Had they fought around the time Bowe dumped one of the belts in the trash can, who would you have picked? I thought Bowe had it more together skill-wise, where as Lennox was more unpolished and simply depended on that wild, telegraphed right hand.... It's true Riddick enjoyed eating more than training, and his peak time did not last long as a result of this. By the time he fought Golota, he was gone. It's true Lennox lasted longer, but, he wasn't exactly invincible either (getting ko'ed by McAll, not looking good in fights against Bruno, Tucker, Mercer)... Bowe was wrong to dump the title in the garbage and should have fought Lennox Lewis back in late 92' or 93'. I do think if Lewis had one thing going for him against Bowe, it may have been a mental edge. There was something there that Riddick may have been intimidated by. Maybe Lennox's height, maybe the fact that he beat him in the amateurs... I don't know. I just always got that feeling.... your thoughts?
Bowe would've KOed him in an ATG fight. Had it happened around 95 it's almost unpredictable. Bowe was on the downfall and Lewis was improving and due to Bowe's lack of competition (outside of Evander) we couldn't really tell how much he was slipping. After 96 it's Lewis all the way.
I agree, in 92' or 93', Bowe takes him apart. After 95' or 96' I guess I would lean towards Lewis. More because Bowe was pretty much shot at that point....
Not this again... It's such a shame that Bowe didn't have the same confidence in his ability to beat Lewis as many seem to have on his behalf!
Bowe was at his peak. Lewis was stout as well, having easily stopped the dangerous Razor Ruddock. At this point, Lewis had a style where he stood right in front of his opponent. It worked against Ruddock as Lewis got off first, not having to worry about Ruddocks jab (or lack thereof). Bowe had a very good jab and good right hand. So did Lewis. This would have likely been a war. I feel, in hindsight of course, Bowe was more equipped to survive a firefight than Lewis. Bowe by mid rounds stoppage.
Pre-Lewis was a one-handed fighter who wasn't exactly great inside. Bowe was a two handed, superior boxer whom surprisingly excelled inside. If Bowe could have gotten over Newman's interference, or his fear/trauma from the Olympics, or whatever the hell it was he would have knocked out Lewis faster than anybody. Steward-era Lewis wins a unanimous decision...or maybe even stops Bowe in the late rounds (Bowe's heart seemed to exponentially grow the more he fought as a pro). It's a damn shame that Bowe hadn't thrown away his gifts early on, because the Golota-era Bowe would have been beat by any version of Lewis.
