riddick bowe and what could of been

A knockout loss by McCall is what could have been

 

Agree. I believe, as do others, that Bowe is one of the best
heavyweghts ever. Certainly a nightmare H2H for most
heavies. Most people wouldn't include him in their top
10, however I agree with a recent post that there was
a relatively short stretch of time when Bowe could have
beaten any fighter from any era, he was that good.

 

There have been a lot of great champions who had the same tools, who fulfilled their potentials, who stayed disciplined, who met more rivals of their own era and Bowe has to be ranked behind them. If you list all the best heavyweights of Bowe's era it is a longer list that the ones he actually fought. Lewis, Moorer, Ruddock, Morrison, Briggs, Foreman, Tua, Tucker, Bentt, Tyson, Mercer, Bruno, Rahman, McCall, Grant.

Truth is for all his talent those fights were not made and would have all been tougher on him than the fights he had. Bowe was easy hit.

Bowe had talent but he also had a lot going for him. He was matched well on the way up, he passed all the early tests then got a new champion who was facing his first live young super heavyweight challenger who was many pounds lighter, many inches shorter To challenge. Bowe still could have messed that up, he did not. He won a great fight and the champion he beat went on to become a great fighter so history shows that helped Bowe's resume, however, as a career that win was it. The end of his progression. His one big win. against a fighter regarded as the best. No other fight Bowe had after that was to decide who was the best Heavyweight in the world after that first Holyfeild fight.

Bowe would lose to the same guy who produced his best win. Then, although he also beat him back that was after Holyfeild had lost some lustre. Both were outshone by other champions he did not meet.

So what could have been? Bowe v Lewis would have been essential. That fight should have happened instead of Bowe vs. Ferguson and Dokes. Two worthless fights. Bowe vs Holyfeild 2 was not that relevant with Lewis around. Bowe vs Ruddock, Mercer, Foreman, Moorer, McCall, Bruno would have been better than Bowe vs Hide and buster mathis jnr. Holyfeild 3rd time around was a cross roads fight of ex champions, yesterday men in actual terms at that point.

 

One of the biggest career mistakes in boxing was made by Bowe when he did not fight Lewis right after beating Holyfield. Bowe at the time was at his peak and Lewis who was a late bloomer in terms of peaking was still devloping. Up intill 96 Bowe would have won that fight.

 

I think all champions had the potential to be champions, they might not have been the same shape and size as Bowe but there were a lot who could jab better like Louis, ali, Holmes and Liston. Each had a better work rate and were more consistent in fights contesting who was the best of their era's. apart from Ali they were also as great inside. Thats three heavyweights with the same skillset who were better.

If you take a look at the best, most dominant heavyweights within the division’s history they have been under 225lb anyway so I would ask what kind of asset is being over 230lb in a historical, dominant ATG sense?


Larry Holmes had the same tools. A great outside fighter who could brawl inside. Larry fought more heavyweights from his own era too. Much better work rate. So much more proven than Bowe.

Of those nearer Bowes size over 228lb there are title holders who had the same kind of skillset and (funny enough) consistency as bowe himself. In fact history shows us that until the Klit boys came along 228lb plus equals inconsistency.

Buster Douglas was a massive under achiever but ..so far as what he could do ... at least on Busters best night he was at least as good as Riddick.

Tim witherspoon could do most of the stuff Bowe was good at, he used the kenny nortan crab stance but he did jab well and was a demon inside. Hit at least as hard.

Greg Page was a big man too. A slower ali clone only he could hit a lot harder than ali and (when in the mood) like Bowe, could brawl better than muhammad Ali.

Bowe looked great but with only one fight of his being worthy of deciding "the best heavyweight in the world" he must be measured against those who contested more times for that honour and I don’t just mean title defences. I mean show downs that the decide the best out there.

 

His video game was great "sega genesis"

 

I believe he was an overachiever. He was lucky to sniff a title, took an easy as hell route to Holy, fought an inconsistent, small champ, defended against nohopers and was destroyed by a perennial b-rater. Porous defense and a general lack of durability equalled a short career.

 

You're right saying in saying that Bowe was due to face Lewis during late 1994 for the WBC title that Bowe previously put in a dustbin.

After Lewis beat Ruddock in a WBC elimination bout in Oct, 1992, he was next for a shot at Bowe, who won the WBC/WBA/IBF belts in, Nov, from Holyfield.

Early 1993. Bowe drops the WBC belt rather than face Lewis. Lewis is awarded the title and defends against Tucker.

Nov, 1993. Holyfield beats Bowe in their rematch. Lewis shows some interest in fighting Holyfield, which would bring back a one undisputed champion.

April, 1994. Holyfield loses to Michael Moorer.

Late 1994. Lewis and Bowe are penciled for a showdown for Lewis' WBC belt.

 

June 18th, 1994.

Yesterday promoters for World Boxing Council heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis and former champion Riddick Bowe announced the two would finally meet sometime in late fall. That development occurred after negotiations by both fighters to land a bout with World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation champion Michael Moorer collapsed amid demands for options and rematch clauses.

Although Bowe's manager, Rock Newman, said Lewis would be guaranteed $18 million and Bowe $13 million, no money is yet guaranteed, even by TVKO, the pay-per-view arm of Time Warner that will distribute the fight.

 

NEW YORK -- Riddick Bowe is set to fight for the WBC heavyweight title belt he threw into a trash can 18 months ago.

The former undisputed heavyweight champion has signed to fight WBC champion Lennox Lewis in November or December.

"A deal has been signed by all of us, and it is an iron-clad deal," Rock Newman, Bowe's manager, said during a conference call Friday from London.

Newman said Lewis is guaranteed $18 million and Bowe is guaranteed $13 million.

"We're looking forward to Lewis being recognized as the best heavyweight out there," said Lewis' manager, Frank Maloney, who attended a news conference in London with promoter Panos Eliades.

Newman said he thought the winner of the match would be recognized as the real heavyweight champion, and not Michael Moorer, who won the IBF and WBA titles from Evander Holyfield on April 22.

The fight is scheduled to be held in the United States between the first week in November and the first week in December. It will be shown on pay-per-view.

Bowe won the undisputed championship by outpointing Holyfield on Nov. 13, 1992.

A month later, he threw the WBC belt into a trash can to protest a mandated title defense against Lewis.