Riddick Bowe

Almost all that Hide stuff was at cruiser and not much at heavyweight. Who really bought into Gonzalez? It wasn't as if there was a ton of guys not wanting to get a crack at the guy. Cooper blew hot and cold & Bowe got a cold version. Dokes and Seldon are not big hitters and never were.

Prior to his title shot it was guys like Tubbs who couldn't punch. Biggs was no puncher either. Thomas had 1.5 if not 2 feet in the grave. Coetzer was another cruiser moving up and not a big hitter.

 

Coetzer was a fight for the mandatory shot at the WBA crown. Bowe certainly learned alot more from a fighter like Tony Tubbs than he would have fighting Frank Bruno. Bruno had proven nothing other than he could punch and get stopped. Funny excuse about Cooper, the only guy who you think could punch and Bowe got him on an off night?
Most of Hides fights werent at cruiser either leading up to the Bowe fight.
I understand thats its easy to say now, that noone bought into Gonzalez, but at that time, he was still an untested question mark that was 6'6 with a high KO percentage. Hide had maybe 50% heavyweight fights where he was knocking guys out just the same. Neither had a stellar resume, but the KO percentages were there. Dokes and Seldon were capable punchers, certainly not on the level of Buster Mathis.
Who should Bowe have fought at that time that he ducked because of them being a big puncher? Still waiting for someone to come up with these dangerous contenders at that time.

 

You always have to look at a few branches away from the trunk of the tree. With fighters, you look at styles they didn't match with. There's a reason.Or if they did fight a style, did they avoid it in the future?

Punchers pre - title Bowe; Morrison. Mercer. Lennox. Bruno. Mason. Ruddock. Old guys like Smith or Witherspoon or Snipes possibly.

There also wasn't much talk of a Tubbs rematch was there? Or other slick types like Mike Hunter.

Most likely, from what approach we saw with the bowe management team---which he can fire by the way so it isn't exactly a lifetime agreement--was a match with another easy to hit guy. Like say Alex Stewart. James Pritchard. Those type guys.

And Hide was a cruiser that moved up to heavy. He wasn't a heavy very long prior to the Bowe fight. I don't know if you followed the sport closely or not at the time, but the consensus was Gonzalez would lose as soon as they put him in with a live body.

 

:good

 

Finally, somebody who recognized the pattern.

Bowe was supposedly this good fighter on the inside....but WOULD he be with somebody who could hit?

There was an old rumor circulating way back before Bowe became champ that had Henry Tillman knocking Bowe cold in the gym. This would be circa 1991, Not sure if it had any basis in truth.....but it does tend to make one think.

To me, Riddick was very overrated in a sense.

I believe he would have been stopped EARLY by Lennox Lewis - even back when Lenny was a brazen banger that would wade-in, circa 1991/1992.

 

What had Cooper, Gonzalez, or Hide done to establish themselves as big HW punchers at that time? Gonzalez's power was unproven at the world class level (and would always be), Cooper hadn't KO'd anyone of note since moving up from cruiser, and the only noteworthy win Hide had was a late-round stoppage of Bentt, who nobody thought much of. None of them were especially renown or proven as big KO punchers.

I already mentioned Ruddock and Lewis, both of whom Bowe outright turned down. Cooper, Hide, etc. had nowhere near the proven power of those two.

 

Right thats two!!!!!!!!!!!!! People say he avoided punchers. Thats two fighters, one of which was knocked out of contention by both Lewis and Tyson. For what reason would Bowe have to fight Ruddock after winning the title?? They chose the WBA route for a number of reasons, mainly because of the connection with King and Suliamon, regardless of what anyone wants to think. Lewis was the buildup money fight that never happened This is another arguement in itself..
Cooper was a proven puncher. He later almost knocked out Evander Holyfield. Had Moorer on the deck what three times, knocked out some good fighters, Norris a few others? He was certainly a proven puncher and went onto prove it moreso. He didnt become a better puncher after fighting Riddick Bowe.
Youre right about Gonzalez and even Hide, "unproven", so wouldnt a fighter looking to avoid punchers avoid guys with big KO percentages on their records if they were unproven especially one that was bigger than he was that beat him in the olympics?

 

Overated? How so? He was the undisputed champion by beating Evander Holyfield at his best. Who else did that? He lost once in a razor close decision in the rematch. Regardless if he was losing to Andrew Golota, he still had enough to make him quit and foul out.
Pretty cut and dry, hes not overated in my book, just a good solid champion that blew his peak years, but still had a pretty respectable career. Hes certainly not on the level of a Frank Bruno or a Shannon Briggs, but hes also not rated in the top ten or placed higher in an all time list than Tyson Lewis or Holyfield. Maybe he could have been, anyone who knows boxing will tell you he had the skill set for it.
You want to talk overated, Lennox Lewis is overated, but we already discussed this over 25 pages. :good

 

Bowe's manager Rock Newman avoided Lewis because he likely felt that Lewis would have Ko'd Bowe before Bowe and he had a chance to make a few title defenses. Hence Bowe had the famous tossing his belt into the trash can as he was being stripped for not fighting Lewis. Looking at the Olympic gold medal match between the two, Bowe seemed to have no defense for Lewis hard right hands.

On the other hand Bowe's manager wanted Tyson, and felt Tyson was tailor made for Bowe. He's right. Bowe was a better version of Buster Douglas. Tyson's people did not want to risk their golden goose vs Bowe, so they settled for easy defenses instead, and eventually lost to Holyfield.

In the ring, and in shape Bowe had few problems aside from defense, and good boxer / movers.

Out of the ring, Bowe had managerial and gluttony issues. Rock Newman said Bowe loved being great, but hatted the process of becoming great. In other words, Bowe was a lazy fighter. Newman in my opinion sabotaged Bowe's career. Newman had close ties to the nation of Islam, and wanted Bowe to be the next Ali. It is a little know fact that after Tommy Morrison defeated Foreman there was a HUGE demand for Morrison vs. Bowe. Morrison's manager Bill Clayton and Newman meet. Things looked good, then according to Clayton Newman balked and told the press you'll have to ask him why. Speculation is Newman and the nation of Islam did not want to risk Bowe vs an American white guy who had a shot to defeat him. Then Newman took Bowe to Africa. The move misfired, an Bowe lost even more focus. And of course Newman lead the riot charge in Madison Square Garden in the first Golota fight. Newman was a real psycho.

I think Bowe was an ATG top 20 heavyweight, and if he had better management, he might have achieved even greater acclaim. Under the tutelage of Futch, and in shape, and focused Bowe was a tough man to beat. Bowe is on of two lineal champions who never suffered a KO or TKO defeat.

 

Sabotaged his career? Instead of fighting Lewis he signed a contract with a guarantee of six fights with HBO with the potential to make 100 million, which included an eventual showdown with Lewis. It was the richest contract in boxing at the time. How is that a manager sabotaging his career? Newman didnt make the best choices for Bowe staying in the gym and active, but he certainly didnt sabotage Bowes career, and really it wasnt Bowes fault entirely for him and Lewis never meeting in the ring.

 

Since Bowe's defense was so poor, I don't very much like his chances against powerful, skillful punchers like Lewis and Tyson. He could possible have worn out post-prison Tyson, but Lewis has his number.

I like Bowe h2h against many other ATGs, though. I have picked him to beat both Foreman and Frazier for example. I'd also pick Bowe against Marciano without hesitation.

I think Liston beats him, though. Could actually do a real beat down on him if it was that kind of night. Would be extremely interesting to see Bowe against Louis. Hard one to predict. Louis is a sharper puncher and has better defense, but not by miles, and Bowe is bigger, stronger and more durable. Punching power should be about equal. Depends a lot on who wins the battle of jabs.

 

:-(