I agree with you there. The Old Mongoose would've had probably the most complete skillet of any of Holy's opponents
Holyfield weighed 205lbs when Bowe beat him. Louis weighed more than that in some of his pre war fights. He never came in under 202lbs in 1941 and 42, except for the Conn fight where he cut weight, and he was 207 for his rematches with Simon And Baer. The size difference is negligible.
If you truthfully only suspect Evander is lifting in the first bout Wow and also it is irrelevant Jan- I’d also like you to note Joe Louis was drastically less muscular and was a tad soft relative to Evander so I’m pretty sure we can conclude that Evander was at the very least a much more muscular man at a similar weight. Show me on film- one fight just one where he fought anyone even closely resembling Bowes size\ability. Because I can show you an entire trilogy where Bowe beats someone better then Louis twice.
To be real im not sure. Looking at both Holyfield and Louis's highlights and comparing their offense and inside game, Louis looks a bit more rudimentary tbh but looks can be deceiving. Louis can pick his shots better and hit harder though but Holyfield has the better footwork. H2H im really not sure who would take it
I don't see Bowe as some humongous hitter. He's a level or two below that, for me. I don't think the fight would be lopsided in any way either, Bowe's not far below the rung of ATG quality in the ring and some will argue he reaches it. Louis is just so accurate with blistering speed and the ability to put punches together. Often when he was hurt a bit he came back better and put the other guy on defense in the blink of an eye. The way he did this with Max Baer at one point was eye opening to say the least. He was very dangerous when hurt.
If you are right, then Holyfield was having to bulk up/roid, just to be he same size as Louis at heavyweight! I am not sure that helps your argument much! That is another way of saying, that he was the smaller man! I can't do the former, because Bowe is more or less unique in boxing history, and that is not entirely a compliment. The rest comes down to how much we can hang on his win over Holyfield. He won the first fight, and deserves all the credit in the world for that. He lost the second obviously. Holyfield probably shouldn't have been in the ring for the third fight. So that leaves him with one significant win!
There's plenty in that boat tho, that get picked to win dream fights against high level opponents. Holmes never beat anyone that was as good as Bowe or Holyfield but regularly gets picked to beat Holyfield easily and Bowe without a doubt etc even tho he struggled with much much lesser guys in real life. He could well have beaten both too but the thing is you don't need overwhelming proof or pinnacle level wins behind you to be picked. Vitali is another. He gets picked to beat many a top flight guy with very very little behind him in the win column. Tyson is the same for that matter, his best wins are over very good guys at the very best. It's hardly the be all and end all some pin almost everything on tho obviously the greater resume you have at the pointy end the better.
it really depends how you look at it. Bowes best wins are over a guy Moorer beat. Who else did Moorer beat who was any good? For all it is decided Bowe was good, who else did he beat were better than the guys Larry made his bones against? On their day why wouldn’t somebody like Berbick, Williams or Weaver Nick a shock win over Evander? Snipes decked Larry. Cooper decked Holyfield. It’s not that different. you make a great point here. It is true Larry struggled with lesser guys than the kinds of guys he gets picked to beat in fantasy fights. But he didn’t take two fights to beat any of them did he? The thing with Larry was some of his challengers were unknown entities who went on to be decent fighters. Ocasio, Berbick Weaver Witherspoon and Smith wound up winning titles after losing to Larry. That’s not the case with Bowe or Holyfield is it?
Yikes, better than Louis. I have Holy at #4 ATG, after Ali, Louis, and Holmes. I just can't see him overshadowing what Louis did....but that's just me. There was a loong time Joe was considered, rightfully imo...unbeatable.
It is irrelevant how he got to HW when he did better then Louis there as far as resume goes. Being a “natural heavyweight” Is a silly discussion and irrelevant considering Louis could’ve shed plenty of weight off his frame he was close to 15% bodyfat for god sakes lol but you’re gonna argue the point and make it out as if he was an Adonis at 200lbs he was not that much of a big guy or even a natural HW just get over it. His performances against Holyfield are all relevant when he is beating one of the greatest ever, have you seen the fights? Louis’s best win is who to compare to Evander Holyfield? just answer that please, legacy and longevity are irrelevant considering the circumstance of the discussion his reign was also something a lot of other HW champs could’ve done with less effort. I’ve seen the fights with Buddy Baer and Two ton Toney and I’d like to ask you how you can be so stern on Bowe losing when such low level of fighters gave Louis such trouble and not budge at all.
Curios how you mention the Moorer bout but don’t talk about how Louis was stopped by Schemling- In similar fashions Vander and Joe came back and won rematches leaving no doubt on whom was the superior fighter.