Riddick Bowe best opponents (my opinion)

You saw how Usyk went down in crippling pain from a single ball blow?

Bowe took combinations to the nuts multiple times. Do you think this had an effect on his performance?

There's more. Futch was gone. He took Golota lightly. Its a well known that Bowe got lazy and lost dedication.
He took the rematch more seriously but overtrained and came in weak and frail.
Despite all this his will to win was far greater than Golota's. Bowe took his beating yes, but when Golota tasted leather he looked for an exit repeatedly via low blows. Golota got his ass beat mentally by the worst versions of Bowe that ever entered the ring.
His trauma form the Bowe fights carried into the dressing room before the Lewis fight. A prime Bowe shatters Golota physically and mentally within 3-4 rounds

 

He should get credit for fighting Holy 3x, those wars took a lot out of him.

The Lewis incident has been beaten to death but I am curious how he'd have fared against some other big hitters of the era.

Mercer, Ruddock, Moorer, Morrison...

 

Who is this Evan Fields of whom you speak??

 

I'd say Coetzer, Seldon, and Cooper were all probably better wins at the time that he beat each of them than the shot version of Thomas that Bowe faced. It's arguable that Jesse Ferguson was as well. He was coming off the Mercer win, and got himself into great shape (224 lbs) for Bowe. Thomas was beyond shot by the time he fought Bowe, and was absolutely clowned over 10 rounds by Mike Hunter just months before fighting Riddick. Thomas did manage to last longer than the others vs. Bowe at least.

 

Exactly as you wrote. Besides, Golota was the hottest-cold heavyweight boxer in history. I received a lidocaine injection against Lennox Lewis—he received a million dollars in compensation for it because it was proven to have a negative impact on his performance.

 

Good point. I would say the version of Bert Cooper Bowe beat was as good a version as there was. He was in shape but Bowe made it look easy.