Riddick Bowe vs Lennox Lewis in 1993?

Out of his ballsack, perhaps. And Coetzer landed his share.

It wasn't exactly the cleanest example of dispatching an opponent... though if I'm gonna be defending Lewis in this argument I better shut up in this regard.

 

bowe did no beter than old foreman and bruno did against coetzer. out of the 3 who did the best job? - this was a peak bowe mind you.

usualy the guy who beats the trial horse the best stands out but bowe did not stand out.

 

I'll always remember Bowe being pushed all the way by a faded Tony Tubbs in 1991. A prime Bowe,as well.

 

Mcall was a rough handfull for anyone and was always dangerous. even now! Mcall knocked out unbeaten prospects seldon and oleg maskiev - both went on to became belt holders. henry akinwande and fancesco damiani (both one time minor belt holders) were also stopped by the eratic Mcall. I just dont think he is a mediocre at best type, hes not an ATG by a long stretch but like a Paulino uzcudun or rex layne category - a rough handful who could beat great fighters -on ocasion.

 

There's a good argument for a Bowe victory in 93, but come on - the guy was scared, & committed the most outrageous duck in boxing history.

 

Actually he did. He was the first to stop him, and in a round less than both. Go watch the fight again, it was completely one sided. Bowe might have taken a few shots, but he didnt fight in the same style as Bruno and Foreman.

 

Mcall beat Maskaev in his 7th pro fight.

I dont agree with you. Mcall had no business beating a guy like Lewis.

Seldon, Akinwande, Damiani, all second rate guys. Mcall never beat a class fighter except Lewis! Same goes for Rahman, he was second rate. To think Bowe at his best couldnt smash Lewis at his worst, is a total joke.

 

lefty, I just reveiwed coetzer against foerman and bowe. bowe had a snappy jab more poise than foerman but it was a closer fight than coetzer had with foreman. coetzer traded with bowe- he came off second best with most exchanges but he could not trade with old george, coetzer couldnt stand in front of george. he could stand in front of bowe though. foreman knocked him out beter also.

 

I admited earlier on this thread that at the time I prefered Bowe. I WANTED to bet on bowe but the fight never came off. I wanted Bowe to win.

Lenox always iritated me, lewis had all the tools, poor pace and couldnt decide if he was a boxer or a slugger. Bowe had a style at least and just looked the beter more complete fighter.

with HINDSIGHT -which is what we have now that both careers have panned out -I reluctantly accept I was wrong. I would have lost my money. just as I would have lost money betting on Liston against Ali had I been around.

 

As far as Coetzer. maybe he was done, he had been stopped in two previous bouts and George was still a pretty thunderous puncher even as he slowed.
If anything hindsight should tell you that Lewis was not prepared in 93 to fight Bowe. His struggles with Bruno, the knockout loss to Mcall and then his struggles with Mercer were really proof of his shortcomings at that time. In the meantime, Bowe was taking apart the divisions best in Holyfield.
Lewis admitted himself, the Mercer fight was a big turning point for him as a pro.

 

I guess I missed the taking apart of Holyfield in those fights. The fights I watched were relatively close decisions and not exactly Foreman/Norton type fight

 

but as I recall fans were still undecided about holyfeild. he was given a hard time during that reign. in fact many decided he was a short tearm champion. cooper nearly beat him and he struggled against the oldest men to contest for a title until that point. Tyson, ruddock lewis and bowe were considered the divisions best and the future. not holyfeild.

because he got some rounds in and his chin passed the test that time. it was a pis poor fight. lewis had wanted to blame his old trainer pepe corea for his loss thats why he said that it was a turning point. mccal was a blip that he wanted to excuse. I dont excuse it, I just dont think bowe could have exploited it.

 

Lewis became a fighter that night. He learned the difference between a boxing match and a fight. Boxing went out the window, he wasnt familiar with it when it was coming from the opposition.
Listen to the corner commentary, Lewis kept telling Steward, "tell the ref hes holding, tell the ref hes using his head" etc,. Steward told him to suck it up, forget about all that stuff and go out and fight. This was the test that was going to keep the two of them together. Lewis stopped complaining and began to fight mid fight, and he won, barely, but he won and he was now equipped with another dimension to his game.
Thats why he blew guys out like Grant and Golota and tried with Klitschko and Briggs, because he knew these fighters werent capable of handling what he handled against Mercer.

 

lewis was already a fighter before mercer. I dont think mercer was as good as the versions of tucker, ruddock, bruno or even mason who lewis had already beat by then. after the crushing loss to mccall he needed to come through a tough fight to give himself confidence, to get back to his previous level over the distance. lewis needed to know he still had it.

people forget Tucker still had it then, that was lewis's coming of age fight. with Bruno he came from behind to win. against rudock lennox wiped out the guy considered the worlds second best fighter at that time. lennox lewis wasnt prety but lewis had alredy passed all the tests before the mccall disaster.

 

Lewis was not in the type of fight he was in with Mercer until he fought him (a long sustained even pitched battle). It doesnt matter if Ruddock was considered better, he didnt offer the same type of fight. Lewis wasnt forced to dig out of his comfort zone against Ruddock or Tucker. Bruno was beating him, but it was not a physical fight.