If riddick had picked up the wba belt in say.. 1980 how long would he have reigned?He doesn't meet holmes despite calls for the two to meet but takes on the wba top contenders of the time. How far would he go? Who would he most likely lose to in that time frame, if at all he does lose? Can he make it through to meeting tyson in 87 or would someone have got to him before then?
That's a surprisingly difficult question to answer. It's unclear how much the Holyfield fights caused Bowe's downfall. He took a lot of shots in those three encounters. Within four years of the first Holyfield fight, Bowe was getting knocked around by Andrew Golota. That said, even before he fought Holyfield, Tony Tubbs gave him a very difficult fight. The Holyfield fights "made" Bowe. I didn't think he necessarily deserved to be in the Hall of Fame, but he got there. I don't think he makes it to 1987 with the title. If Golota could outbox him, a handful of guys in the 80s probably could, too. Again, it depends on how much of a toll the Holyfield fights took out of him. (During the postfight interview after fight three, you couldn't understand a word Bowe said. His words were all garbled.) If he didn't fight those, he may have lasted longer. Good question, though.
That's what got me thinking about the thread in the first place really D. If he hadn't faced the real deal how different his career may have been. There were some tough guys in the 80 s for him to face but how good where they compare to the 90 s men?
had he won the WBA in 1980 his lineup would have likely featured Coetzee, Weaver, Dokes, Tillis, Page, Tubbs< witherspoon and possibly a few others depending on how long he reigned and what fights were able to be made. On "paper" I'd pick him to beat just about anyone between 1980-1986, but in reality I doubt he had the focus and discipline to remain consistent for that long. Hence he probably drops a loss to someone he isn't supposed to.
