Larry Holmes vs Riddick Bowe

I think Larry was too old for a prime Bowe but durable enough to last the full 12.

Bowe UD.

Holmes dominates Bowe prime for prime though.

 

I'm not so sure Tony Tubbs was a lesser fighter than Larry Holmeas was AT THAT PARTICULAR TIME. Tubbs was staying pretty active, he was in good shape(for him), focused, and he wasn't that old yet. Tubbs may well have beaten Holmes had they fought in the early 90's.

 

10-4... Tubbs was still in his early 30s in the early 1990s..... Tubbs was iced by scabbie Jimmy Ellis and Lionel Butler back then, but still a capable boxer when focused... Tubbs was certainly better at boxing then the list of punching bags Larry Holmes was hand-picking for his USA Tuesday night fights during his initial comeback..... No pun intended to the great Larry Holmes.. But I too, think that Tubbs MIGHT have outboxed Larry Holmes at that point...... In any case, due to styles, "Holmes-Tubbs" of 1991 / '92, would've been a tuff fight to call....... Peace.....

MR.BILL:deal

 

Bowe would have hurt Larry badly after the Seldon fight. Bowe had the tendency to be lazy and unmotivated, but when he was interested, he was tough to beat. He was bigger and had an excellent jab to offset Larry's, plus he could fight really well inside, something Holmes wasnt that great at. I dont think the best version of Holmes could ever beat the best version of Bowe, in fact I would say the best version of Bowe, could just about compete with anyone. He had all the tools, with exception of a great chin.

 

I was sold on Bowe in 1991, but I began to doubt my gut feeling about Bowe when he showed up at 246 pounds for his 1992 HBO fight with Pierre Coetzer........ This was Bowe prior to winning the title from Holy in Nov. 1992.... At that point, I knew Bowe had a motivation problem and would be fighting the Battle of the Bulge for the remainder of his career..... In truth, Bowe's peak weight and peak fight was his 1992 title win over Holy in 1992 at 235 solid pounds..... It was a one fight deal....... Bowe NEVER regained that form ever again.........

MR.BILL

Note:

Bowe looked great in 1995 in the low 240s against "Gonzalez & Holy," but he was already looking to wrap up his career by then....... 1996 was a disaster for Team Bowe.....

 

Hehe I wa going to say watch the Gonzalez fight. Futch said Bowe was hungry for that fight and it really showed, but again lost his desire against Golota, causing Futch to finally say see ya. I remember seeing the press conference for that fight, and Bowe was calling him a chump. I knew Golota at that time was going to give him hell if he wasnt prepared. Bowe had all the talent and all the physical attributes to be successful even in todays division, but like so many talented fighters, he lacked the heart and commitment.

 

I guess Foreman wasn't the only one cherry picking in the early 90's, eh Anthony? :hey

 

You are right! Holmes was almost as well-versed at careful matchmaking as was Big George!

 

hmm

 

Interesting choice of words.

 

Mercer was easily better then anyone not a champion that Foreman fought in the 90s.

 

So I guess we're just going to ignore the fact that the best man Foreman beat in his comeback was better than the best man Holmes beat.....Incidentally, why don't we make this a tad more interesting by looking at who the second and third tier comeback wins were for both men.....

Foreman defeated:

-Adlison Rodriguez
-Bert Cooper
-Pierre Coetzer
-Lou Savarese
-Alex Stewart


Holmes beat:

-Jesse Ferguson
-Eric Esch
-Jose ribalta
-Paul Poirer
-Mike Weaver
- James Smith

Conclusion - Foreman's second tier list of comeback wins beats Holmes' significantly. Holme's list had some good names, like Weaver, Smith, and Ribalta, but outside of just shear name recognition, those guys were all shot. Foreman at least beat a few fringe contenders and some prospects..

 

Nice match-up Arriba, my two favorite fighters of all time pinned against one another. I would have to go with Holmes by split decision using his ring smarts. Good fight though.

 

I dont know Holmes fought some tough guys in his comeback, he didnt seem to duck anyone. Tyson, Holy, Mercer, Mcall. He wanted Foreman badly, but George declined. At least Foreman never hid the fact he was cherry picking, but his second career was a whose who list of stationary fighters. As soon as he was matched against a guy who didnt stand in front of him, he struggled. Tommy Morrison, suprise!!! He boxed for the first time in his career, same with Axel Shultz and James Crawford. Didnt take much talent to give the old George trouble.
To me regaining the title the way he did, wasnt the most impressive. Taking an absolute beating for the entire fight and then landing that titanicly slow right hand. I will say he was very impressive in the Savarese fight, he basically outworked Savarese in a very entertaining fight, but then again it was Lou Savarese.