That is ridiculous.Think of all the fighters inferior to Bowe who went far more rounds than One. Tyson never beat a HW anywhere near as good as prime Bowe(Holmes and Spinks dont count-old and fought at short notice..and small and terrified) The more i think about it,he would have certainly beaten Tyson.Bowe also beat prime Evander.Tyson wouldnt have.I know the A beats B beats C..etc etc isnt always true,but it often is.
Tough one. If Tyson fought his little heart out I would guess that a reasonable result would be Tyson by decision. It would depend a lot on Bowe's gameplan, however.
Well I beg to differ. Bowe progressed much quicker as a pro. They were quite equal in the amatuers, in fact they fought for the gold. Bowe won the first round, the ref stopped the fight a little prematurely in the second off of two standing 8's. Bowe went with the great Eddie Futch, and perfected his style quite well to fight in the pro game. He was an excellent infighter, had a great jab and was an overall excellent fighter once he met Holyfield. In contrast Lewis went with Correa who basically turned him into a head hunting right hand happy off balance fighter. Lewis' amatuer style was exposed in as early as the Bruno fight, where he was almost stopped and finally exposed when he met Oliver Mcall for his title defense. Lewis did improve significantly under Emanuel Steward, but at the time their fight was proposed, Bowe in my opinion would have stomped Lewis.
i agree and im English. Look at Bowes inside fighting,punch variety,jab,boxing on the outside,balance, creating of punching angles..... etc against Holyfield(1)....he could do it all when focused and in shape. He would have been too much for Lewis then.
Good post, but I would only say Bowe most likely wasnt scared of Lewis. It was common for promoters not to go right into another tough fight after their fighter won the title. In fact, as far back as I can remember, all the champions went for a couple easier defenses or showcase money fights before going into another real tough fight. Lewis also provided little crowd support from his lack of association with any country at the time. Was he British, Canadian, Jamaican, etc?? Bowes team wanted a couple easy defenses, make some extra money, and then go for a big super fight. This most likely was the course, except Lewis did little to hype the fight once he won the title. He struggled with Bruno and was KO'd by Mcall two fights later. The biggest fight for Bowe was not a fight with Lewis, it was a rematch with Holyfield.
Well Lewis put his in the bin instead of facing Byrd. I think Byrd would have been a difficult fight for Lewis, but it was understandable that a fight with Kirk Johnson in Canada would be a far better payday and easier fight stylistically for Lewis than facing a slick boring fighter like Byrd.
IMO Tyson at his best would've beaten a peak Bowe down, I don't see Bowe being durable enough to take Tyson's shots all night, as for Lewis, in 93 he would've lost to Holy, and Bowe, he looked bad against Bruno and was KO'd by McCall, Lewis didn't become great until steward entered the picture.
aah good old Lennox Lewis, a man who at the time he was winning wasn't that well liked or regarded, but as time goes on it's easy to forget his career best wins were a large selection of well faded/past prime and completely shot fighters. Lennox is the GOAT :rofl He was a very very good fighter, but he was a right place right time guy more than anything. Prime Bowe, Holy and Tyson all starch him inside the first 6
Your right Bowe had a very short career, and he really was damaged goods at the end of it, but unlike Lewis he had another all time great to compete against in their respective prime, in Holyfield. He also showed a lot of flashes of greatness in his abilities in my opinion, as far as being a complete fighter. Lewis will always be ranked above Bowe, and he did go on to accomplish a lot more, but it was against a marginal group of contenders, and two post prime all time greats, and in the mix of that he was knocked out twice. He won his title from an ancient Tony Tucker, and regained it from a mentally unstable Oliver Mcall, and unified it against a past prime Holyfield.
Yep I agree(though i do think Bowe was entitled to have a couple of easy defenses and secure his family's future before taking on an elite like Lewis)but at that short period of time,ie after he beat Holyfield,he would have beaten Lewis for me.Its a pity for him he didnt take it immediately. Yes Lewis went onto immortality and Bowe burned out.But at that short window of time....
I dont think it would have at that time. Besides, why should the newly crowned American undisputed Heavyweight champion go to the UK to defend his title? Yes, Lewis vacated the IBF belt so he wouldnt have to fight his mandatory in Chris Byrd.
True, it was a fight that unfortunately didnt happen. Bowe should have hung them up after the third Holyfield fight, he definitely shouldnt even be thinking about fighting now.