Which heavyweight you rank higher ATG, Vitali Klitschko or Riddick Bowe

Of course. Its the ultimate claim to boost one's ego and reputation

Vitali hit harder than Foreman or Lewis + old shannon going the distance = " I'm a badass dude "

 

He had a built up record period!

 

That's really what it boils down to. Even if one definitely thinks that he was more experienced and better poised against Klitschko, there really aren't any battle tested wins to speak of to justify this vast gain in "experience." Let's face it.. George Foreman was 14 months shy of FIFTY years of age and arguably beat him.. Liakovich or however the f-ck his name is spelled was average. And most of shannon's wins ( usually against tomato cans ) never went beyond a round or two to benefit from any real seasoning. Factor in his age and lack of activity in recent years prior to facing Vitali and you basically had a shot ( and never really that good to begin with ) fighter. When it comes down to it, Shannon Briggs was a glorified Alex Stewart.

 

Briggs reminds me of a poor mans version of George Foreman, when he was young he was built up and inexperienced but physically strong and when he got older he got himself into good condition Larger and muscled and more relaxed but other than KOing a shot Mercer and showed better stamina vs S Lavitch he did nothing

funny how he keeps stalking Vlad like he has something coming after fighting no one....I would have liked to see Tyson Fury bust him up

 

I don't even think I'd categorize him as a poor man's version.. For me a poor man's Foreman would be Earnie Shavers or someone of that sort. When George was still rough around the edges as you say, he was still polishing off Norton, Frazier, Lyle, Chuvalo and only losing to guys like Ali and Young.. Briggs never came within shouting distance of doing any of these things. Furthermore, I wouldn't classify Foreman as getting "better" with age but rather better "suited" for the specific circumstances he was fighting in.. In the 1970's Foreman had greater power behind his shots and early round tenacity and energy. These attributes were perfect for making short work of Joe Frazier and Ken Norton.. The comeback rendition featured better defense, straiter shots and better energy conserving tactics. These qualities were more appropriate for dealing with guys like Evander Holyfield and Michael Moorer.. A prime Ken Norton might have decisioned the slower-less aggressive 90's Foreman where as Evander Holyfield might have worn down and stopped the 70's version.

 

Bummy, Briggs threw maybe 5 punches per round against Liakovich. If he threw any less punches, he may as well have shown up in a straightjacket.

It was one of the worst displays by a heavyweight that I have ever seen. (Then again, it was worth watching simply to see Liakovich's wife's face after he managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of certain victory.)

 

Yeah I didn't catch that fight. But Liakovich was an average opponent for a rated heavyweight. I read the notes and apparently Sarhei was winning through 12 round before Shannon scored two knockdowns in the final seconds - the second of which sent Liakovich through the ropes. But I guess had the referee let it continue it would have been a draw.

 

What if Bowe fought Lewis? Who would have won?

 

We will never know because Bowe did everything humanly possible to duck Lewis. In my opinion after he saw Lewis brutally knockout Ruddock him and his team got scared.

That's the one that really counts against Bowe's legacy. Also the fact that his resume outside of Holyfield is very bare. We saw when Holyfield committed to jab and box, he controlled the fight. Bowe always had a porous defence, Holyfield landed 60% of his punches against Bowe. As the consensus number 1 heavyweight in the world he got brutally thrashed by Golota and had no answer whatsoever to Golota's jab.

Bowe was only a major title holder once, for only one year.

 

Good post, and Foreman certainly wasn't muscled up in his come back, he was a giant fat man who had learned to relax in the ring ,and a man who could still bang I think his accuracy improved once he settled down ,watch him against Cooney he misses very little.

 

Bowe fought Holyfield for the title a month after Lewis kod Ruddock.:huh

 

So what?

 

I saw it live 24 years ago and have viewed it perhaps two or three times since.. That was actually a spectacular card. One of the best fights I've ever seen between Doug Dewitt and Mathew Hilton was on there as were prospect appearances from Ray Mercer and Bruce Seldon.. You don't get cards like that anymore.

 

Doug Dewitt he was a durable guy!