Tokyo Buster Douglas vs. Rid**** Bowe from First Holyfield Fight.

I'd go with Bowe, he had that extra bit of fire and heart that Douglas lacked when the going got tough. I think Bowe stops him in the later rounds.

 

I concur with Wass.In addition, don't see Buster able to hurt Rid****, but Rid**** would hurt Buster.Rid**** has Buster out of the fight by the ninth round, after scoring 3 knockdowns, and then goes back to the dressing room to listen to some Nolan Thomas.

 

I don't think James had the durability or mental fortitude to take a relentless attack from Big Daddy for an entire evening. If well trained and motivated, Douglas could hang with him for several rounds and box well enough to score some points - maybe even frustrate Bowe a tad. But sooner or later he's going to break down from those hard shots on the inside. A well prepared Douglas looses somewhere between round rounds 7-10 in a competitive effort. A poorly prepared Douglas looses inside of 5.

 

bowe

 

Douglass might out jab Bowe here and can pull the upset by staying slick and pumping the jab all night. Prime Bowe will hang in there and resort to his physicality. The uppercuts and right crosses will be the end of Douglass.
Bowe KO 8.

 

At the risk of not sounding like a fan, Douglas, not being considered a big puncher (per se)....Bowe would likely be willing to face him. But would Bowe's two-step/jab/two-step jab and reset be enough....and if it wasn't, would Douglas find success as Bowe began to reach and throw wildly, more and more?

I don't see the best version of Buster Douglas sticking around to get hit with Bowe's wide arc overhand right.....and its not like Bowe had a short straight one.

 

Douglas. Bowe would be too flatfooted and easy to hit.

 

Very good fight. I would not be surprised at all if Douglas won. He had great jab and was mobile both were problems for Bowe. This is Tokyo Douglas here, not any other version of Douglas. Good fight. Douglas is forgotten but he has as many good wins as Bowe.

 

Bowe by late round KO.

Bowe is one of only 3 HW Champs to never get stopped. Yes, Holyfield and Golota dropped him but they didn't get the job done.

An in-shape Douglas had height, weight, reach, a good jab, power, boxing ability, and quickness... an in-shape Bowe had all of that too and was more durable. Bowe was actually a little taller but Douglas had a little longer reach. Bowe was a little heavier (4 Lbs on this night), and was leaner.

 

I'm going with Tokyo. He was so driven and had a lot more seasoning to draw from to get him through that fight. And he beat a better champion on the night.

When I think back people were undecided about former cruiserweight Holyfeild who was facing his first genuine big young undefeated heavyweight contender.

Nobody was undecided about Tyson.

 

...and how did those fights unfold again?

Tyson was outboxed, dropped and stopped by Douglas. Sure, he had Douglas down in the 8th though.

Holyfield and Bowe went to war in their first fight and Bowe won a close decision. Yes, Holyfield was down... but look closer... shot to the back of head/base of skull, Holyfield used the ropes for support. It's not like he was knocked on his ass. Bowe got away with countless lowblows and never lost a point until their 3rd fight. Holyfield outboxed Bowe in the rematch.

Perception is one thing, reality is another. Holyfield was better than Mike Tyson in my opinion. People were and still are so obsessed with Tyson that anybody who could beat him in those days must have been super human. Holyfield opened as a 25-1 underdog when he KTFO of Mike Tyson. So much for opinions leading up to fights.

 

Douglas was stopped by David Bey and Mike White. He won a MD vs. Tex Cobb and lost a MD to J. Ferguson. He outpointed Greg Page and David Jaco. He boxed well vs. Tucker but ran out of gas and was stopped in the 10th. He stopped Wimpy Halstead in the 9th and Mike Williams in the 7th. He outpointed Berbick and McCall. He stopped Tyson. What else did he do?

Bowe beat Holyfield 2 out of 3 and was never stopped in his pro career. He stopped Hide and Coetzer, clearly outpointed Larry Donald, crushed Jorge Gonzalez (so what, right?), Cooper, Biggs, and Seldon.

Neither had perfect resumes, but Bowe's was better.

 

^ it's Tokyo Douglas not a career overview comparison. Still Douglas' wins stack up nicely against Bowes. Tyson, McCall, Berbick, stacks up well if not better than Bowe's best three victories.