What were Riddick Bowes weaknesses?

Defence and dedication. Both were poor. He also couldn't straighten his cross. I'd have nearer the best puncher than the worst, though. I thought he had pretty good pop.

 

As George said, both his defense, and dedication were atrocious. The former in particular (well both) would cost him big time against punchers like Liston, Foreman, Tyson, etc.

 

His worst attribute was his hittability. That's why I don't fancy his chances against many of the greats. His chin was average although his determination while inside the ring was great. He's a hard night out for any smaller heavyweight, I think.

 

Probably his dedication. He was a man who had all the tools and when he won the title from Holyfield it seemed he would be around for a long time. He seemed to lose interest and looked pretty bad against Golota. Too bad we never got to see him vs Tyson or Lewis. Those could have been all-time classics.

 

Management. He had great tools, physically and mentally. I know he gets a bad rep for 'quitting' in the Olympics (he absolutely didn't in my eyes) but he was a 21 year old lad whose sister had been killed a few weeks previously. To get over that and win a silver medal takes some doing.

Physically, 6'5" and a solid 230lber is a big man but he needed someone to keep him focussed and in that ballpark weight-wise. Skills; good jab, good uppercut and body shots. Terrific stamina which came from how comfortable he was in the ring. Serviceable right hand and heavy hook. His power came from his strength rather than the speed and snap Lewis had but he hurt Holyfield like no man, before or after. His chin was above average if not granite. He should never have been that shaken from Holyfield's hook in the 3rd fight but he took some other bombs eg from Holy and Hide which he shook off.

He also had a great trainer. The best, in fact. His indiscipline may have come from the atrocious example Newman set him, grabbing Tillery's neck, letting him dump the WBC belt, letting him go up in weight. I know Bowe was a grown man but he wasn't really. He was always like a big kid. A naughty, likeable big kid. He sought a father figure in life and found one in Futch. If only he'd found something similar in Newman.

As it was, Newman was far from the father figure. He was always creating situations where they didn't need to happen, never concentrating on what needed to be done. And given how good Bowe was in the ring and how approachable and charismatic out of it, it's a travesty that he is broke and brain damaged now.

 

He could’ve been even better than what he showed, an at his best a great fighter. Something that irritated me with him was how he’d throw has right hand. Threw a sloppy right hand at times, an arm puncher sometimes. I remember Futch at the time being very annoyed with Bowe, along the lines of him being the most talented fighter in the world at heavy but no dedication, so futch dropped him

 

Defense, dedication to the sport, overcoming his crazy manager.

 

Lack of work ethic.

 

His fear of Lennox Lewis.

 

Definitely the bedroom fridge...... i heard he kept snickers bars he'd put in peanut butter and jelly sandwiches washed down with a 6 pack of rootbeer every night

 

Fear?

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Chinny. He went down or caught hell against mid-range punchers like Holy, Golota, and Hide, and they wouldn't let him fight the big punchers.

Undisciplined in the ring. He should have at least two disqualification losses.

Undisciplined out of the ring. Got fat.

All the talk of him being a "great infighter" for his size is to mirror the fact that he didn't know how to use his size.

 

0 KO losses in more than 40 fights, but sure, he's "chinny".

Yes he was undisciplined.

He absolutely was a great infighter. You just love going against the grain to look special, huh?

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Sure he could have fought taller and used his jab more, but was definitely good on the inside. You are the 1st person I've seen on any forum or even a casual comment section claiming he wasn't great at close range.

 

That was awful. Genuinely nice people shouldn't **** talk.