Where does Riddick Bowe rank?

Good post.

 

"it's easy to paint opposition poorly" ...... yes, especially when it's not so great and that's why you find it easy to paint Bowe's opponents like Hide, Gonzalez, Seldon, Tubbs, Coetzer as crap ! That's fine.
But to then try to make excuses for Morrison and Mercer smacks of double standards.
If Morrison represented "danger" that might be to do with Lewis getting himself TKO'd by McCall.
Morrison was bombed out in 1 round by Bentt, who was destroyed in 7 by Hide ....... and Bowe fought Hide. Lewis fought Morrison.
You choose to give Lewis the credit.

etc.

 

I wonder how much longevity even matters when they have about the same amount of fights.

 

Hide might have been the biggest puncher Bowe faced. That's an indictment in itself. What I was saying is that at least Lewis fought some live underdogs, big ass punchers and some recent title holders... And the mummy that was Mike Dokes doesn't count for Bowe on this one. Morrison grabbed a belt and had legit KO power, better power than any of Bowe's opponents. Sure, he was inconsistent. but I don't think he represented a benchmark opponent for Lewis. Likewise, Mercer grabbed a belt, was up and down but had proven capable of excellent performances. Where were Bruce Seldon's performances comparable to what Mercer did against Holy or Morrison or even Damiani? I do see a distinction in quality here.

 

Well, I would never argue that Seldon was as good as Mercer. But he's on a par with Morrison.
Mercer's best performance (and latest) going in against Lewis was quite possibly his admirable effort in a close fight getting beaten and floored by Holyfield.
Bowe took on the winner Holyfield and knocked him out in 8 rounds. Lewis took on the loser Mercer and barely beat him on points.
So ... is taking on Holyfield THREE times and not taking on Mercer or Morrison (or whoever), really such a bad thing ?

Morrison was actually the best opponent Lewis fought in 1995, while him and Bowe were top-flight rivals. Lionel Butler and Ju*stin Fortune were very poor.
Bowe fought Herbie Hide, Jorge Gonzalez and Evander Holyfield - a better trio.

I don't think Morrison was particularly inconsistent at all. He just wasn't very good. He was consistently chinny and vulnerable, and consistently being fed old has-beens and second-raters.

The "quality gap" between who Lewis and Bowe were fighting in 1990 - '96 doesn't actually exist at all. Sure, '92 Ruddock definitely, and '93 Bruno and perhaps (if I'm generous) '96 Mercer might be a bit better ..... BUT that only becomes relevant if for some odd reason we ignore the three fights with Holyfield (who was ranked higher than all the three mentioned at the relevant time !).

That's my take anyway.

 

The thing people forget is whilst bowe beat a great champion to win the title AT THE TIME nobody thought Holyfeild was the best HW in the world. then bowe blew the rematch then Holyfeild lost to Moorer.

People woke up to Holyfeild when he beat Tyson and rematched moorer. By then bowe couldnt get past golata...

 

Holyfield had his doubters but it's quite an exaggeration to say nobody thought he was the best heavyweight in the world.

 

At his best (Holy 1992, Dokes & Fergy 1993) Bowe is top-20 material---even if his prime lasted a year to year and a half at most...

Same with James Buster Douglas in his 1990 Japan win over *****-whipped Tyson.... That Douglas of all 231 pounds boxed like a real master.... Too bad it was for one fight only....

MR.BILLbbb:hat

 

Not sure of you're age U, but if you were around in those days - and old enough to remember properly - Holy was always considered not a true heavyweight - there was always question marks against him continuously - he couldn't punch, he wasn't a true heavyweight, he was chinny (!!??) , he would get KO'd as soon as he faced a true big and talented heavy like Riddick BOwe, he was only fighting fatties (Buster), oldies (Foreman & Holmes, second raters - who nearly stopped him (Cooper) - Tyson would wipe him out as soon as they fought - he was never taken seriously until after the first Bowe fight - as soon as the final bell rang on that one that was his coming out party - still now Bowe had beaten him Bowe had now proved (what most people thought that) he was the best in the world but everyone now respected Holyfield

 

True. Holy of 1989 to 1991 was thought of being too small and not powerful enough and being possibly chinny..... BUT! In my book, after his wins over "Douglas, Foreman, Cooper and Holmes," I think folks were taking a second gander at Holy and changing their minds.... The first Bowe fight proved Holy was indeed a warrior capable of fighting as a heavyweight.... Holy lost his title there, but he went 12 intense rds of give and take....
:bbb:deal

MR.BILL:good

 

Even then, He wasnt really considered the best fighter in the world until after the Tyson win.

 

This simply isn't true, Bowe's opponents generally neither had the talent or resumes. McCall beat Holmes, Seldon, Ferguson.Morrison beat Rudduck and Foreman. Tucker only had the Tyson loss and was the slicker style Lennox supposedly never faced, look how Lennox dealt with Tucker as opposed to how Bowe arguably lost to Tubbs. Coetzer got hammed just as easily by Bruno and Old Foreman. Gonzalez/Hide hadn't beat anyone and turned out to be not that good

Many of Bowe's opponents were typically coming off loses where as Lennox fought men coming off good wins/perfromances. IE Bowe fought Seldon when he was coming off, Saying McCall took longer to KO him is irrelevant because Seldon may have not been the same after that KO. Tubbs was also ko'd in a round by Butler the year after Bowe arguably lost to him, does that necessarily make Butler better Bowe? Obviously not

 

24th tied with Jim Corbett.

 

I'm old enough to remember the era well.
Yes, all those doubts and criticisms about Holyfield existed, but that doesn't mean no one thought he was the legit #1.
Sure, some people said "Razor Ruddock is the best HW in the world", and then "Lewis is the best" when he beat Ruddock. Others thought Bowe was the future of the divisions. But others thought Holyfield the best - of a fairly mediocre bunch - and with the best accomplishments in the division too.
If I remember rightly, Holyfield ended up the betting favourite going in to the Bowe fight.

 

I don´t think it is even in my Top5.

Frazier over Ali
Schmeling over Louis
Ali over Foreman
Douglas over Tyson
Foreman over Moorer

Schmeling and Patterson did quite a bit more than Bowe and deserve to rank higher. I rank Patterson 13 and Schmeling 10 slots higher actually.