Yes, read my past two posts.. I've already acknowledged that I forgot about cooper's outing with Bowe on the undercard of Holy-Douglas.
-You know it doesn't work that way. Holyfield rocked Bowe plenty in their first fight, and he couldn't bang like Cooper or Hide. Its all about timing on a particular night. Now if someone like Donald had him out on his feet and he started getting staggered regularly by other non punchers..it could be cause for concern. See Gatti as an example of someone that clearly lost punch resistance as their career progressed. -Yes, overall Bowe was getting lazier but getting rocked by a puncher that nearly killed a man in his previous match isn't evidence of declined punch resistance. And he could never throw a straight right hand. -Really, Bowe's durability and toughness was all he had left in that last Golota fight. Dude was walking through some absurd punishment and swinging for the fences. Can't think of many fighters that would have survived that 2nd round onslaught and stayed in the fight for that long.
I dont remember Bowe being rocked by Holyfield besides in the third fight and he was hurt very badly by a DOnald level puncher. I do agree with most of your post though, but in my opinion, Bowe's ability to take a punch was really depleted once he started using training camps for the sole purpose to cut large amounts of weight. He just weakened himself a lot. Yes Bowe could throw a straight right at one point.
-Bowe got hurt a few times. Most famously in Round 10 when Evander rallied. -Who? Certainly not Hide? -Could be. I just dispute Hide rocking him as evidence of a probable depletion. Hide can hurt anybody if he connects; he was fast, accurate, and strong. Chuvalo and Tua would be doing the chicken dance if he got enough free shots at them.
Bowe was never hurt like he was against Holyfield 3, Hide, and Golota in fights. In those three fights he was hurt very badly. He had faced comparable punchers and been hit as hard. Those fights were basically in a two year period 95,96, when Bowe had really let himself go.
It's unbelievable how any other boxer is exposed when meeting their match - But Bowe is never exposed he's overweight, underweight, past his prime, shot blah blah blah. Bottom line is - he fought someone big and skilled, he had no size advantages, or the advantage of youth on his side, it's pretty obvious this would happen and Bowe knew it...He knew it when he ran like a girl from Lennox Lewis and it's funny how after all these years it's an action of his he has never ever addressed!!! Maybe he doesnt need to when he has so many blind loving clowns claiming he is so great without him ever doing anything whatsover to underpin the point!
So beating Holyfield was meaningless, because he was small and undersized and Golota was just as good as Holyfield only bigger.:happy
I would say Hide is the best overall puncher he ever faced, maybe not raw power but he had fantastic speed, snap, accuracy, and timing. -Well Holyfield 3 and Golota were ugly brawls with him taking an unusual amount of punishment in questionable shape, I would expect him to get hurt very badly.
Its not like Bowe all of sudden overnight became shot, but he was shot by the Golota fights. His decline started shortly after winning the title. It doesnt matter how young he was, he didnt take care of his body, but maintained his mental fortitude and you cant be heavyweight champion being a half assed fighter with a lot of determination. It was no shock what happend with Bowe, it was right out there where everyone could see on his beltline after winning the title. He became fatter and less interested in boxing, and his technique and condition suffered greatly from it. Bowe was shot against Golota, his mental toughness combined with his lack of conditioning made him age like a dog leading up to it. The three fights with Holyfield took just about everything from him. He didnt even take Holyfield seriously in the last two fights, and thats why he retired when he was beaten from pillar to post by Golota who shouldnt have lasted more than three or four rounds with him.