Riddick Bowe vs. George Foreman -fight in 1993 when both were ranked.

Forman ****ed up

 

The 1993 Riddick Bowe against the 1993 version of George Foreman: I would have to pick Riddick in that one. Prime against prime would be a different story, though, in my opinion.

 

Riddick comes straight at Foreman and is there to be hit. Riddick was as close to taylor made for Old Foreman as was possible. Certainly he would not have run, like every other big hitter of the era did. In hindsight, it is absolutely amazing and surprising that Riddick fought Ferguson instead of Foreman. Foreman would have been a bigger name, and created a lot more money. One can only speculate that Riddick considered Foreman a far bigger danger than the rest of the world did. Riddick definitely would deserve favouritism, but i think my money might go on the old Foreman.

 

This is a tough fight to call.

Riddick Bowe would not really be outsized in this fight. Bowe would have an advantage in hand speed, and be capable of a higher punch output. Bowe also had a lot of fight in him, and would not lay down for anyone.

Foreman had a very good jab, and his jab may be as good as Bowe's even at an advanced age. Remember, Bowe's jab was a bit slower than a lot of heavyweights. Golota could out jab him, and the smaller Holyfield could at times. I firmly believe Bowe would win the battle of the jab with his superior speed, and he ability to pump more out. I'm just giving George a shot here.

The more that I type, the more I realize that I want to give Foreman a chance. The truth is that I think that Bowe would beat him worse than anyone ever did, and Foreman would be stopped in spectacular fashion. Foreman deserves a chance with his strength, chin, will, and Bowe's lack of defense. I just don't think he can beat Bowe to the punch.

Bowe tko 5

 

No contest! Bowe would win this thing big. He was a big heavyweight, with a big jab, big right hand, and a fair amount of speed. Foreman would probably make it competitive for the first two rounds or so, but Bowe would pull ahead and just outwork, outbox, and probably outslug Foreman and win a wide decision or perhaps stop George late. NO way Foreman wins this. Bowe wouldn't be undersized and underpowered like Holyfield or china-chinned like Moorer. Bowe was the kind of fighter that Foreman went out of his way not to fight!

 

Even an old george foreman has at least a punchers chance but not much else. However, I think that he'd be too slow to beat bowe and he'd swallow alot of punches. Bowe by tko late.

 

Who knows? The Foreman who parked Pierre Coetzer would be tough fight for a slob like Bowe in '93................. Bowe lost his eye of the tiger after he beat Holy in 1992......... 1993 was a "Money" year for him and "Hard Rock" Newman.......... CHRIST! Bowe at 25 / 26 was already becoming a lazy slob........... Cheerio.......

MR.BILL

 

While giving Big George the punchers chance that he would seem to have in any fight, the most likely scenerio in my mind would be a clear decision for Bowe. George might have a few moments in this fight, but the night and the cards would belong to Big daddy

 

Foreman struggled everytime he stepped up from his usual tomatoe cans..........getting outhustled by C+ Morrison / Schultz and being the great warrior he is rather getting stripped of the belt he got from the glass chinned Lthwt than fighting ANY top tier fighter.....hmmm and now he is beating or being competitive with the best Heavy on earth at that time, that **** is not even funny and prooves how many total noobs are on this board.

BTW, Foreman would never take the fight because he know he would get the beating of a lifetime.

 

Foreman himself wanted no part of Bowe, Lewis or Tyson and didn't make that a secret. He knew that to retain the title, he'd have to fight a "weak" champion, which is why he fought Holyfield (considered to be a blown up cruiserweight lucky to be there at the time), Morrison (no explanation necessary) and then hit the jackpot with Moorer.

 

he didn't want to fight tyson? funny that holyfield became the best heavy in the 90s so foreman picked the wrong one lol.

 

I love George, but in my heart of hearts I think Bowe would beat him badly. George has a live puncher's chance, though. If he stuns Bowe, he could take him out. George even in his old age was a good finisher once he had his man hurt, and Bowe was not the type to 'survive' when stunned, but rather to rally back.

 

Yes, lets focus on two fights when he was quickly approaching 50.

 

Chris, i am not sure whether or not you lived through this era, but you are 110% wrong on this one.

For starters, Foreman fought Holyfield, because he was the world champion. There was no other world champion, that didnt happen until later on when Riddick bowe threw his title in the bin and (from memory). Lennox who was a viable and marketable contender due to the olympics took the vacant title. It also got worse when Tyson started making his claim, and Riddick openly refused to fight him because they were "friends". At this time the Tyson aura still had him ranked as the baddest man on the planet by most and the buster Douglas fiasco was seen as a fluke.

Secondly, Foreman campaigned as hard as possible for a Tyson fight. Tyson was lightning quick in those days but he stood and stalked as opposed to boxing and moving, despite his excellent slipping skills. Foreman was a lot slower than the Walking Mummy that took care of Frazier but he maintained constantly that he would knock Tyson out because Tyson would stand and trade. At the time he was thought to be zero chance by most and Tyson was seen as 2 or 3 classes above him, due to the age factor. But, in hindsight, he may have been right and Foreman was certainly confident. Interestingly, there is a story floating around the internet that Tyson himself wasnt so confident either and he flat out refused the fight and told Don King to fight him himself if he wanted to see the fight so badly. I am not sure how accurate this is , and certainly i dont think that Tyson would flat out refuse to fight, but i think it believable that he saw it as a much bigger danger fight than the rest of the world thought at the time.

Foreman did openly admit to handpicking opponents though. He would only fight young guys (which was for marketing reasons) but more importantly young guys who would stand and trade with their opponents. unfortunately for George, those young guys like Morrison and Schultz had learned and decided to box and move, something they didnt do against other fighters. None of them would stand and trade, like they were supposed to. It was either because of Georges power, or his reputation for power and being vulnerable to movers.

Lennox was a long range boxer and mover. Yes George wasnt interested in this fight, and by the end of the reign, he was only after the money and low risk anyway. Each fight against a no name would bring similar reward to a Lennox fight for far less risk.

Bowe though, was different. I dont really recall a discussion about this fight ever being considered. When Bowe made his first defence against an easybeat, it easily could have been Foreman, who would have been a bigger name and money spinner for a perceived similar or smaller risk. From Foreman's side, he has the ultimate fighter who was slow and stationery and there to be hit. Bowe would have started a huge favourite (like Holyfield and Moorer) but he would have been stationery and easy to hit like Foreman wanted and his style was much more suitable than Moorer or Holyfield. It would seem a simple fight to make, as both were exactly what the other wanted, yet i dont even recall them having any discussions or it being talked about. Maybe others can remember this part differently.

Incidentally, with regards to the old foreman(94 ish version), if he were around today, I think he would chase a Vitaly Klitchsko, maybe even Vlad, but would openly duck a Juan Carlos Gomez style of fighters.