Lennox Lewis and Riddick Bowe were slightly different eras so it wasn’t much of a missed opportunity

I can see where you are coming from but i have to disagree. Lewis and Bowe were the two best in the world at this time. At the very least, Lewis was a top 5 heavyweight.

Just because Lewis had flaws that hadn't been corrected yet doesn't mean it wasn't his era.

 

No I still think Lewis and Bowe could have had at least two fights and Lewis still goes on to dominate his era.
It's just bad luck that Bowe wouldn't fight him.

 

Bowe retired, and Lewis only then became the lineal champion = slightly different era
If Bowe hadn't retired prematurely, I don't know how he would have avoided the fight with Lewis.

 

They turned pro at the same time. They were the same era. For whatever reason, Rock Newman chose not to make the fight in 1993. I think it would have been a great fight and Bowe would have had a good shot of winning.

 

I agree that their respective primes was at least 4-5 years apart, but I would still love to watch prime Bowe vs pre-prime Lewis just like I would love to watch Lennox at the end of his prime against pre-prime Wlad somewhere in 2001.

Lennox and Bowe however could have met at the time when Bowe was still very good and Lennox was coming up very strong. They have actually signed contract to face each other in 1995 but Lennox was unfortunately knocked out by McCall which killed the fight. That was the short period of time when both were slightly away (Bowe past and Lennox pre) their respective peaks so the result of their fight would be closest to what it could have been had they meet prime for prime

 

Bowe was more developed despite being younger BUT he had a mental issue vs Lewis due to the Olympics. So while i agree Bowe had a very good shot at beating Lewis in 92-93, the fact is his own trainer was concerned about him losing to Lewis.

 

I disagree too.
They should have fought between 1993 and 1996 and both are to blame for it.

 

How do you work that one out ?

They were at the same Olympics and fought eachother.

They turned pro the same year.

Both of their stand out performances that announced their arrival at world level were in 1992.

Lewis may of been in his absolute prime a few years later but Bowe didn't really have much of a prime anyway so it's irrelevant.

 

Spot on. Lennox was actually the number 1 - maybe 2 behind Holyfield, whereas Bowe was the champion - It was the fight to make, and it is the reason why Lennox Lewis does not have a signature win on his record and I'm a fan of both fighters (somehow). Its f***** inexcusable we never saw that fight which would have marked the beginning of a new modern era of boxing with two super big and talented men.

Bowe throwing the belt in the bin was an huge own goal in the long-term, but Lennox was foolish not to accept the SAME money that Bowe himself had accepted/made when he fought Holyfield in the first fight

 

You're suggesting Bowe was better than Lewis based on beating a small Heavyweight in Holyfield who weighed 205 pounds. But that has no barring on how Bowe does in a H2H match up against an elite Super Heavyweight with 1 punch power.

How many legit Super Heavyweights did Bowe beat ? How many legit Heavyweight punchers did Bowe beat ?

If Bowe felt he was that superior to Lewis at the time he wouldn't of thrown his belt in the trash.

 

Jorge Luis Gonzalez was a legit super heavyweight and legit puncher. 6'7" Cuban amateur star was 23-0 (with 22 KOs) when he fought Bowe and look how he demolished durable Phil Brown with a single right hand. The same Brown who went 10 rounds against Bruno without going down. He was also only the second man to stop Snipes. Surely, his pro career turned out to be very underwhelming when all was said and done but I think the main reason of that was a hellacious beating and brutal knockout he took from Bowe. He never really recovered from that.

Gonzalez was very good amateur holding the wins over Teofilo Stevenson, Lennox Lewis and Tyrell Biggs - three guys who won 5 Olympic gold medals in total. He also beat Bowe himself in the amateur. He was excellent amateur and coming up pro, very hard-hitting super heavyweight who got dominated and demolished by Bowe.

Here is video of him putting Bowe down HARD in the amateurs. The guy could definitely punch:

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Ridick Bowe see his weaknesses in two fight with Golota. For him nothing left in HW.
After Golota fights Riddick Bowe would
not beat Lennox Lewis.