Lewis-Bowe, who wins?

Discussion in 'Classic Boxing Forum' started by Robbi, Jun 23, 2009.


  1. lefthook31

    lefthook31 Obsessed with Boxing banned

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    Jul 6, 2007
    This discussion is a broken record and honestly I dont care to go any further with it, but I will try one more time. Didnt we post the Legendary Nights clip that clearly showed Bowe slurring his words and showing the signs of pugilistic dimentia during BOTH Golota fights? Wasnt it also clear in that clip that Bowe after the first Holyfield fight was convinced by his promoter Rock Newman to go to Africa and do a world tour and was not focused on his training and conditioning? Wasnt it clear that Eddie Futch left Bowe because of his lack of condition and seriousness towards boxing? For the first time in his career wasnt Bowe badly hurt by a reasonably mediocre lefthook that Evander Holyfield landed in the third fight? You dont need to look in retrospect to come to this conclusion. Bowe's lack of conditioning and professionalism started after winning the title. In fact the story goes that Eddie Futch never wanted Bowe, he had a reputation for being lazy always. Bowe kept bugging Futch to take him on. Futch told Bowe he was going out of town one day and that he would make his decision when he returned. He told Bowe to run a certain route everyday until he returned. His decision was made one day when he was at the bottom of the hill on the route that Bowe was supposed to be running. If Bowe showed up, he would take him on. Just as Bowe appeared not to show up and Futch was preparing to leave, Riddick came over the hill. Thats how it all started with Futch and Bowe, and Futch knew he would be wasting his time with a fighter who wasnt serious no matter how much talent he had.
    Going back to the Foreman discussion, Holmes, like Holyfield who I already pointed out, is another example of a talented fighter who was able to fight well past the usual career of a fighter, and technically, was a better fighter than Foreman in his post prime career as well. Foreman was hailed because he could stand in and take a tremendous beating. Foreman wasnt as competitive as Holmes in his fights against the better opposition he faced. He was slow as a sloth cherry picked fighters who would stand in front of him, and the ones that were supposed to stand in front of him could easily outbox him if they tried.
    Foreman was a decent fighter in his comeback, not great, slow, easily outboxed, and to me, more impressive that a man his age with his money would be willing to put himself through the beatings he took in EVERY fight to try and get the win. If a fighter was dumb enough, ala Evander Holyfield, Lou Savarese, and Michael Moorer, to stand and trade with Foreman it made him look pretty good. If they chose to box, ala Tommy Morrison, it made him look like the old man he was.
    Its a joke to assume because Lewis won in the olympics (an entirely different fighting stlye and a controversial ending), and the fact Bowe trashed his belt, that he automatically would have lost to Lewis had they faced each other.
    I "think" at least to me its very clear, that while Lewis remained somewhat sloppy and one dimensional in the early part of his career, Bowe became a more refined pro fighter, who developed an excellent jab and infighting game, and was prepared to fight on the elite level a little quicker, as evidence by Lewis' shaky moments against Frank Bruno and his quick KO loss to Oliver Mcall soon after winning the title.
    Where the speculation and opinions start is when you start comparing the best Lewis against the best Bowe. Again, in my opinion the best Bowe beats Lewis. Because of Bowes style, Im certain the fight would have been like the Klistchko fight or the Mercer fight, where Lewis was in a fight that didnt favor his style and made him more vulnerable. Bowe could do a lot more than both Klistchko and Mercer. He was stronger, had a better jab and could fight well on the inside. Bowe would have made the fight a rough one. He was too big to be stranded on the end of Lewis jab, and his fighting style always had him coming forward with big power punches. If you look at all the fights where Lewis was forced to fight a little he had moments where he was vulnerable even against the most limited opposition. This is how I come to my conclusion, based on what happened during their PRO careers, not some olympic match, or some greed driven move to make more money. Perhaps Bowe's management wanted to avoid Lewis, but Im sure it was more to maximize Bowe's earning potential, especially since the fight with Lewis would only have gotten bigger had both Bowe and Lewis kept winning!