George Foreman vs Riddick Bowe 1997

They were both hella cooked then. Crazy how quickly Bowe's downfall was, he made the right decision to retire as his brain took too much punishment then. Still can't believe Bowe went into the first Golota fight both crazily unfit along with a concussion equilibrium infection.

Bowe after both Golota fights in 1996/97 lost most if not all of his punch resistance then, so I'll back Foreman KO. If in 1992/3, I'd back Bowe points confidently, when Bowe was in shape and in his prime - he was a top fighter.

 

Do you have a source about Bowe's infection ? That's interesting, I never heard it before.

 

Spoke to King Ipitan on Instagram who was Bowe's sparring partner, and did a lot of rounds together for years. He told me some interesting stories, etc including the infection.

 

Bowe by decision against Old Foreman

But Foreman prime will Ko him very easily

 

Ok thanks a lot. If you have others anecdotes, feel free to share.

 

The infection and decline stemmed a lot from in sparring - as Bowe idolised Ali, he wanted to be Ali. He was a god to Bowe. Whilst sparring, Bowe would allow people to hit him, as if Bowe took satisfaction from getting hit (as crazy as it sounds) and would be like "Your shots can't hurt me - I can take them!".

A lot of boxers actually did this in the past, including King Ipitan - Bowe's sparring partner who told me this and this mentality came from Ali. A lot of boxers made this horrible mistake - with the exception of Lennox Lewis.

 

Ipitan sparred with both Bowe and Lennox a lot. In comparison between the two, he said that Bowe was more skilled and technical, but Lennox had the edge in power and Bowe was still pretty damn heavy-handed - just not like 10/10 power in Lennox, Foreman, Wilder, Zhang sort of power.

 

Bowe had brain damage after the beatings he took vs Golota he was slurring his words and was a shell of himself.

Foreman may of been very old but I still favour the Foreman who looked solid vs Briggs rather than the shot to pieces Bowe.

 

It sounds very crazy... But it's natural to some people. I know that in this anecdote, Bowe did it to emulate Ali, but a lot of fighters do take an enjoyment out of getting hit head on with punches. I don't spar often, but I do think that taking punches feels pretty damn good when you're in the game.

I don't stand around and just let people punch me, but I do think that I can kind of understand the mentality.

 

I hate to say it but for some people taking punches in sparring is kind of like playing with a wobbly tooth that hurts a bit but you like the pain in a sense. Also, probably taking punches well gives some people a confidence boost weirdly.

 

Yeah. You kind of feel like a wild beast when you know the guy opposite to you is throwing their best punches and really trying to take you down. Getting hurt makes you feel alive.

 

I will go with George foreman by Decision Win in 1997.

 

I realize that I never responded to the main question of the thread...

I don't see how Foreman could win here, yes, the Bowe of '96 was way worse for ware compared to previous versions of himself, but he was still pretty competitive with Golota and would've whooped most of the world class heavyweights at the time. George was tight with Savarese while Riddick was tight with Andrew... There's no comparison.

Bowe UD.

 

All right, thanks a lot for those great informations and insights.
It's no wonder why Bowe declined so quickly.

Do you know if he ever sparred with other notable heavyweights ?