Does anyone here rate Bowe above Lewis ?

Bowe was known to have a questionable chin. He was knocked out several times as an amateur. He was stopped by Lewis in the Olympics ... as talented as he was rumored to be the chin and the laziness were major strikes against him.

Bowe was extremely well managed on the way up by Newman. He fought good guys . His trainer, Futch, was exceptional. He surpassed expectations.

The night he fought Holyfield the first time was amazing. Both men put up an exceptional fight. Bombs flew. Bowe's chin held up. However, it's one thing to get hit by Evander. Another to take a bomb from Tua or Lewis ...

Bowe was never the same after winning the title. He was never in the same shape again. He clearly ducked Lewis. It was a major turnoff at the time, seeing him throw the belt into a waste bucket like everyone did not know he wanted no part of Lennox ...

I actually think the Bowe that fought Evander the first time was a great heavyweight that would have been very difficult for many legends to have contended with due to his size, skills and condition. I feel even his chin improved as he did absorb bombs from Evander, Golata and others. I just don't know if he could have survived the initial Lewis onslaught ...

Note: Evander did drop the iron chinned Mercer but it was a body shot that cracked a rib and Mercer did a voluntary knee downm to regroup. A knockdown , yes but not a headshot.

 

Double left hook to the Mercer noggin, as Lampley put it.

 

It's not what put him down. A prior shot cracked a rib.

 

I do accept the fact that Riddick should have fought Lennox Lewis instead of giving up his title.

However, rather than dwell on what could have been, I prefer to remember Riddick Bowe of '92. That was his peak.

I watched the first Holyfield fight today in all it's youtube glory, and it was a really easy fight to score. Holyfield was incapable of hurting him, whereas Bowe was effectively utilizing his uppercut. He was a great inside fighter for 6'5 man mountain, and his jab is maybe underrated.

Riddick Bowe is one of the sad stories in Boxing for me. He could have easily gone on to be more than competitive with any Heavyweight around in the 90s, and perhaps gone down as an all-time great. He had all the tooks, just the discipline he was lacking.

Having read what somebody above put, to comment on Riddick Bowe's chin. It was just average. At Heavyweight, you shouldn't expect to be able to take right hands from people like Lewis and Tua too often. Those who do are special chins, Mercer and Mccall to name two. If Riddick was to hit Lewis flush with a right, I'm sure it wouldn't be easy for him to take and vice versa.

I'm basically saying Riddick Bowe did not have a chin issue.

I'm a fan.

 

Your points are valid . However Lennox Lewis was a terrific puncher capable of big time ko's ... in debating a fight with Bowe, the question of Bowe absorbing some shots is valid especially since Lennox stopped him in the Olympics ..

 

I don't think a lot of posters here have seen any other Bowe fights other than against Holyfield and Golota.

Bowe's career and matchups were very, very calculated.

 

I see it exactly the same way you do. Nice post.

 

hell no

 

Mmm, I think you're right.

It's also worth pointing out that even the Holyfield rematch was seen as a (fairly) easy fight as well...not to mention something that allegedly Seth Abrahams of HBO virtually pushed Newman into accepting after the unimpressed reception to the Dokes and Ferguson fights.

Bowe was definitely of the attitude that, since he'd beaten up Holyfield so much in the first fight, he'd be able to work over the "little gargoyle" even easier in a rematch, especially with Holyfield looking lacklustre in the Stewart rematch earlier that year.

We know how that worked out, and over the years it's become viewed as a dangerous fight for Newman to take, but at the time people thought Holy was past it and needed to retire. Holy did retire for a few months, too.

Imagine what the HW scene could've been like if it wasn't for MC Hammer of all people having a word with Holyfield...?

 

Lewis is a legit higher top 10 HW Bowe is barely in the top 15 .

Lewis carreer wise >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Bowe

Lewis H2H > Bowe.

 

I don't but I think that from 92-95 when they should have fought Bowe would have won. Dumping the WBC belt into the trash can was a huge mistake on Bowe's part

 

Dumping the WBC belt really hurt Lewis's career...though actually you could make a case that had the WBC arranged Lewis vs Tucker for the vacant belt rather than just handing it to Lewis a la Norton that would've been better...but it was a definite case of winning a battle yet losing a war for Bowe.

In retrospect, not fighting Lewis '93 was the snowball that started the avalanche for Bowe's downfall.