This is all crap. - Holmes was closer to Bowe's average opponent than vice versa? - Golata was more formidable because he hit harder? - You describe Jesse ferguson as being a good opponent on the basis that he beat Douglas about 8 years earlier, and credit him as beating Mercer twice, while obviously being unaware that Mercer fought him the first time with an injured shoulder... - Describe Tubbs as being a justifiable problem for Bowe, while forgetting that Tubbs was past his best and no where near that great boxer that Holmes was even at his peak..- - Claim that Holmes couldn't handle Bowe in the clinches when he did just fine against men who of comparable size and strength. The rest is just to unbearable to even break apart.. -
. On paper he lost one fight. The unremarcable Golota gave Bowe bad beatings but disqualified himself because he was stupid. Bowe was moments from being stopped a few times, the foul blows saved him from certain defeat more than once in those Golota fights. As well as this there were a lot of so-so fights where Bowe put out the kind of performance where he was lucky to win - mathis jnr comes to mind, so many sloppy moments in many fights where a sharp focused champiuon like Holmes would have crucified him. Bowe did not look any better than Frank Bruno beating coetzer - even old man foreman did as well against coetzer, who would pick old man foreman or frank bruno over Holmes of the 1978-82 vintage? Hide had Bowe on ***** street, I am sure Larry would too. All those fighters were done at that time and a lot smaller than bowe, recent losers to other fighters one and all. It could have been better, Bowe did not climb the ratings beating people rated above him did he? when Holmes took on shavers and tiger wiliams they were knocking on the door of title shots. It would be like Bowe taking on say ruddock or Lennox lewis to get at Holyfeild. There is more comparison to douglas than you might think. Both the same size and simular skills. Both beat undefeated world champions, both became disilusioned with the sport and let themselves down, though admittedly Bowe never actualy quit. Altogether Douglas fought 6 unbeaten fighters before his first title fight, 5 "at the time" rated contenders and 3 world champions, he was no slouch.
lol @ the statisitic "Altogether Douglas fought 6 unbeaten fighters before his first title fight, " If this is supposed to include guys like Dan O'malley, Abdul Muhaymin, Marvin Earle and Dion Simpson, then its a pretty desperate attempt at trying to inflate the guy's resume... I like undefeated fighters too, but only when their "0" actually has some substance behind it.. Bowe's pretitle wins over Pierre Coetzer, Bruce Seldon, Bert Cooper, and even aging versions of Biggs and Tubbs, eclipse this crap completely.
Douglas had a decent run after the Tucker fight proving he had improved winning competitive fights at world level. Douglas best win beating unbeaten Mike Tyson was a great win. Berbick, McCall and Greg page were all verry decent wins because they were all suposed to beat Douglas and rated at the time Buster fought them. Bowe beat Holyfeild, an excelent two wins. One was a non title fight this is on par with Busters Tyson win. However, would larry donald, gonzales, coetzer beat Page, mcCall, berbick and tex cobb? I think its prety even. either way bowe is not beating Larry Holmes.
I agree with you on that point.... But this **** about comparing Riddick Bowe to Buster Douglas is getting out of hand.
All you have to do is watch the ony TUbbs fight and imagine what Larry Holmes would have done to Riddick Bowe ... Larry would have diced him to pieces and likely stopped him between 10 and 15 ...
I agree that the Tubbs fight gave some insite as to how Bowe could be beaten, and likewise agree that Holmes should take it... But just as a sidenote, its not that simplistic. Contrary to popular belief, Riddick Bowe DID deserve to win that fight and did so when he was still a work in progress.. Holmes still wins no doubt, but It wouldn't be easy, and nor would I bank on a stoppage. I could see him winning a 15 round bout, maybe 9 rounds to 6 or on a good night, 10 rounds to 5.. But he'd take a fair share of shots himself and might even get decked once.. Its both fair and true to say that Bowe had a soft spot for technically sound fighters with a good strait jab and decent footwork.. But he also had an unbelievable chin, good power, and a well honed inside fighting game.. Not an easy match for Holmes or anyone for that matter.
I don't know if I see that many stylistic similarities between Bowe and spoon, although there maybe a few that I've overlooked..
I don't know how anyone can think Tubbs gave Bowe problems. Tubbs was one of Bowes sparring partners and Bowe abused him in training too. The fight was ridiculously one sided regardless of what was written about it. As far as choklabs posts they are not worth debating they are so far off.
I saw the fight 20 years ago for the first time, then watched it again on youtube about a year ago.. Bowe clearly deserved the win, but I disagree that it was one sided.. Even though Bowe won most of the rounds, the rounds themselves were fairly close in nature. Of course NFL football analyst Dan Dierdorff was commentating at ringside and gave Bowe the fight by a landslide which I felt was ridiculous.. I never wanted to watch another fight again where a football analyst was giving his opinion on a boxing match ( even though I love football and like Dierdorff. ) At anyrate I think the biggest issue with Bowe in that match was that he fought too cautiously and had opportunities where if he had been more aggressive and pressured Tubbs ,he might have forced a stoppage or KO. In any event, he fought the bout the way that he fought it and allowed Tony to linger in with him and land enough shots to make it somewhat close.. Not a spectacular display for either man, but probably a good learning curve for a young Riddick.
Good matchmaking! Bowe is a little taller with a little longer reach and about 20Lbs. heavier. It's no David vs. Goliath type match like some may lead you to believe... their frames aren't that much different. Holmes was the better overall fighter IMO. Holmes stuck to his fight plan better, he used his jab well for the entire fight, he didn't brawl when he should have been boxing, he didn't fight at close range when he could fight on the outside, he wasn't easy to hit, he didn't get frustrated and resort to rough tactics (cheating... let's just call it what it is). Both were durable but Holmes proved he could go 15 tough rounds vs. Hall of Fame fighters more than once. I'll give Bowe the edge in power and strength but Holmes could deal with it just fine. Both were quick heavyweights but I think Holmes was sneakier and more accurate. Holmes also had the better footwork. Holmes by close but clear decision.
Close, controversial decision for Holmes. Holmes would get hurt a few times and barely escape on his feet and with a decision.
Exactly 4 Bowe he was . I also mentioned other names including 3 whom Fergusson did against just fine @ d very tail end of his career , even years past Bowe . Same with Tubbs whom outpointed Zolkin over 10 and then extended him d full 12 in a competitive fight , beat Bruce Seldon all past Bowe . Maybe they were and he did but they were not of comparable infighting skills . like always .