The Riddick Bowe who beat Holyfield in their first fight vs Lennox Lewis who beat

I would say for some reason there is a lot of hatred towards Bowe, especially on this board. I dont know why either, because he was one of the most charistmatic fun fighters to watch, and he brought a lot of excitement to boxing. Tyson can **** women and beat up old people and still get a pass but Bowe throws his belt in the trash, and everyone hates him. Kind of funny really.

 

Bowe was no master at slipping a jab, but as I was saying, Lewis is no master at slipping a jab either. He slips very few :

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFJOYgu4s7I&feature=related[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnFHQXVF3pc&feature=related[/ame]

Lewis was a very good fighter but his "superior elusiveness" is not much of a reality. And in a battle of jabs with a prime young Bowe, it seems like biased nonsense to imagine it as one-way traffic. But guys were open and both had strong jabs. It would be competitive and depend on who timed there's better.

 

His abilities get downplayed. From 1991 until the 2nd Holyfield fight he was impressive. And he declined from then on, but proved he had toughness and a warrior's heart even at his worst.

 

I wouldn't call it hate...maybe lacking in appreciation. I was (and still am) a big admirer of Bowe's fine skills.

 

I was referring to Tyrell Biggs. And the answer to your question is, shortly before he fought Tubbs.

 

I'm not sure about that.

I love Bowe and rate him very highly H2H....I just don't think he can beat a prime Lewis.

 

Bowe in a tight decision, or a draw with Lewis.

 

Brian Nielson must have a better defense than Bowe then to make it to 62-1. Your logic lefthook is flawed, Bowe wasnt facing the top contenders other than Holy/Golota and perhaps his record still flatters him, maybe he should be 40-3

 

Duh, why dont we add Peter McNeely to that list.:nut Yeah he wasnt facing top contenders, he just magically became the #1 contender..:happy

 

I actually like Bowe, liked him growing up, I actually wanted him to beat Lewis in 93 believe it or not. But I would say the reverse is true, people don't want to give Lennox his due, whether its because hes a none American or personal dislike. The man defeated every contender over the space of 12 years and beat every man he faced, ducking no man in 1 of the strongest eras the sports ever seen. You cant argue with his results

But the fact Bowe didnt face most of the top contenders of the 90s makes him unproven. Compare Bowes resume to that of Holy, Lewis, Tyson and it pales in comparision running away with its tale between its legs. Even Holmes, Rudduck, Bruno took on better opposition in the 90s

Bowe could have been something special if he kept developing (and yes he did need to work on his defense amongst other things). But sadly he is limited to a could of wins of Holyfield and little else. Achievement wise it isnt that much over a Douglas/McCall who also each had 1 night of greatness. Obviously it isnt about achievement but ability, but would he have looked as good taking on bigger challenges? Or would a Golota type fight have happened earlier?

Is the Holyfield win overrated anyway? Moorer managed the same feat 17months later, no one gives him a shot in hells chance against Lewis either

 

Interestingly those 2 men are better that anyone Bowe beat bar Holyfield. Lewis WON 2 tough fights with top contenders with excellent jabs there. Bowe lost to Holyfield and Tubbs when they jabbed, there lies the difference

 

Lets see how many top10 contenders he faced ranked from 1990-1995 (couldnt get 1991), taking the annual lists hes fought a total of 4 top 10 ranked fighters (and Seldon wasnt ranked when he fought him). Other than Holyfield the likes of Gonzalez, Hide, Seldon would be most peoples picks to be the worst from these lists

1990 Title Vacant

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1992

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10. Alex Garcia

1994

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1995

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People say Bowe wasn't facing the top contenders apart from Holyfield. And there's a long list of "top 90s fighters" who Lewis beat I dont deny.

But .... Herbie Hide was actually rated higher than Tommy Morrison in 1995. Jorge Luis Gonzalez was rated as high as, or higher than, Lionel Butler.
Ray Mercer was no longer rated at all when he fought Holyfield, and maybe that loss to a comebacking-from-heart-condition Holyfield should have got him rated, but he was still considered just a tough trial horse when Lewis fought him, on the fringes of the ratings at best.
Jesse Ferguson beat a higher-rated Mercer in 1993 and was RATED on the strength of that.
Pierre Coetzer's high WBA rating maybe have been inflated, but he was not completely undeserving of a rating.
Shannon Briggs' credentials weren't exactly stellar when he fought Lewis.

So, if people were consistent they'd leave off the names of Mercer, Morrison, Briggs, and some others when they list Lewis's "top fighters" and say Bowe ONLY fought Holyfield.

Obviously, Lewis beat more contenders than Bowe did. But I dont see why people try to exaggerate it further.

 

Call me crazy, but I think Lennox Lewis faced one of the most flawed eras in heavyweight boxing (behind todays). The contenders were horribly untalented, and proven by their future accomplishments, where very few of them had any longevity in the sport. Being a power puncher means little when you have no skills to back it up. Most were big, but most had little boxing skills and thats why Lewis was able to dominate them and a washed up Tyson, Holy, and even Foreman could stay fairly competitive with them as well. Hell even Tucker, Tubbs, Biggs, and Mcall were able to stay in the mix way past their time.
Lewis struggled with the technically better fighters that came out of Bowe and Tyson's prime era giving me more reason to believe Lewis would have had more problems had he fought the better fighters in the late 80's early 90's. I like Lennox Lewis and I think he was a great fighter, but he is one of the most overated top ten champions who feasted on guys he was physically as big, but technically leagues better than. Guys like Grant, Golota, Akinwande, Mavrovic, Tua, Briggs, Botha and Rahman were pure garbage.

 

Holyfield could barely fight against Moorer, was certainly fighting injured and just turning plain old before our eyes, and he decked Moorer and was actually a bit unlucky to lose the crown on such a razor-close decision. That fight could have gone either way, IMO.

How Moorer's "feat" compares to Bowe's performance 17 months earlier I dont know. :-(