Which fighters would you favor over Riddick Bowe?

Everybody but Johnson and Dempsey and pre-Steward Lewis. Steward-era Lewis would have knocked the crap out of him in 5 rounds.

 

It's possible some of the earlier era guys do but i'm not familiar enough to vote for them so i just picked Ali, Lennox, and Vlad. Think Ali and Vlad good shots to decision Bowe Lennox could KO him or decision him. Of course this is prime vs prime. Prime Bowe against lesser versions of all those guys is favored.

 

All of em

 

In no order Ali Foreman Liston Louis Klitschko

 

Yes, Bowe listened to Newman, but my point is he wasn't afraid of fighting Lewis.
His team probably wanted to milk the fact that he was champ by making as much money as possible from low risk fights

 

I think Lewis, Tyson and Ali beat him . The rest I'd take Bowe. Too big for the first four and too good for foreman and hit to hard for wlad. However two people not on that list I'd favour to beat Bowe is Holmes and vitali.

 

Larry would have decisioned him UD in what probably would have been a slow fight.

 

I think JJ’s speed, reflexes, craftiness, and fight IQ prevail.

 

Favour him over Johnson and Dempsey 50/50 against Wlad. All the others I feel would beat him. Also if Dempsey got to take those Evander roids I think Jack could win.

 

Wladmir and Lennox had many similarities in style and attributes. Both preferred fighting on The outside with their long jabs and tying guys up when pressured. Both had good power, but lacked durability, stamina and traditional defensive skill, so they heavily relied on controlling the range and slowing down the pace. The difference was Lennox had more fight in him and could stand his ground and slug if necessary (Mercer, Holyfield, Vitali bouts). With the rare exception of his younger days before Stewart and his last bout with Joshua, Wladmir often panicked if backed into a corner forced to fight (the 1st Peter bout being the most egregious example).

For that reason I say Lennox is slightly more well rounded with a wider punch selection (heavy uppercut to go along with his big man jab and right hand) while Wladmir was more of an outside specialist and slightly better at forcing guys to fight his kind of fight. Despite his punching power, I don't see Wladmir being able to keep Bowe off of him. It would be ugly, not just because Bowe could dish it out as well as he could take it, but being a fairly big man himself, Bowe's jab would be a major nuisance for Wlad who wouldn't be able to get away with his typical jab and grab tactics. Bowe is also a tremendously skilled inside fighter and way too strong for Wlad to tie up and harass with his body weight. I see prime Bowe stopping Wladmir within 7-9 rounds 75% of the time.

Lennox on the other hand I would favor and it has nothing to do with psychology or what happened in the Olympics. Lennox could be downright nasty on the rare occasion when he opened up and saw a guy as a major threat (such as the beatdowns of Golota or Briggs). He could also play it safe and box cautiously at mid range and I feel his jab wasn't as hard as Bowe's, but it had more utility. Lennox tended to paw and use it as a range finder to set up nasty follow up shots or bust you up to make you think twice about rushing in. Bowe, like 70's Foreman, had a great jab but didn't throw it consistently enough and preferred rolling up his sleeves and having phone booth brawls. Because of their tendencies and Lennox being the more mature boxer, I favor him to win 60% of the time but it would be pretty close more often than not.

Richard did a good job explaining why I feel prime Ali would beat Bowe. He certainly has more than a good chance of beating the slower and less elusive 70's Ali, especially post Manilla that bout wouldn't even be close.

I don't give Johnson much of a chance. Someone can feel free to make their case I'm all ears. His style seemed to be better suited for dealing with smaller pressure fighters and guys who lacked the size and/or technique to keep up with him. He was a great pioneer of more scientific fighting but there were few guys on his level on terms of ring IQ in that era. Bowe would not respect Johnson's power and likely steamrolls him when he tries grappling and clinching.

Louis however is one of the few who may end up stopping Bowe. Sizzling hand speed and superb technique against a guy with little head movement and mediocre defense. Bowe hit hard but he usually needed to bludgeon you to get you out of there and has very few knockouts over quality prime fighters. Louis' explosive power and accuracy could end up shortening Bowe's career. I mean look at how many clean flush shots Herbie Hide and Holyfield landed on him. Both were similar in size to Louis and didn't have 50% of his skill or hand speed.

Liston I'd say is 50/50. That would be a hell of a war.

Dempsey could be an interesting opponent early but doesn't have the stamina to deal with Bowe in the later rounds. I think Bowe stops him late or drops him once in a thrilling battle and wins a close decision.

Tyson...hmm that would be a promoter's dream and it would live up to the hype. Weird that it never happened given they're both NY native and only a couple years apart in age. I think ore Douglas 80's Tyson gives him all he can handle and may even win more often than not. The nagging doubt in the back of my mind is if Tyson had the stamina to actually go to war with Bowe (you can forgot about an early stoppage either way). The times Tyson went the distance in his prime were all opponents who had issues before the bell rung or stylistic problems. Tucker had a broken hand and was primarily a stick and move guy. Tillis lacked power and durability so he needed to get on his bike and pot shot all night. It was also a 10 round bout. Ruddock was primarily a 1 armed fighter and had the brain capacity of a boulder. That bout did prove that Tyson was no chump and could slug with a guy who wasn't scared of him tho.

But Bowe was neither dumb, nor a 1 armed fighter. He was not a stick and move guy and had plenty of power himself. He also had Eddie Futch in his corner. Bowe of the Holyfield fight threw so many damn punches and was 10x the inside fighter Tyson was. I think it boils down to if Tyson's hand speed and defense can cancel out Bowe's durability and work rate. I think it's 50:50. Bowe easily beats 90's Tyson tho.

As for Foreman, this would be like a cape buffalo charging into a bison. The ref had better get out the way! I think it would be interesting to see what happens if Foreman targets the body early and what condition Bowe is in. An in shape Bowe who uses his brain and listens to Futch likely finds a game plan to deal with a body assault from Foreman. However, if Bowe leaves himself open looking to trade or has a lot of flab and blubber in his gut...ouch. I see Foreman breaking him down eventually. Bowe had the crisper shots and was the better combination puncher up close, but Foreman always threw with bad intentions and always aimed for vital spots. Ironically, Foreman would be the more accurate of the two.

Neither knew how to back up, both lacked head movement, and Bowe wouldnt allow Foreman to just push him back. So yeah, I'd say my analogy is accurate and it would be like 2 beasts ramming into each other. Bowe's work rate and stamina vs Foreman's brutally accurate clubbing shots. Foreman had the more proven chin but worse stamina. Fairly even bout on paper as long as Bowe is in shape and defensively responsible. I wouldn't trust Bowe to be in shape though as this was a constant issue with him throughout his career so If slightly favor Foreman 55% of the time.

 

Cool post!

 

@BlackCloud Alert, Alert

Two perpetrators have Bowe winning all of these matchups. Requesting “#1 h2h thread” with a poll.

*khkhk* Over *khkhk*

 

The idealized version of Bowe is one that confuses a good meshing of styles with Holyfield for some sort of greatness. The actual version of Bowe is of a guy who had to low blow Pierre Coetzer into defeat and who got befuddled by ordinary Andrew Golota. He was lazy, fragile and sloppy in between his sporadic moments of innate skill and talent.