Riddick Bowe and Liston - a thought experiment

What tools and attributes do you see men like Patterson, Johanson, Machen, Folley, or Williams having that would prove useful and ultimately lead to a win over Riddick Bowe?

 

He may have if he had the blowtorch hanging over his family!

:hey

 

Suuuuure he would.

 

It's not impossible. Patterson would be dwarfed by Bowe.

 

I think that williams and Johansens power combined with Bowes defence could lead to him shiping sone serious punishment and possibly getting taken out. Remember Herbie Hide had him out on his feet.

I also think that Bowe could be outboxed by a smaller but more technical fighter. This is basicaly how Hollyfield won the second fight. I dont think that it is outside the realm of possibility that Folley or Machen could do likewise.

 

Would you call it probable tho? We are talking about beating 2 minute ko's in two fights back to back.

That's one damn BIG statement.

A searing pressure type fighter who starts fast like Tyson yeah, a decent chance right there, but Bowe?

Noway IMO.

 

Nothing is beyond the realms of possibility here. I'd make Bowe a clear favorite against both though.

 

Fair enough, but I think Bowe's power was tested against men who generally had better chins ( not Herbie Hide of course ) plus the average man he fought was probably a bit bigger, and stronger than most of the men on that era. Johanson had power, but Patterson and Machen are probably not the best examples of durable opponents to draw an accurate comparison. Bowe had defensive problems, but he was never taken out in 44 pro fights, and the only men who had him seriously hurt were pretty big punchers who also could box. Hide was never great, but he was a fast starter who could move with tremendous punching ability and was in phenomenal condition. Golata was a very dangerous fight who was undefeated in 28 fights and facing a declining Bowe. Patterson's aggressive style might have made him easy pickings for Riddick. I think Ali would have beaten Bowe, and maybe Liston would have as well, but I don't see anyone outside of those two beating him at his absolute peak in the 60's.

 

Great power my arse. Excellent at best.

Bowe can be lazy, and won't be sitting as close as Liston was in the first two mins.

What has 3 rounds got to do with things? These KO's were with'in 2 mins 10 secs - a long way short of 3 rounds. What ko's does Bowe have firstly vs world class oppostion within 2 mins 120 secs and secondly against world champs in 2 mins 10 or less?

Just can't see it mate, certainly not twice.

 

I don't see Riddick Bowe dispatching Floyd Patterson any more hastily than Liston did, in fact I think a first round KO is probably not even going to happen. Riddick would probably keep Floyd on the end of his jab, and drop him a few times early enroute to a 3rd or 4th round stoppage, but two back to back first round knockouts? probably not.

 

The thing about fighters that you are a clear favourite over is that if you fight enough of them one of them will beat you.

Your luck cant hold out forever.

 

The truth is that Bowe left a few unanswered questions.

He did not fight as many of the top fighters of the era as he might have done. He did not fight many punchers or larger heavyweights.

I somtimes think that Bowe might be the Ken Norton of the 1990s. A fighter with the ideal tools to be an all time great of his era but not the other two.

What would we have seen if Bowe had fought Tyson or Lewis?

 

Agreed.

True to an extent. However, Two wins over Holyfield, plus taking fights with some of the divisions young undefeated prospects and contenders like, Hide, Donald, Golata, Gonzalez, Seldon, and Coetzer ( some of whom large men, and big punchers), was better than what some of the other top men were doing. He also likely fought as many or near as many rated fightrs as Liston did.

Disagree. Norton was great, but he was Ko'd multiple times against big punchers, whereas Riddick was never stopped, and only beaten once. Norton's biggest victories were arguably less decisive than that of Bowes. Riddick earned the right to be lineal champion whereas, Norton was a mere titlist who was merely awarded a belt in the abscence of a challenge.

Yes, he did not fulfill his potential.

Obviously we'll never know. But, a returning Tyson in 1995/96 would probably have been an underdog against Bowe around that time. Lewis might have beaten him, but we can't be too sure. If they had fought in 1993, like they were supposed to, we would have seen an unpolished version of Lewis taking on the very best rendition of Bowe. Lewis certainly looked impressive against Ruddock, but some of his performances in the very near future against McCall, Bruno and Mercer tells me that a Bowe fight could have been a tough test.

 

Would you pick Wladamir Klitschko over Ridick Bowe or rank him higher historicaly?

If not what will he have to do to get there?