What if Bowe had faced Lewis in his first defense

A lot of speculation on who would have won this fight, mostly based on their meeting in the olympic finals. One must take into consideration what happened once both fighters went pro. Bowe hooked up with the legendary Eddie Futch, who often said Bowe had the physical talent and potential better than any fighter he had seen or worked with. He developed a complete fighting machine, capable of infighting, and boxing beautifully behind an excellent left jab. His style was worked perfectly to adjust to the pro game, and he was one of the first big men who could fight well on the inside and outside.
Lewis on the other hand turned pro under the guidance of Pepe Correa, who was a less experienced trainer. Lewis simply didnt improve much as a pro. His jab was decent, but he relied solely on the big right hand that was often telegraphed and left him grossly off balance. His technique was sloppy, and he never looked like the technically sound fighter Bowe was, until much further in his career once Emanuel Steward took over as his chief trainer. Sure Lewis improved tremendously after hooking up with Steward, while Bowe got lazier and worse as a fighter, but had Bowe faced Lewis after beating Evander Holyfield, he most likely would have exposed Lewis and beat him badly.

 

Boy thats a very informative post, please explain why?

 

Not really at that time. Both were similar physically, and Bowe at that time possessed the better jab, and also liked to mix it up on the inside using his jab and right hand to get inside. Lewis on the other hand was lost on the inside usually getting very sloppy and amatuerish.
Later Bruno who didnt possess a jab as good as Bowes at the time, easily oujabbed Lewis before getting caught trying to finish Lewis in the corner when he hurt him. Bowe was a much better fighter and finisher than Bruno.

 

I dont know about that. I dont think Bowe had very much to do with the decision at all. Lewis was always going to be out there. If you were Bowes manager and you just got the title, and you had a chance at two easy fights with big paydays, one being in his hometown, would you take it or go right into another tough fight against Lewis? Sure Lewis was a bigger payday but not that much bigger that is was worth the risk at that time after just winning the title. Most fighters try to do that when they win the title, just as Vitali did with Williams and Sanders, Holyfield and Moorer took Foreman, not knowing how tough he would be, Tyson took Holyfield. Fighters have a brief time period at the top and their managers if they're smart, take adavantage as long as they can. If Im not mistaken the fight was signed before the Mcall fight but Lewis was knocked out.

 

I dont think Futch had any reason to make Bowe out to be something he wasnt. He was an old well respected non BS type of trainer.

 

Your not going to say hes a great guy either if hes a-hole or a worthless piece of sh*t, are you? Im sure Futch wouldnt have been so high on Bowe if he thought otherwise.

 

Well then I wouldnt consider you a no BS type of guy.:good Bowe was certainly backing it up in the ring.

 

I think if you watch the postfight interview after the Gonzalez fight you will see what kind of person Futch was. The fact that he left Bowe for not staying focused, shows me he wasnt there just for a payday.