Riddick Bowe, Hitting His Prime Now.??

Sure. I see Fury, Wilder, Joshua getting stopped. Bowe was far better at finishing than Wilder and Ruiz.

I think Bowe would win a decision over Usyk in an entertaining fight.

The Bowe right before the Holy I fight was without question the best heavyweight in the world, even if Iron Mike had been free at the time he wouldn't have beaten him imo. At that point Lewis was still rough hewn and would have been stopped as well.

So yeah, Bowe would have been the undisputed Champ today. Any of those fighters would score a victory in a trilogy, though imo,

 

I like Riddick Bowe as a fighter, but I don't rate him as highly as others.

He never fought any punchers in his career. He also got a gift vs washed up Tony Tubbs, struggled vs a washed up Tyrell Biggs.

Was rocked and hurt numerous times, by a blown up Cruiserweight Herbie Hide.

Yes he looked good vs Holyfield, but that's because Holyfield stood and traded with him. And he was much smaller which was to Bowe's benefit.

And I always find it ironic, the first real Heavyweight he fought of equal size in there prime "Andrew Golota" he got out jabbed and destroyed both times.

People may argue he was past his prime, which I agree he wasn't in his prime.
But don't you think that version of Golota would of gave Bowe trouble, at any stage of his career ? I mean when did Riddick Bowe show at any point in his career, he could deal with a skilled big man ?

Sorry if it seems like I'm dissing Riddick Bowe, I do enjoy watching him fight. But I think hes quite overrated honestly.

But as for original question, I think he beats them all except Tyson Fury. And possibly Usyk outpoints him similar to Holyfield in 2nd fight.

 

I remember that Tubbs fight. Tubbs actually finished stronger I think. It was really close. Biggs rocked once I believe.

 

Not gonna lie I haven't seen either fight in a long time. But i remember thinking Tony Tubbs deserved the win.

Tyrell Biggs was competing well with Bowe, like you said even stunning him in the 3rd round I think it was ?
until Bowe caught up with him.

I just think theres alot of names missing out of Bowes resume. Considering he fought in an era with alot of good Heavyweights.

Morrison, McCall, Tyson, Lewis, Mercer, Bruno, Ruddock, Foreman, Moorer, Witherspoon, etc.

I'm not saying it was all his fault, these fights didn't happen. But the fact is that's alot of big names missing from his record.

For me Bowe never really tested himself outside of Holyfield fights. Golota was supposed to be an easy fight. But that was cherry pick that went horribly wrong.

 

I’m really not sure. While his first win over Evander Holyfield was an excellent one, Bowe relied heavily on his physical advantage to take that win and even then he received a hard fight in return. Today Bowe would not be considered as a big man in this division. He’d be about average. If we couple that with his porous defense and tendency to get hit a lot it could spell trouble for him. A fight between Bowe and deontay wilder would probably be a nice action packed bout. I’m confident that Tyson Fury would outbox him to a comfortable decision win. Not sure about the other top men out there but I wouldn’t feel comfortable betting money either way.

 

Good point, but I see 1992 wasting Golota in maybe 6 rounds at the outside. The Bowe that fought Andrew both times was waaay past it. I think the coup de grace before that was the fight with Holy III, which was more debilitating on him than most people seem to think. You could say that about ALL the fights he had with Holy, he looked worse after each one (proof of how great a fighter Holy truly was in his time).

 

I don't think you're dissing Bowe, everything you said is very reasonable.

 

Don't quote me on this but i remember Riddick Bowe saying, Andrew Golota was the first fighter to hit him with the jab at will. And it confused him and he couldn't get past his jab.

I think Riddick Bowe would of always have struggled vs Andrew Golota, as i said before i don't think Riddick Bowe ever showed in his career that he could deal with a big skilled Heavyweight.

And i think a few fights he had in his career where he struggled vs fighters who fought him on outside Biggs, Holyfield 2, Tubbs, is maybe evidence he always would of had difficultly vs Golota.

And considering how dominant Andrew Golota was in both fights, i don't think it would of ever of been an easy night for Bowe.

You know it's funny you say the 3rd fight took alot out of Riddick Bowe, which i'm not disagreeing with you on.

But did Andrew Golota ever look the same fighter after the Riddick Bowe fights ? i think them fights took something out of him aswell, and he was never quite the same.

 

I think Bowe might struggle a little in this division, and not because it is such a good division, but because he was really better at beating down on the smaller, lighter hitting guys. Guys like Fury, AJ and Wilder are bigger than him and two of those three have crushing power. Other guys in the division who might be problematic for him are Joyce and Hrgovic who both combine big size with big power. Usyk is a smaller guy but unlike Holyfield he would never stand and trade with Bowe, he'd use movement and turn him and use angles and feints to get in and out.

Now I'm not saying he'd have no chance, but he'd rack up the miles a lot faster than he did in his own career. Frankly he might have to out-gut his way to wins, and there's only so many times you can lead with your chin before you are degraded significantly. I think AJ / Bowe would be a bloodbath, for example.

 

Mm, Hard to say I know he’d beat Wilder in my heart Fury is a big iffy one have we seen Fury fight someone who could rock the inside properly that was as good as Riddick? of course there are questions to ask about Bowe.

I think Bowe would make it too much of a dog fight for AJ and his combination of gifts let’s him take out Ruiz. (UD most likely) Usyk I’m not entirely sure about but I’d favour Bowe… for now

 

Bowe's legacy is based on beating a small heavyweight who was easy to hit. He wouldn't do very well today.

 

He would be in the mix for a few years and then be out. Fury would abuse him and likely end his career over a couple fights. The Wilder match-up would be dangerous for both. Bowe was hardly Willie Pep and Wilder hits as hard as anyone who ever stepped in the ring. I would favor an absolute prime Bowe over Joshua, tho. I think Bowe could take Joshua into deep waters and drown him.

 

Beats everyone except Fury and Usyk
Wilder always comes with danger as Bowe didn’t have the best defence and had plodding feet