Lewis vs Bowe: Who would have won in the pros?

92 Bowe would of stopped 99 Holyfield 3 times out of 3 without breaking a sweat , but Lewis at his best can't come close to scoring even a knockdown in 24 rounds.

Lewis didn't want to know Bowe when it mattered and thats why they imposed a 50=50 split with options on Newman knowing he would refuse.

 

It is a myth that Lewis was at his best for Holyfeild. Too much is put into what a great fighter Lewis "became" thanks to Manny Stewart. Lewis was a better athlete under 240 and much sharper than Bowe. He was already over that weight when Stewart latched onto him. All Manny did was put white boots on Lewis with thicker soles to make him even taller and got Lewis to jab more. Lewis could already jab. A veteran of two Olympic games, a former champion who needed to learn how to jab? Lewis had some good wins under Manny but he had good wins before Manny too. Lennox stank against mavrovic with Stewart. The point I'm making is when Lewis went to town on Grant and Golota he was not using no sweet science, he was on bad ass mode. Stewart was there but those kind of blow outs did not require his technical imput. In the same mood the younger Lewis was even more dangerous against Ruddock without Stewart. That's how he would have attacked Bowe too. With or without Stewart, Lewis would have been out to make a statement with Bowe and he was faster and sharper under 240. Lennox would have been up for Bowe.

 

Lennox would have been this , Lennox would have been that... There's enough evidence to suggests he wasn't up for it at all and rather found a way to get the belt out of the dust bin.

Lewis loved the dust bin because he put another belt into it to fight Grant instead of Ruiz. He had no problem going to town on Grant because he had watched Golota expose him as a limited fighter who's days were numbered.

Ruiz had the better name and better pedigree but Lewis refused that fight because he wasn't skilled enough to deal with the complex stlye of a southpaw and reports suggest Ruiz dominated him in sparring during the 90's.
Ruiz was also able to achieve what Lewis couldn't and drop Holyfield.

Its no myth Lewis was at his best against Holyfield and Tyson. Those years were his peak. Manny didn't just throw a pair of boots on him , he improved his shoddy footwork , but not by much.

Back before Manny he was getting ko'd cold left and right , going life and death with Mercer and being outboxed by Bruno.

Bowe was in his prime and at his technical best and would of pepperd Lewis like Vitali did and used his own superior insisde game in close.

Bowe had more than just the WBC belt but Lewis wasn't interested. He took his belt from the bin and was happy to call himself the champ.

 

Lewis did not shy away from Bowe. Happy to pick a belt out of the bin? That makes Lennox a coward because he was happy to fight for a belt Bowe disgraced out of sheer petulance?

Lewis had his faults but they were not shying away from fighters. Compare the opponents Lewis sought to build recognition compared to Bowe. Why didn't Bowe fight Ruddock, Tucker, Bruno, McCall, Morrison, Tua, Botha, Mercer, Akinwande, Briggs etc instead of dokes, Ferguson and hide? Sometimes fights just don't happen but when one guy seeks to fight more name contenders and actually meets and beats more of them than another guy it kind of says a lot more than putting a belt into a bin.

Ruiz was never regarded as a better fighter than Grant. The unbeaten Grant was the most hyped contender since Gerry Cooney and was seen as the second coming of the American dream. Anybody who was around then could not have predicted what Lewis wound up doing to Grant. It was a huge win. By comparison Ruiz was exposed by Tua. Nobody was sold on Ruiz.

In fact dispite the mania for Tua these days back then the media made way more fuss about Grant than they ever did about Tua.

Lewis was awkward, never could decide if he was a boxer or a slugger but he could do both. He had so much talent it was like he could confuse himself. But when he decided on a particular role and somebody had got his gander up there are not many fighters in history who ho could have stood in Lewis's way. I pity the man who bad mouthed Lewis like Bowe did.

I am convinced Lewis would have smashed Bowe into smithereens at any point of his career and I say that accepting Lewis was always likely to get caught napping by lesser lights such as McCall and Rahman.

Lewis could handle guys like Bowe. Riddicks best wins were over smaller dudes than Lewis. There is a world of difference between Lewis and the likes of Dokes, Seldom, Hide and mathis junior. Bowe won't have any size on Lewis. Just like Golota didn't.

 

I like Bowe as a fighter and he was more entertaining to watch... but Lewis at his best would've knocked Bowe OUT.

 

Lewis had Bowe's number mentally, however I always thought Bowe would have a decent chance against a pre-Manny Lewis, who was less polished, but would still make Lennox favourite.

 

Yes sometimes we forget how great Lennox really was! All of those wins along with a win against a past it Biggs are very impressive. Lewis could
box safe and eat hard shots like in the Tua fight, totally dominate and break down a feared puncher in Morrison, he turned up the heat on
Bruno after getting outboxed, and imo most impressively bombed out
Ruddock, Golota, Grant, Briggs etc. However if its prime for prime its also
Futch vs Steward. If Bowe was at his peak/prime he was so much
more fluid than Lewis. Bowe had the better jab, better inside game,better
chin, and more heart. Bowe came off the canvas to win and of course the
Golota debacle. As far as the mental edge, Lewis rocked Bowe in the
olympics and won in that amateur system but Bowe wasn't hurt badly
it wasn't an embarrassing loss or anything. I believe Bowe wanted
revenge for a fight he felt cheated out of in the olympic bout. After
one of Bowe's fights there was a confrontation with Lennox Lewis
who I believe was commentating. Bowe commented something to the effect that if they fought in the pros there wouldn't be a ref to save
Lewis. Id give the punching power edge to Lewis but Bowe is right
up there if not equal or greater. In 93 Lewis gets handled and KOed.
Prime for Prime very interesting I still got Big Daddy though
even if Lennox comes out looking to KO Bowe early Bowe had
shorter hooks and would surely catch Lennox as well. Bowe's
chin and heart was unquestionable.

 

Lewis going on to get KOed by McCall and outjabbed by Mercer and Bruno doesn't feel me with confidence he would have had Bowe's number had they met in the early or mid 90s. It would be a brawl that Bowe stands a good chance of coming out on top of. One of these guys is getting knocked out, and I give the edge to the more durable Bowe. I doubt Lewis can Ruddock him, Bowe had no defense but he could fight his way out of trouble with the best of them.

Now the mature and comfortable Lewis of say 98-03, would have had the smarts and ability to outpoint a decently conditioned Bowe on most nights or possibly stop him.

 

His bin-job of the WBC belt to duck Lennox was far more embarrassing than any whooping he'd have gotten in the ring.

 

It's always going to be a fascinating topic, because as we know, this fight could have (and should have) happened.

I believe a fight between the two would have seen them bring out the best in each other. Bowe was the more polished and accomplished fighter early on I think, but Lewis matured and improved as Bowe declined.

I'd favour Lewis, but you never know...Bowe at his best was a great fighter.

 

The WBC were disgracing themselvs behind the scenes in the company of Don King. Holyfield challenged Bowe for the title for a 25% split. Lewis was putting forward 50-50.
That is Lewis pricing himself out and is why Bowe trashed the WBC belt and kept his other 2 belts.
Bowe never made these decisions himself, he just went along with his manger- Newman who was being shafted by King who had it out for him.

Lewis never sought to fight the big names , he hid away in the olympics for a second run because he saw the guys in his path were he to turn pro and when pro he waited till the best guys of his era were fossils before taking the risk.

Everybody and their uncle knew Lewis was going to blow out Grant. His aura was blown away by Golota who kicked his ass before pulling out early. Golota laid out the blueprint and showed Grant and no answer for a right hand. Lewis knew that fight was a cake walk along with most and he dumped his belt to take it.

This is just fanboyism. You are not in the mind of Lewis and can't speak for him. Im only guided by the facts as they happened not 'what ifs'
Lewis was never confused. He knew exactly what he was capable of. Losing both belts for refusing to fight two southpaws proved his talents were not 'multi denominational' like he claimed.
He knew the southpaw style along with being slow and having bad footwork would expose his limitations so he returned to the dustbin where he had started his carrer.

I don't know what this means. Bowe never bad mouthed Lewis and it was the WBC he took issue with in 93 , not Lewis himself.

The further you go the more the tides turn to Lewis but the further you go back the tides favour Bowe , especially the Bowe of 93 under the guidence of Fuch who was a far more technically adept and well rounded fighter than Lewis was.
There is no excuses to be made for Bowe as the years went on and likely there are no excuses for Lews being knocked out. Its just fanboyism and out of touch with objectivey and reality to claim Lewis was 'taking a nap'.
Macall worked in and and laid him out and Bowe who was a better mover at the time than both Macall and Lewis would of done the same.

Tucker was a drug addict who's best years were in the 80's and he took Lewis the distance and made him look foolish at times. Prime 80s Tucker had a very good chance of winning that fight.
Ruddock was limited and was damaged goods after being brutalized in 2 fights with Tyson. He never had a victory of note after Lewis.

There is enough evidence to prove Bowe had no fear of Lewis and the fight was made later but Lewis blew it by losing to Macall.

 

But you give Lewis a pass for dumping and being stripped of every belt he every won.
Why is it embarrassing for Bowe who did it once but not for Lewis who did it 3 times?

 

I'm not sure how old you are but this is complete bull ****. They had a contract a letter of intent in which the winner of the Bowe - Holyfield fight was to fight the winner of the Lewis - Ruddock fight. So if Bowe and Newman wanted the fight all along, all they had to do was honor the contract they signed.

To add to most of the b.s. on this thread, if Bowe wanted to fight Lewis it would have been a dream fight. The two best fighters going at it, one to revenge his Olympic loss. Instead Bowe fights the money making Dokes, and Ferguson (lol), rather than the dangerous Lewis. It was still the best money fight around regardless of terms.

Now looking back, virtually everyone has Lewis at an ATG somewhere between 3-10, and Bowe's fallen off the charts. So this fight should have been made, and it was suppose to happen, but for Bowe and Newman.

And lastly I don't know why anyone would want to compare, and try and favor Bowe in terms of the opposition they fought. You can do all the spinning you like but outside of Holyfield, who was undersized and often was right in front of Bowe, he fought no one of note, save the Golota fiasco in which Golota was winning both fights under he DQ's himself.

Bottom line this was a legacy fight and had Bowe won, he would have had wins over a prime Holyfield and a prime Lewis cementing his legacy, instead he threw his belt away like a coward.

Here's a brief summary of what I was able to google regarding this fight.



HBO wanted to make Bowe vs. Lewis and reportedly offered $32 million to the two sides. Newman initially offered Lewis’s manager $3 million of the total, which equated to an absurd 90-10% split. The next suggestion from the Bowe camp was $2 million to Lewis to fight on the undercard of Bowe’s first WBA/IBF defense (with promise to Lewis to be Bowe’s second defense.) Maloney did not accept, citing distrust that Bowe’s camp had already broken their word once after the Ruddock fight.
Another plan was both Lewis and Bowe would get $5 million each, with the winner to get an additional fortune from the $32 million pot – and the loser gets training expenses.
Eventually, Newman evolved the plan to winner take all of the $32 million purse. Maloney told Newman he would first have to discuss this risky option with Lennox. Lennox eagerly agreed, according to Maloney. The next day Maloney faxed an acceptance of the winner take all option back to Newman. “I never had a word back from him,” Maloney stated in the book “Lennox Lewis Champion” by Ken Gorman

 

Negotiations for Lewis v Bowe is not the same as a contract for a 4 man eliminator.
I don't care how old you are but you have no idea of the exact details. I read a book on this a long time ago and know the facts opposed to people just parroting what they heard throughout the years.

 

The mythical Lewis that exists today is a product of the talent-less wasteland of a HW division of the past 10 years.
Back in the 90s Lewis was no more a threat than anybody else.