Mike Tyson vs PRIME Riddick Bowe Mismatch

What planet are you on? Tyson in his prime was a great fighter but he was not the mythical monster that you seem to think he was.
Tony Tubbs was in nobody's book a top 20 all time heavyweight, Spinks was a blown up light heavy and Holmes was rusty as hell and well past his prime. This is not to decry Tyson who was outstanding at his peak but there were weaknesses in his game that another peak ATG would have exposed. The standard of opposition that he faced was good but not great and when he did step up against other great fighters in the 90's he didn't fare well.

 

Methinks Unforgiven is a bit ironic. Playing around a bit.

 

I see a war. Both were from the same neighborhood in Brooklyn and styles make
******. Great jab and prob the best inside game in Bowe and a perfect uppercut which was proven in the Tucker and Douglass fights could trouble Mike. Never Quit attitude in Bowe and Tyson. Obviously 88 Tyson was incredible and would definitely slip the jab and even outjab Bowe for stretches. Tyson SD or close UD.

 

No i do not but i do think Tyson took more of as hit than evander and was not the same

95-96 Tyson could not teach or even talk to 85-88 Tyson about Boxing

two different fighters

 

How did Bowe handle Tubbs?
and Biggs.....and Golota oh and Mathis too?

Tyson may have bene overrated and had a mythical prime etc etc etc, he lost in his prime etc etc

But what about Bowe? hes even worse, his mythical prime lasted ONE fight. And just four years later he was getting his ass handed to him by Golota.

Bowe was/is severely overrated even moreso than Tyson

 

Bowe and Douglas have hardly anything in common stylewise.

Bowe did not use his height at all, Douglas did, he used every inch of his reach advtanage to keep Tyson away. Bowe would gladly throw away that advantage and try to mix it up with Tyson with some sort of bravado.

Points to consider.

Douglas fought a picture perfect, disciplined fight against Tyson. Bowe NEVER, not once in his career ever put on a disciplined performance ever. I excuse him for the Holyfield fights, because Holy is a tough night for anyone.
But what about his other opposition? Bowe wont 'do a Douglas' because Bowe never 'did a Douglas' at anytime in his career.

What is Bowe known for? his amazing skills? no, hes known for his wars with Holyfield and Golota.

And anyway, Bowe wouldnt be fighting the Tyson who fought Douglas, hed be fighting the guy who steamrolled Berbick, Biggs, Thomas, Tubbs and Holmes.

Tyson, due to his lack of height, had to work a way to close the distance, get under the jab and then launch his attacks, that wouldnt be necessary because Bowe would do half of Tysons work for him by coming forward looking to trade.

Bowe had a good overhand right, so did Tyson. Infact Tysons overhand right broke Golotas facial bones (which caused him to quit) and sent Holyfield flying (first round, first fight).

Bowe had a great uppercut, so did Tyson. Both hit Holyfield with some good uppercuts, and Tyson did drop Douglas with one.

Bowe had a great jab, Tyson had great head movement.

I know people will bring up the Holyfield fights. The points i want to make is, think about this. Compare Holyfields performance against both men, why is it that Holyfield stood toe to toe with Bowe and traded with him, yet against Tyson, he adopted a much more patient approach, adopted to outbox and counter punch Tyson?

Answer. Because Holyfield wasnt stupid, he was more weary of Tysons power than he was of Bowes.

And Bowe was in the peak of his career when he beat Holyfield, whereas Tyson had first won his first title belt a whole 10 years prior to facing Holyfield.

Durability, i do believe Bowe is very durable. But so was Frazier, until he met Foreman. Going to war with a Holyfield is one thing, trading punches with Tyson is another. Look at Frazier, he looked amazing going toe to to with Ali, but when he tried the same **** against Foreman, he didnt know which way to run.

I honestly think Bowe would be for a rude awakening against Tyson. I do feel there are question marks about Bowes chin. Yes he was never stopped, but nor was Frazier, until he met Foreman.

Bowe, fought in a renowned era of punchers, just like Frazier did, Bowe faced none. Just like Frazier did (well until Foreman). Frazier was dropped by some of the lesser punchers her fought. So was Bowe. Bowe fought 4 decent punchers Holyfield, Golota, Cooper and Hide. Holyfield and Golota had him down, Cooper was rocking him in the first round and Hide had him out on his feet (Bowe admitted this himself). Tommy Morrison apparently knocked Bowe out in sparring (dont know how true that is).

And is it a coincidence, that despite fighting decades apart, Bowe and Frazier had one more thing in common......Eddie Futch.

And keep in mind, (this is a seperate thread on its own). Tyson stopped some guys who'd never been stopped before. He also stopped some guys quicker than Bowe, Holyfield, Lewis and Foreman did.

Bowe, with the way he fights, with his bravado, his chin would constantly be in the dangerzone against Tyson.

Look at the guys who Tyson ko'ed Berbick, Bruno, Tubbs etc all guys who stood in front of him. Now look at the guys who 'survived' Tyson, Tucker, Holyfield, Lewis, Douglas etc. None of them stood in front of Tyson.

Douglas made the mistake for one second of letting Tyson find an opening and he was on his ass.

Holyfield, outboxed, outmuscled Tyson, but the one time he got careless was in round 5 where he stood close to Tyson and Tyson unleashed a combination of body punches and uppercuts.

Lewis, fought aggressively in the first round and Tyson hit him with a jab, left hook which had Lewis stumlbing backwards.

Bowe, was never as smart as Lewis, Holyfield or Douglas (for that one night).

If Bowe was shot against Golota, what was Tyson when he broke Golotas bones ande made him quit?

Between them, Bowe/Tyson fought Biggs, Tubbs, Seldon, Mathis, Golota and Holyfield. Aside from Holyfield, Tyson knocked each of those guys out quicker and in more devastating fashion.

I feel Prime Tyson would stop Bowe or knock him out.
Post Rooney pre prison Tyson would UD him.
Post prison there would be question marks due to Tysons stamina and desire.

Any accusations and critisicms in terms of career/accomplishments that are levelled at Tyson, also apply to Bowe.

 

Neither was Bowe

How did Bowe do against Tubbs?
How did Bowe do against Holmes?
And what was Holyfield? a blown up CW right?

Bowe was far from perfect himself. In fact wasnt Bowe exposed by Golota?

Outside of Holyfield, who did Bowe beat?

Shall i answer it for you?

Thomas
Tubbs
Biggs
Mathis
Golota
Seldon

Do those names sound familiar?

Yes, they should do, because Tyson knocked each of them out, quicker and better than Bowe did. And of course Bowe has a few additional wins over mediocre fighters like Hide, Coetzee and Gonzales.

And keep in mind, Tyson is known for unifying the heavyweight division.

Bowe is known for dumping the belt in the bin.

The same belts Tyson came back out of prison for and unified again.

 

What's gotten into you lately? Whatever it is, it's making me laugh.

 

Tyson 86/88 would have knocked out Bowe but the post prison version would have lost i suspect. Tyson 96/02 was pretty much washed up when you compare that version with the fighter who'd unified the division ten or so years previous and any of those top 90's fighters would have beaten him. Holy, Bowe, Lewis, Tua, Ibeabuchi, Foreman etc would have taken 90's Tyson.

 

The 80's was a very weak division and Tyson defeated average fighters. Holyfield, Bowe, Lewis and the Klit's were better than any of them, barring early 80's Larry Holmes.