prime vitali vs prime bowe

Vitali by UD or late rounds stoppage.

 

Name one win on Vitali's resume that could beat Bowe! Name one fighter on Vitali's resume that is better than Holyfield.

 

In the 1st fight he didn't cave in because he didn't want combat. He simply took the game into his own hands after Bowe was rabbit punching him. The 2nd fight should have been stopped. Bowe took a tremendous beating for nothing, but he wouldn't give up. Look where it got him today... signing autographs at flea markets with brain damage. I can't pick who wins but I doubt VK could have put the beating on Bowe like Andrew did.

 

Not long ago I read an article where Golota was being interviewed and he said he should have never stepped into the ring that night against Lewis because he had some issues. His camp insisted on it and Andrew paid for it. Golota was 10 times the fighter Mercer was and if Mercer can challenge Lewis then Golota could have challenged him also, and them some. No doubt Golota had mental issues though.

 

I would also say because most of the posters on this site are in their teens or at most 20's.

 

I actually don't know why most people on this site watch boxing, or when they started watching boxing, because if you don't like Holyfield, you don't like boxing, it's as simple as that. He ruled the CW and went on to become a great heavyweight. I personally rank Lewis and Tyson ahead of him, but the fact he's in their league, and they are both ATG's makes him an ATG too. His comp is second to none. Give the guy some credit.

 

Why on earth would you rank Tyson ahead of Holyfield? If you rank them on resume Holyfield should be ahead of both Lewis and Tyson.

 

Many thought and thinks that Lacy should have retired after his (well and his fans) bubble was burst by Calzaghe.

Bowe did retire when his bubble was burst by Golota. If he had continued we would not have this discussion because it would have been obvious to even the blindest fan that he was never all that he was hyped to be.

 

Well you can go either way with all three of them truthfully. Some rank Holyfield on top because of his wins over Tyson and Bowe, others rank Lewis on top because of his longivity and his wins over Tyson, Holyfield both more faded than Holyfield's wins, and his general comp. Personally I thought the Ruddock and Rahman rematches were his best wins. As for Tyson he was the youngest champ in history and most thought he was going to be the greatest fighter ever. He can up short, but in his prime I think he would have beaten Holyfield, and he would have had a good chance of beating Lewis too (50-50% in my book) and won most of his fights in extremely convincing manner. But back to Holyfield while he has some impressive wins, he was also inconsistant. So I think the ranking of all three is very close. And one thing I noticed, they never got the appreciation they deserved, as all three are ATG either in or very close to the top 10 heavyweight fighters ever!!

As to ranking criteria, I rate comp, longivity at the top, consistancy, and the manner in which they won and/or lost, add a little bit for who I think would win on a h2h basis and you pretty much have my criteria.

 

I once asked the man in your avatar pic Eddie Pappa Smurf Futch. what he really thought of Riddick Bowe. Eddie looked me in the eye & said " Can I have the next question please"
Bowe let Eddie down badly

 

Oh the stupidity;please stop ; this has nothing to do with nationalism. I am from Europe and am sure that any fighter mentioned above destroys VK.
Prime Tyson stops any HW in history inclunding LL.

 

First off Lacy in no way can ever be compared to Riddick Bowe on a skill level. Lacy got beat up because he sucks. Riddick Bowe was already in two fights with Evander Holyfield. (Regardless of what you think, he will go down in history as a top ten heavyweight, Vitali will not by the way), He proved how good he was in those fights. Secondly Bowe beat Golota both times. His refusal to stop fighting back forced Golota to quit and foul out. Thats the mark of a championship heart, something Vitali has shown he doesnt have in grueling fights.
If you knew the history behind Bowe you wouldnt be making such ignorant comments. I dont need to get into a long explanation, but you act like he fought Holyfield and that was it. In fact he faced several former champs, and a decent array of contenders. More than I can say for Vitali whose resume is a long list of nobodies and never beens.
Bowe retired because his lack of conditioning and discipline let him down. The wars with Holyfield, and the weight draining shortened his career. If you dont think thats possible, just ask Fernando Vargas.

 

Yes he did, but wouldnt you say the talent Bowe had kept Futch coming back a little longer than he would have had it been another fighter? It was probably Futches last great fighter, and Bowe started letting him down right after winning the title, going off to Africa and gaining 100 pounds between fights. It didnt help that Rock Newman was on the same page as Bowe and not Futch, who had been there already to know the distractions became compounded 10 times once a fighter won the title.

 

I think Vitali stops Bowe. I think Bowe is pretty overrated to be honest!

lefthook31 especially seems to be a bit of a fan

 

Due to the opposition Tyson fought in his prime i think it is very hard to tell how he would have done against an ATG like Lewis. What we do know is the first big strong fighter Tyson came up against who was fairly athletic with a decent jab in Douglas he got owned... but then there are always excuses with that fight. I am a huge fan of the young knockout machine that was Tyson but to say he knocks out any HW in history is a HUGE statement to make when Tysons prime was so short and against nobody remotely close to Lewis's class