Prime for Prime.....as professionals.........Lennox Lewis V Riddick Bowe

Lewis TKO12 Bowe.

Lewis puts on a clinic for most of the fight and then Bowe quits at the end of the 11th.

 

Lewis would have KO'D him:dead
Bowe was chicken of LL that's why he threw the WBC belt in the trash, PLAIN AND SIMPLE..

 

[quote="TKO";3193702]Or Michael Dokes or Jesse Ferguson :yep:yep:yep:yep:yep (he says with something in his eye). Come off it, Bowe was terrified! [/quote]

Oh, please. This is utter bull**** - and completely unprovable. There are many big fights throughout boxing history that have not happened because the money wasn't there. Newman's plan was to take an easy defense against Dokes - which LOTS of new champs do after they win the title - and then fight a big grudge match with Ray Mercer, and then rematch Holyfield, and THEN fight Lewis in a bucko-bucks unification match.

It's not Bowe's fault that Mercer blew it, and they certainly didn't plan on losing the rematch to Holyfield. Furthermore a Lewis-Bowe fight WAS in negotiation for early 1995, but Lewis blew it by getting knocked out by McCall.

This nonsense that Bowe was "afraid" of Lewis is just a load of crap, taken straight out of the Lewis camp propaganda of the period. It has no basis whatsoever in fact.

 

It has plenty of basis in fact, i.e.:

* The FACT that Lewis stopped him in the amateurs
* The FACT that Lewis was his mandatory and seen as the most deserving contender after blitzing Ruddock
* The FACT the Bowe tried to play the big bully and looked a mug doing it when confronted with Lewis
* The FACT that Bowe dumped his belt in the trash can rather than be forced to defend against Lewis
* The FACT that he then proceeded to defend against Dokes and Ferguson, which I'm sure he earned a shedload for!

As for this materplan of Newman's this is the first time I have ever heard this stated and would be very interested to hear where it came from. Bottom line, you had two undefeated fighters, one who is supposed to be the premier heavy in the world and is supposed to be prepared to take on all comers! The other who is the biggest threat to his crown and wants the fight.

Lewis was coming off his biggest win, as was Bowe. The winners were planned to meet and had it been Holy he would have honoured that pledge. The fight was a natural and Bowe shat it! There is no other rational explanation!

As for this garbage about a Lewis-Bowe fight being in negotiation for 1995, I would be interested to hear the authority for this. To me it sounds like conjecture and speculation with no factual basis. If Bowe was thinking about facing Lewis at that time in any case, it would only have been because the worm had turned and he had nowhere else to go whilst Lewis was the man at the top. Could the fight not have taken place even after Lewis lost to McCall? I'm sure he would have been more than willing and it would have established the winner as a top contender again.

As for losing the rematch to Holyfield, true Bowe probably didn't plan it but it would have helped if he managed to shut the fridge for more than ten minutes during training!

 

Lewis every and any time

 

[quote="TKO";3195175]As for this materplan of Newman's this is the first time I have ever heard this stated and would be very interested to hear where it came from.[/quote]It's pretty common knowledge to anyone who's actually researched it. You people honestly think Bowe threw his title away because he was simply afraid?

 

Lennox is my favorite heavyweight of all time and I believe he is the greatest h2h heavyweight also, so I favor Lennox in this fight by close but clear UD.

 

No, it's probably "common knowledge" to Bowe apologists who believe everything the fighter and his management tell them or else simply like to make up whatever supports their flimsy case. If it's such common knowledge, shouldn't be that difficult to provide a link surely?

And yes, Bowe had won three titles, one of them makes no difference when compared to the possibility of being savagely relieved of all three by a guy who you knew was your daddy! There is no other logical explanation for the fact that he dumped his title rather than face his deserving mandatory then took on Michael Dokes. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck...

 

[quote="TKO";3195175]It has plenty of basis in fact, i.e.:

* The FACT that Lewis stopped him in the amateurs
* The FACT that Lewis was his mandatory and seen as the most deserving contender after blitzing Ruddock
* The FACT the Bowe tried to play the big bully and looked a mug doing it when confronted with Lewis
* The FACT that Bowe dumped his belt in the trash can rather than be forced to defend against Lewis
* The FACT that he then proceeded to defend against Dokes and Ferguson, which I'm sure he earned a shedload for![/quote]

None of this proves ANYTHING about Bowe's mindset - which there is NO way to know. Amateur boxing has little relevance to the pros. The trash can stunt was Newman's idea, and again, was done because there was more money to be made elsewhere (Ray Mercer, then Holyfield), AND then the Lewis fight could then be built into a far more lucrative attraction. And again, it's not Bowe's fault that Mercer blew it.

As for the sources on all this read some of the boxing mags of the period. All of this was regularly discussed in any of the major mags (Ring, KO, etc.). The prospective 1995 fight was all over the covers at the time. Preliminary negotiations were completed, everything was in place. As soon as Lewis beat McCall, it was set to go. Unfortunately, he went and got himself KOd.

 

Amateur boxing did resemble pro boxing in '88 though.

 

True. However, we can all study the evidence available to us and draw our own conclusions. I certainly know what mine is.

As I'm sure you're perfectly aware, I don't keep boxing magazines from as far back as 1995 and this is a complete kop out in any case! Since when have boxing magazines (allegedly) hyping a potential fight meant it is anywhere close to being made?

 

[quote="TKO";3195335]No, it's probably "common knowledge" to Bowe apologists who believe everything the fighter and his management tell them or else simply like to make up whatever supports their flimsy case. If it's such common knowledge, shouldn't be that difficult to provide a link surely?[/QUOTE]You're right, it isn't.:good

[url]http://www.eastsideboxing.com/boxing-news/lotierzo2908.php[/url]

Why would his manager purposely make up a lie about himself orchestrating the entire thing and ruin the credibility of his name in the process?

The reason, once again, is well know to anyone who's actually done the research and isn't simply "quacking" out of their ass.

 

But the fighters didn't resemble their amateur selves, so it's still a moot point. No different than those favoring McClellan over Jones in the pros based on their amateur bouts. There's hardly even a comparison between the two, for a number of reasons.

 

The most pathetic story was Newman sending the Lewis camp the $32m winner-takes-all offer. Maloney faxed a reply the next day accepting & never heard anything more of it.

 

While I don't know if Bowe was actually afraid of Lewis, the fact that he gave up his belt rather than face Lewis after an agreement was in place to meet the winner of the Lennox/Rudduck fight does not put him in a good light.