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

Bowe like every fighter fought his way into contention by beating ranked fighters. He fought Coetzer I believe for the #1 WBA ranking. All fighters are the same. He also then proved himself by beating Evander Holyfield, which future showed was leagues better than the shot Ruddock. Lennnox fought a twice beat down Razor Ruddock for his ranking, yet he gets far more credit because Ruddock was able to hang in with Tyson for two fairly long fights.

 

I thought Bowe beat Tubbs, but it could have been a draw. I thought Lewis beat Mercer, but could have been a draw.
Holyfield was great and had varied skills, not just a jab, and won a close fight with a slightly off-best Bowe.

Mercer's record and form was not better than Tony Tubbs' going in to the Lewis fight, and he was overweight too. Let's not exaggerate Mercer's rating.
Lewis scraped past the shorter-armed Mercer, and exploited Bruno's tendency to fold suddenly. Doesn't really tell us he beats Bowe with the jab.
Doesn't say much for how Lewis handles a big guy with good jab and basics either.

Lewis v. Bowe would be two guys who were better fighters than any of those guys (bar Holyfield), jabbing each other. It would be a different fight.

I'm not saying Lewis-Bruno or Lewis-Mercer mean Bowe beats him with the jab, I'm just countering the opposite assertion that Bowe's showings against X, Y, or Z means Lewis would jab him to pieces.
This is a two-sided fight.

 

Rudduck had given Tyson 2 decent fights taking him 19rounds without being knocked out nothing leads us to believe he was shot, Lewis simply did what Tyson couldnt and destroyed him in 2 landing a perfect temple shot (probably catching him cold). That was a massively impressive win over a top3 opponent who was the favourate coming on. How many top3 Ranked opponents have been taken out like that in history? Rudduck had a better resume than Bowe by that point too.

Bowe had a very cushy rise to the top fighting no Ring ranked opponents, Coetzer was no great shakes with no impressive wins and would be ko'd twice again in his next 2. Compare that to Lennox who had to face Ring Ranked opponents like Rudduck (top 5), Gary Mason (Top5 in 1991 from memory), Chanet (Euro Champ), Weaver, Biggs. Not all those names were great or peak but its clearly better pre-title opposition than Bowe faced. Not to mention Lewis blasted out Biggs faster and with less bother than Bowe managed

 

Mercer did prove to be in great form as he gave Holyfield a just as close fight if not for the knockdown. Tubbs did not do such thing and in fact lost by first round knockout to relative nobodies the year after. On top of that, Tubbs outskilled Bowe and showed how bad his outside game is, whereas Lewis went toe-to-toe with Mercer (in order to impress for a Tyson fight), which always favors the shorter guy, and was stupid to do because of Mercer's unbelievable chin, which incidentally is way more proven than Bowe's.

 

Tubbs was a decent win for Bowe. Nothing more, nothing less. Tubbs was good.

Whatever Mercer did in the Holyfield fight to re-establish himself it didn't actually secure him a particularly high rating, esp. since Holyfield himself was coming back from a 13-month layoff and the sad showing against Moorer.
And Mercer was inactive 12 months between Holyfield and Lewis and showed up noticeably fatter, a full stone (14 pounds) heavier.

Mercer was good, like Tubbs. (I actually think Tubbs was a better boxer, but overall I'll call them equal)

 

Lewis by KO. No matter how we try to dissect, analyze, ponder, guess as to why these two never fought and how the outcome would've been one thing is certain...Bowe wanted no part of Lennox Lewis. A real champion wouldn't throw his belt in the trash instead of fighting an equally skilled opponent to see who was superior. Ali wouldn't that's for sure. He'd want to fight Lewis to shut him up and to prove to the public that he was the better of the two even if it was dangerous to do so. Hell a "Washed up" Holyfield was willing to take him on despite the size difference...twice even! I'm sure the public would've loved to see these two behemoths battle it out for ring supremacy but Bowe would have none of it. He remembered what happened to him the last time they met and was taking NO chance of a repeat period.

 

Tubbs hadnt done anything since beating Page 5 years earlier, most on here had him beating Bowe, he would be knocked out in 1 by Butler in his next fight. Mercer had gone close with Holyfield in his prior fight, was always seen as a top prospect and would beat Witherspoon next fight out. Most would consider Mercer better prime for prime, but the fact is he was far nearer his prime and whats more probably gave a career best showing

 

Being knocked out by Lewis, than Morrison shortly after and never having another significant performance, tells me Tyson took a lot of out of him or he wasnt the same fighter.
Im not saying Bowe had a better career than Lewis, but Bowe certainly didnt avoid punchers, or sneak into title contention. Bowe was not signed with a major promoter either, and was not a manufactured contender like 99% of Don Kings fighters were at that time.

 

Tubbs had two losses coming into the Bowe fight, one close with Spoon. Mercer on the other hand had lost to Ferguson, almost lost again and lost to Holmes and Holyfield. Tubbs had better overall skills than Mercer.

 

Did you even watch that fight or just babbling to hear your voice? There was no material difference in skill, attribute, or talent between the 21 year old Bowe and the 23 year old Lewis to have given Bowe anything to fret about. The ref had a stick in his ass and interjected himself into what had the making of a competitive and exciting fight. The 21 year old was troubled by the REF and it eventually impacted his performance (and Lewis grabbed the opportunity - as anyone should or would - to make the most of his distraction).

Anyone can see that both fighters had great talent, size, and decent skill and both athletes would have expected a competitive battle any time they met up ESPECIALLY after that encounter. Believing that Bowe was intimidated or felt inferior athletically to Lennox is ridiculous.

As for what "real champions" would or wouldn't do that is a fiction and an idealization in your mind. There are too many examples to mention of "real champions" cherry picking, not fighting the best available opponents, not fighting the best until they are OLD, or only fighting them under favorable and advantageous conditions. Every sport fan wants the best to meet the best in the ring on a level "playing field". But, it is a business and business considerations regularly trump what we think should happen or should have happened - especially as the fighters themselves are often NOT negotiating and making all career decisions. If this is your argument than there are lots of boxers you can and should take to task. Are you certain this an objective criticism or merely because Bowe happens to be your particular bete noire (as each and every person seems to have something or someone that bothers them for no substantive reason)?

 

There actually are a few knowledgeable posters on this forum.:good

 

Well, your boxing observations, opinions, anecdotes, and comments are always first rate - the best on ESB - and there are only about a dozen posters (probably only a half dozen) that I ever find myself in agreement with on this entire site.

Be well.

 

Well I saw the Olympic fight and I think Lewis' win is somewhat overhyped, but having said that I wouldn't necessarily call it a quick stoppage because Olympic rules are different than the rules in professional boxing, and only Bowe knows whether or not Lewis had a speed, power and/or defensive advantage. But bottom line is Lewis won and took away Bowe's dream.

But as far as this "real champion" issue goes, a couple of things are undeniable. Namely, Bowe had a signed contract to fight the winner of the Lewis/Ruddock fight. The winner of this fight would be been deemed the best of that era, so it's not a fight anyone would want to avoid from a marketing standpoint and to enhance ones earning power, and finally, Bowe should have wanted to fight Lewis if for no other reason than to avenge his loss in the Olympics. So here you have the perfect marketing scenario. Bowe vs Lewis, to see who is the best in the division, and Bowe has an opportunity to avenge his olympic loss. The winner would have basically controlled the division and fighters such as Tyson would have had to fight them if he wanted to claim to be the best. So that's the business reason for them fighting..tell me the business reason for Bowe avoiding this fight? Also last time I checked, when we say business is business, it also meaning honoring signed contracts and not robbing the fans of a fight they badly wanted to see.

How's that good business?

With all this at stake why would Bowe not want to fight Lewis? What possible reason could have existed. This is why the general public says Bowe is scarred, simply because no other legitimate reason jumps out at you.

 

Well Lewis had better reach than Bowe (longer than usual for his height) and Lewis around 1995 was flat-out fast. He had quick hands. Compare his jab vs Morrison to his "prime" about 5 years later.
Bowe's best chance would be before Manny Steward trained him (Morrison was Lewis' first fight with Manny) but after Manny was on board I think Lewis destroys him.

What did Bowe actually do better? Certainly not defence and I dont see him out-jabbing Lewis.
Bowe's prime was what about 2 years from 92-94? Even then he got knocked down heavily by Holyfield and took a lot of shots.

Lewis can fight great on the inside also, check him out vs Morrison, he was toying with him on the ropes. Left hooks and uppercuts.

 

Because Bowe felt he was robbed in the olympics. He also felt Lewis got favorable treatment by the ref, and then went on to talk a lot of smack in the media saying he knocked him out.
In the pros Bowe fought his way up to winning the title. Holyfield was considered the best in the division not Lewis. That was the pinnacle of the pro ranks. Now Bowe had the upper hand. He didnt have to prove he was best heavyweight, he was at that time!