If Big Daddy had gotten himself a close decision win over Holyfield in their rematch ..? What If he fought Moorer next? And if successful maybe a fight with George Foreman? How long does Bowe hold on to his title for iyo?
Well, you can make a strong argument he DID beat Holyfield in the rematch. Bowe landed 100 more punches than Evander did in their rematch. I defy anyone to post ANOTHER heavyweight title fight where the reigning champion lost his title in a fight where he threw 100 more punches than his challenger and LANDED 100 more punches than his opponent. It still ranks, for me, as one of the bad decisions all-time at heavyweight. Regardless, if Bowe got the decision against Evander, he wipes out Michael Moorer. It wouldn't have been much a fight, IMO. I'm not even sure if Moorer takes it. Bowe-Moorer gives me Bowe-Seldon vibes. After that, I think Bowe could've put together a pretty strong run, regardless of who he fought. Lennox would've been the only stumbling block in the ring. Bowe's problems were mainly outside the ring. Regaining the title may have given him an even bigger ego. Who knows? The wheels may have come off quicker than they did.
A win over Holyfield in the rematch definitely gives his ego a boost,the loss really hit him hard. If he takes the Moorer fight then I see him stopping him in around 8 . Foreman, maybe dragged in to a war and shaken a few times, gets him self a decision. But I can't see him becoming a long term champ, he didn't have that dedication really long term. Someone would have got him, even if it's that Golota guy..
I think he would have fought Lewis, but Moorer is a strong possibility too since he was a mandatory challenger and already stepped aside for the Holyfield rematch. Maybe Moorer in March and a megafight versus Lewis during the summer.
He goes as long as he can picking and choosing opponents, possibly getting stripped of more belts until he eventually loses to someone
I also felt Bowe won the fight, but there were numerous close rounds that could’ve gone either way. I gave those to Bowe since he was the defending champ. I don’t think Foreman would take that fight. He picked Moorer for a reason. Bowe eventually loses or gets stopped by a power puncher due to his leaky defense. Maybe he keeps a belt long enough for a Tyson fight. I was a huge Bowe fan at the time, and I’m still disappointed we missed seeing Bowe against better opposition (Moorer, Lewis, McCall, even Morrison).
I don't think he would have fought Foreman. If he had, he would have beaten George, although style might have favored Foreman. But I think Riddick was too much for Big George, and Moorer would have been knocked out. Perhaps a fight with Tucker, and again, style wasn't good for Bowe—a tall outfielder with good footwork, but Tony was aging quickly and would have been an easy target for Bowe in 1994. I think he would have fought Mike Tyson in 1996. A healthy Bowe would have beaten Tyson, but Tyson with Holyfield 1 > Bowe with Gołota I or II. But King wouldn't have wanted that fight in 1996.
Well, technically, he didn't lose after the Holyfield rematch. (Even though Golota beat the hell out of him twice.) With a successful defense against Evander, I can see Bowe doing fine for years. Lewis would always be the big stumbling block for him. And, outside the ring issues were always present. Inside the ring, I don't see Moorer or Morrison beating him. Maybe Ray Mercer could get it together long enough to actually get a title shot with Bowe. If Bowe had received the decision against Holyfield in the return, I think the 90s era WOULD'VE BEEN BETTER than it was. Honestly. I think that's a case where people were happy for Holyfield to get the win in the return. But I thought Evander lost. Punchstats definitely support that. And Evander turned around and lost immediately in his next fight. We missed a lot because of the Holyfield win in fight 2, then Moorer beating Evander, then Foreman beating Moorer and vacating everything. I could've done without Shulz, Botha, Bruno, Seldon, etc., if, instead, we got title fights involving Bowe-Moorer. Bowe-Morrison. Bowe-Mercer. Bowe-Tyson. And, of course, Bowe-Lewis.
Following that scenario, do you think Bowe would have bother to unify against the WBC champion (if it weren't Lewis) ?
I don't know. When Bowe was WBA and IBF champ, they played a lot of games with Lewis, offering him 10 percent to Bowe's 90 percent of the overall purse, and things like that. Bowe and Newman had HUGE egos, even in the brief time they had the title. If they had it for years, who knows how bad it could've been (ego wise). It's an intriguing idea.
I scored it not long ago and I had Holyfield winning by a point I thought it was a fair decision and quite easy to score TBH. Bowe won the first 3 rounds. Holyfield won the next 3 rounds. Round 7 was even due to the fan man. I thought Holyfield had the slight better of it in the 2nd half of the fight and won more rounds overall. 1 Bowe 2 Bowe 3 Bowe 4 Holyfield 5 Holyfield 6 Holyfield 7 Even 8 Holyfield 9 Bowe 10 Holyfield 11 Holyfield 12 Bowe 115-114 Holyfield
I had that the exact same. Bowe was controlling the first minute of round 7 with the jab before Fan Man. Holyfield got the better of the round after the delay. I scored it even. Rounds 10 and 11 were close rounds that Holyfield stole with strong finishes. He landed big shots at the end of both of those rounds. That ended up being the difference on my card, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the judges felt the same way. Bowe was having success with the jab, but Holyfield timed the jab perfectly in round 11 with those counter right hands. I kind of forgot until a recent rewatch how hard the 12th round was for Holyfield. He really had to gut it out as he was tired and hurt.
