowe/Holyfield would defend the World titles against the winner of Lewis/Ruddock.

Drawing power had **** all to do with it, and even if it did are you honestly going to sit there and say that fights against washed up Micheal Dokes and career gate-keeper Jesse Ferguson were bigger draws at the time than a fight against the #2 ranked Heavyweight who in two rounds destroyed the man many believed the most dangerous fighter in the division and was an old Olympic rival who Bowe had a score to settle with? Bollocks to that!

After beating Holyfield, and Ruddock having been ruined, Lewis was the biggest fight available to Bowe and Bowe fumbled. All he had to do to get that fight was honor the agreement the four men had made, he reneged on it and gave us two worthless title defenses against no-hopers instead - and that's why Bowe will never be regarded as one of the great Heavyweight champions.

 

Just to add to that, he made next to nothing and even had to give tickets away when he fought Ferguson.

 

Perfectly stated! :good