Prime Riddick Bowe Vs Current Anthony Joshua

Does this describe AJ too now?

 

Bowe's skills consisted of standing bent over in his opponent's wheelhouse throwing sloppy hooks, overhands, and the odd sweet uppercut (his best punch). He had none of the crispness or explosive power of Joshua, and was fifty fifty on the outside with a lot of fighters. His heart and determination were very good, sure, but how did that help him against Golota, whose heart and determination were garbage?

Joshua at his best outclasses the sloppy and one-dimensional Bowe much like Golota did, only he doesn't DQ himself after indulging in a ball busting fest.

 

For such a supposedly great HW Bowe sure struggled a lot. Hide had him reeling all over the ring like a drunken sailorman, and if it wasn't for the fact that Hide had a jaw to make David Price blush he might have KOed him.

 

If you mean do I think a peak Bowe beats the current version of AJ as of now, then most definitely yes. Imo

 

Hard to say. Golota had all the tools but no patience or willingness to go into the trenches except on rare occasions. If Ruiz sticks around long enough and starts making things difficult for Golota the possibility of some random meltdown becomes much higher.

 

Joshua is much more technically sound than Bowe, who had pretty awful fundamentals for a top fighter. Joshua can box at range or duke it out on the inside, whereas Bowe basically had to fight on the inside to get anything going for him because he lacked world class timing or crispness on his jab or right hand, which was almost always a telegraphed overhand right.

Regarding Joshua's 'quitjob' against Ruiz I know this is pretty accepted as having happened, but I still don't see it. If you're going to quit you likely do it between rounds or failing to get up after a knockdown. You don't keep getting up round after round fighting back till the ref waves it off. And I can't think of a single fighter who outright quit against someone who then went on to rematch them in their very next fight and won a clean sweep on the cards. Maybe there are examples but I can't think of any.

Chin-wise both men could be hurt. Joshua shows a lot more lingering effects from a solid punch though, whereas Bowe could usually shake off the cobwebs and be back in the fight quite quickly. Bowe was much more hittable though, I agree, and that might be the main factor here.

 

Bowe shares more in common with a one hit wonder like Buster Douglas than he does with any top fighter. His consistency was non-existent. He'd constantly make tough work of guys who on paper were levels beneath him (whether through underestimating them or just not being as good as people thought he was I don't know; probably a bit of both). And yes he avoided any real punchers throughout his career. Hide was probably the hardest puncher he fought, which is pretty pathetic when you compare it to the murderer's row of punchers Lennox fought in a similar timeframe.

Bowe continually gets massively overrated for his one night against a very compliant Holyfield who played right into Bowe's strengths. His overall body of work and performances were pretty underwhelming.

 

Thank you! Nostalgia reallllly gets the better of posters on this forum. Not saying Bowe wasn’t a good heavyweight but let’s not act like he was this unstoppable force who’s biggest claim to fame was beating a 207lb Holyfield to win the title.

As hard as Joshua hits and his decent skills I’d give him a shot in this one. If Holyfield can almost knock him out multiple times I think Joshua can. I think it’s a 50/50 fight! But this whole “Ohhhh man Bowe by destruction in 5 rounds after toying with Joshua and making him look stupid” mindset… Lol Get real

Reminds me of The Wlad vs Lewis threads. Lol “Ohhhh My God Lewis by two round Grant type annihilation!!” GTFOH lol Riiight because underestimating a wicked fast and powerful southpaw would be the same Wlad that would face Lewis. Lol

 

Ruiz is pillowfisted. He couldn't even get rid of an ancient Ortiz and got outboxed most of the fight

 

All I'm saying is I wouldn't be so confident of Golota winning a big fight when hes so mentally fragile, yes hes definitely more skilled than Ruiz and has more ability. But the mental part of boxing is also huge part of it, and Golota was seriously lacking in that department. Which is why he didn't go further than he should of based on his size and talent.

 

Not to mention Tillery, when he hit after the bell, and I think Mathis, when he hit him on the canvas. Most people at the time had Tubbs beating him by decision.

 

Think Bowe stops him late.

 

When people say desperate **** like 'Holyfield almost knocked Bowe out multiple times", they're deluded.

Again it just shows people need to actually watch these fights.

 

bowe by ko in 6

 

Bump