Greater fighter - Klitschko or Bowe?

Bowe is probably the better fighter prime vs prime but he totally blew his career away. He became undisputed champ with one victory over Holyfield and did not have to unify any belts. Then he didn´t fight Lewis. Although Bowe was undisputed, he was so for a short time and quickly lost his remaining belts to Holyfield. He then won the WBO belt, which was not worth much back then, beat Holyfield once more. After that he totally went down the drain and was ruined by Golota.

Wlad at least has managed to stay the #1 heavyweight for a pretty long time and to regain a belt he lost. He has also been more professional than Bowe (not like he blows up from overeating or dumps belts into garbage cans) and has some years to come to achieve more.

 

Wlad would never have gotten his ass kicked by Golota twice & he never would've ducked any challenge.

 

1. The lists I posted earlier include the names of the fighters that were Ring Top10 contenders. Wlad has beat 11. Bowe beat 5. To be fair with Bowe, his two wins over Holyfield are better than anything on Wlad's resume. But Wlad has much more quantity and makes this a close contest.

2. Too many people blindly glorify Bowe because he was "Undisputed". Yes, he won the Lineal/WBA/WBC/IBF titles after beating Holyfield. But he was a terrible Champion (defenses against Cooper and ancient Dokes) for a short time. Bowe never unified and threw one of his belts to the trash can instead of facing Lewis. Also, the problem today is that there is no Undisputed champion.

3. Bowe was the inferior man in three fights: the second fight against Holy and the fights against Golota. He was schooled twice by Golota. However, Wlad's losses against Purrity and Sanders are worse.

 

Very close poll, but Wlad should win this going away.

I said it before & I'll say it again, if Bowe had so much trouble with Golota's jab & power punching then Wladimir is def. his kryptonite. Klitschko has a better jab & much more power than Andrew. He's faster & has better footwork too.

Bowe is easily the better inside fighter but Wlad would shut that door with his jab.

For the record Lewis beats Bowe much the same way head to head. He would dictate the distance & eventually knock him out.

 

Don't forget Bowe's voluntary defense against Jorge Luis Gonzales. :yep

 

I just watched some of Bowe's films on youtube.com, and I now feel even more strongly that he would have beaten Vlad. However I am still concinved that Vlad would have had an excellent outside shot at springing an upset.

The thing that impresses me the most about Bowe is that he is a huge guy -- same size as Vlad in fact -- with lightning quick hands, fluidity, and overwhelming punching power. Bowe throws power shots from any angle, inside or outside, and this would give him the edge against Vlad.

I don't believe that Vlad could recover if Bowe tags him with a hurtful punch. Bowe hits too hard, and he follows up with too many power shots over the top, underneath, inside and outside. Vlad has never proven that he could survive an assault like that.

I'm not sure Vlad would be able to tie Bowe up on the inside either.

The fact that Vlad's chin is only so-so is a major element in my analysis. Bowe was a strong, fast guy who could come on like a Sherman tank.

Another thing about Bowe is that he is a huge guy who can box effectively from the outside. Although Vlad is superior to Bowe in the long-range boxing/jabbing/tactical category, the difference between the two is not very much here. Thus I'm not convinced that Vlad would be able to enjoy the easy dominance over Bowe that he likes to feel when he is in the ring. This is important to realize.

In Vlad's favor is that there is the possibility that he might be able to take control of this fight early by rattling Bowe with sharp, powerful jabs and heavy right cross follow-ups. It's not inconceivable that this could happen, and if it did, we could be looking at a prime Bowe going down in the same manner he did against Golota several years later. The difference however is that the lethal punching Vlad would finish the job cleanly should this scenario unfold.

Overall, however, I have to favor Bowe here by ratios of 60% to 40% or even 65% to 35%

 

Okay, but by that measure a prime Bowe would never have lost to Purrity, Sanders and Brewster.

 

I would favour Wlad to win. Bowe always had trouble with men of his own size or bigger and, as you said, he has trouble with good jabs and power.

Wlad's chin always makes fights interesting. He could lose this one, but if he is careful and defends himself well, he can beat Bowe.

 

Surely you jest.................:rofl

Best jab at HW since Holmes, better than most Heavy's right hands. :deal

 

Where do you rank Wlad in All Time HW lists? :think

 

Fair enough points but I think Wladimir would keep Bowe on the outside and tie him up or counter him when Bowe gets too close.

 

Top 20 or so right now and Top 10 or so if he can unify without another defeat.

One thing people don't seem to recognize is that it's MUCH harder to unify 4 or 5 belts than it is to merely defeat 1 guy for those belts. A fighter will have to overcome different styles, sizes, techniques & politics to achieve such a feat. That's why we still don't have a unified champion at heavy.

 

I rank him in the Top25. He could be Top12 if he beats five or six more contenders (3 years); it would be great if he unifies another belt.

Agree about the second thing.

 

Good points & Chris Byrd should be listed twice, both were brutal, decisive wins over a very challenging defensive styled fighter.

 

Even from the outside though Bowe might be able to hit Vlad. Remember that Bowe was only an inch or so shorter, and his reach was at least as long as Vlad's. Bowe could box and jab effectively from long range, and his hands are just as fast as Vlad's.

I don't believe Vlad has ever fought an opponent who is as effective from the outside as Bowe would have been.