Riddick Bowe's ATG status...

He fought Holyfield at the end of 92, and fought Holyfield at the end of 93 who ranked at the top of both lists.
I would add Mathis was a comeback fight after the loss to Holyfield in 94. Regardless of the Ring Magazines ratings Donald put Bowe right back in the top ten with winning his WBC continetial title. He fought Hide for the WBO title in 95.
Was Phil Jackosn, Mike Bentt or Mike Hunter any more dangerous than Herbie Hide??

 

Holyfield isn't a puncher, and isn't relevent in this argument.

I never said he never fought a puncher, just that he fought almost none of the punchers of his era. The fact that Hide is the only puncher he faced says it all.

 

So your saying he should have fought a one dimensional puncher like Tommy Morrison, Mike Bentt, or Alex Garcia, rather than fighting a complete fighter for the title???:huh Or maybe he should have squeezed in a fight with one of those guys on the undercard to his main event?
Even if he didnt fight the biggest punchers, which I would argue, what difference does it make if you are fighting the top fighter in the division? Bowe didnt have a bad chin when he was in condition thats a fact.
He won the title, made two defenses, and fought Holyfield again, lost took time off, came back against Mathis. Got back into the rankings against Donald, who was undefeated and in a top position, and then fought Hide for the WBO title, and then rematched Holyfield.

 

He is lower top 15 but ONLY because he won the holyfield trilogy he doesnt win the trilogy he does not make my top 15.

 

Head to head he matches up very well with anyone. he has the size and skills to beat anyone. His career is not what it could have been. After beating Holyfield he should have fought Lewis. Lewis who had a better career than Bowe and would win a prime for prime match up was still devloping. People point to their Olympic fight as to why Lewis would have won than. I disagree. This was Bowe's small window of oppertunity. He threw away his legacy when he droped the WBC belt into that trash can. Bowe would have two easy defences before losing to Holyfield in the "fanman" fight. Bowe seemed to have his career back on thrck he had won the WBO belt and defeted Holyfield in a third fight. He had his two fights with Golota. Officialy wins but consedered losses by most. However one must wonder how much of an impact those low blows had on Bowe.

 

Does a fighter necisarily have to defeat punchers to have a great resume or be a great fighter?

I don't think he necisarily does.

 

i cant beleve Bowe would avoid someone like Lewis. He's way too tough

 

Of course not. I feel like Ive been defending the guys legacy or the past year, and Im not his biggest fan. I guess Ive been trying to figure out why so many people dislike Bowe. He was personable, big, and exciting. It was a chance to see a big guy, box, slug and do it all. If you know the politics of boxing and the way in which Bowe got the title, it would be more understandable why his team wanted to get a couple extra fights before facing Lewis. Unfortunately his idiot manager decided to make a showcase of throwing the belt in the trash, which wound up back firing on Bowe big time. His lack of discipline and fights with Golota were more ammunition to bury him.

 

No, but throwing the belt in the trash to avoid Lewis AND then somehow not fighting nearly every big puncher when you're fighting in the best era ever for punchers hurts his claim to be a great.

 

No, but he should of fought someone else than Michael freaking Dokes after beating Holyfield. How the hell do you explain him dumping his belt when he was going to have to fight Lewis?

He has no excuses. He knew that the winner of Lewis-Ruddock was going to fight him, but when Lewis flattened him he knew he was screwed. If he wanted to get "extra fights" before facing Lewis he shouldn't of challenged for the HW title.

 

Bowe is an ATOK.

 

Good points.

 

Actually, Ruddock called out Bowe on more than one occassion prior to Bowe fighting Holyfield for the title. But Bowe never agreed to a match with Ruddock. Bowe fought Pierre Coetzer instead of accepting Ruddock's last challenge. Ruddock had yet to be blown out by Lewis and was considered the most dangerous guy in the division (outside of Tyson).

 

right. And recall Morrison calling the guy out because he said he could land his left hook easy on the guy whenever they sparred. But Bowe was never in the matches anybody wanted to see and it was always a bunch of other fights instead.

And was anyone in the world actually picking Dokes in that Bowe fight? He was a huge huge underdog & how he got a title fight after that Ruddock demolition is incredible. Or criminal.

At the end of the day, the Bowe management was not going to put him in with dangerous opponents and a different opponent selection back then just would've seen guys like Joe Hipp and Alex Stewart and so on selected as opponents.

 

Bowe ATG? IMO = no.

For whatever reason, and IMO it doesn't matter why, Bowe didn't fight and beat enough of his generation of top flight opposition (see lists supplied by others in earlier posts).

If he'd have fought Lewis and won I'd certainly be saying yes, though.