Riddick Bowe Is Vastly Underrated And Could Beat Any HW

It is a good point, Bowe and Douglas. But I think Bowe was a far superior fighter in every way, obviously. Douglas was the better Cinderella Story! I like that comparison though, spot on! Cheers. Obviously Bowe had a lot more potential than Douglas, and performed at a higher level throughout his career, but the two have a lot more in common than many people think.

if riddick was underrated, its his fault. he wasnt devoted enough to the sport. he could have been great, but instead he chose to be fat. no different fom james toney I agree with this. The Riddick Bowe from the first Holyfield fight could beat a lot of heavyweights, but it's no one's fault but Riddick Bowe that all that potential wasn't lived up to.

Today I decided to watch 15 or so of Bowe's fights. He was a monster. With the best HW trainer of all time (Eddie Futch RIP) and motivated, Bowe was basically unstoppable. He outclassed, dominated and beatdown Holyfield. Prime for prime Bowe destroys both Klitschkos brothers. He has the 2nd greatest jab in HW history (behind Ali only), big power, could fight inside and out, had a great right hand, left hook, uppercut, you name it. It's sad that they refused to fight Lewis as a pro due to purse percentages. Lewis beat Bowe in the Olympics, but that was long before Bowe hooked up with Futch and got his act together. Still, Bowe in shape and motivated is a top 5 HW and could have beaten any HW on any night. He also had a great punch volume and cardio in his prime. Holyfield was what, 210 pounds or so in the first fight? He landed bomb after bomb on Bowe but just didnt have the size or punch to hurt him badly.

Tyson and Bowe didn't fight because they were friends. Lewis was dusted by McCall and didn't improve much from the amateurs to pros. Bowe improved by leaps and bounds. He was a better boxer than Lewis with more power, a better jab and better cardio. dude wake up. bowe was clearly scared ****less of lewis and blatantly ducked him. bowe avoided big punchers his whole career and sorry but bowe doesnt hit nearly as hard as lewis. bowe was never a big one punch guy. he got hit way too much. lewis and even the klits would have taken him out

Oh great, another "Riddick Bowe is underrated" thread. Bowe's prime lasted approximately five seconds, during which time he managed to duke out a decision with Holyfield that got America's panties wet. Fair play to him for that, good performance. He also lost the rematch and barely won the rubber match when Holyfield's heart gave out. Oh, and he got beaten the crap out of by Golota twice whilst still in his twenties. Oh yeah, and he ducked Lennox. Real impressive resume that. Tell me, what separates Bowe from a fighter like Buster Douglas, who also had one great night in his career? Potential? Yeah, Riddick had that, but so did Lennox, Holyfield, Wlad etc and they all actually realised that potential in the ring, thus taking it out of the realm of supposition and hypothesis and making it tangible. Besides, it wasn't like Bowe was flawless. He showed plenty of faults even in his best performance: inconsitency with the jab, a sloppy right hand, a tendency to give up his height and brawl on the inside (no reason a tall guy like Bowe should have been fighting on the inside, period) and a really leaky defence that involved his chin as the prime stopper. Could he have beaten any heavyweight on the right night? Sure he could. So could Lennox, Holyfield, Tyson, Wlad, Vitali and any top heavyweight who happens to have the good fortune to have it all come together come the fight. Besides Holyfield, suppositions are all Bowe really has going for him, because he left far too many questions in the ring. It is a good point, Bowe and Douglas. But I think Bowe was a far superior fighter in every way, obviously. Douglas was the better Cinderella Story! I like that comparison though, spot on!

Today I decided to watch 15 or so of Bowe's fights. He was a monster. With the best HW trainer of all time (Eddie Futch RIP) and motivated, Bowe was basically unstoppable. He outclassed, dominated and beatdown Holyfield. Prime for prime Bowe destroys both Klitschkos brothers. He has the 2nd greatest jab in HW history (behind Ali only) He had a great offensive arsenal and was spectacular mid range but his defense really wasn't all that good at all, he had an excellent jab but to say it's better then Listons and Holmes is a long shot. There's not many Heavies I would choose over a primed Bowe but there's no way he was unstoppable.

While what you say is technically true, I always felt Bowe had a street guy mentality in him when he mixed it up. It made for interesting, exciting fights though it's probably the cause of his short reign and slurred speech now. True, Bowe can't be faulted on his lack of heart inside the ring. He was very much a "you hit me, I hit you" kinda guy. But this isn't street fighting and Bowe can't be considered a great boxer simply due to the excitement he brought to his fights. Longevity and consistency have to factor in there as well, and Bowe trips up on both counts.

He was a terrific inside fighter when he wanted to be. Kind of rare among big heavyweights. His lack of discipline like you alluded to, prevents him from being an ATG. He had a great inside offence. I wouldn't call him a great inside fighter because his height and sloppy defence meant he got hit too much whilst there. And yes it is rare amongst big heavyweights for the same reason that it's rare to see a short heavyweight who's a great outside boxer, it really isn't the best way for them to fight. Bowe's lack of discipline is well known, but he also really didn't play to his physical strengths enough. Had he done so his prime might have lasted at least into his thirties and we might all have had a much better case for ranking him higher than we currently do.

Oh great, another "Riddick Bowe is underrated" thread. Bowe's prime lasted approximately five seconds, during which time he managed to duke out a decision with Holyfield that got America's panties wet. Fair play to him for that, good performance. He also lost the rematch and barely won the rubber match when Holyfield's heart gave out. Oh, and he got beaten the crap out of by Golota twice whilst still in his twenties. Oh yeah, and he ducked Lennox. Real impressive resume that. Tell me, what separates Bowe from a fighter like Buster Douglas, who also had one great night in his career? Potential? Yeah, Riddick had that, but so did Lennox, Holyfield, Wlad etc and they all actually realised that potential in the ring, thus taking it out of the realm of supposition and hypothesis and making it tangible. Besides, it wasn't like Bowe was flawless. He showed plenty of faults even in his best performance: inconsitency with the jab, a sloppy right hand, a tendency to give up his height and brawl on the inside (no reason a tall guy like Bowe should have been fighting on the inside, period) and a really leaky defence that involved his chin as the prime stopper. Could he have beaten any heavyweight on the right night? Sure he could. So could Lennox, Holyfield, Tyson, Wlad, Vitali and any top heavyweight who happens to have the good fortune to have it all come together come the fight. Besides Holyfield, suppositions are all Bowe really has going for him, because he left far too many questions in the ring.

if riddick was underrated, its his fault. he wasnt devoted enough to the sport. he could have been great, but instead he chose to be fat. no different fom james toney they were both great, they couldve been greater. had they been more disciplined the sky is the limit for both of them, but what they did achieve is still very impressive and ppl tend to overlook that. bows prime was so short due to his lack of discipline and brutal wars with evander, but in his prime he was a beast.

Yeah, he must be atg. After all, he has one win against a name opponent. Oh and he lost the rematch to that opponent.

He outclassed, dominated and beatdown Holyfield. Complete bollocks! Nobody ever "outclassed" or "dominated" a prime Evander Holyfield.Nobody! Bowe earned his victory over Evander Holyfield in their first fight,but it was not domination,and he sure as hell didn't outclass Holyfield,either.Holyfield fought with his heart,not his head.He fell into Bowe's fight and fought a fight that he was never going to win.The fact that Holyfield did as well as he did against Bowe in their first fight,fighting the type of fight that he did is a testament to the Holy one's greatness. Bowe was still in his prime,and was in decent shape when Evander Holyfield beat him in their rematch.Holyfield fought the most complete,technically and tactically brilliant fight of his career.Rather than engage Bowe in an all-out brawl,he boxed,moved,worked behind his jab,and picked his spots of aggression brilliantly. It was a complete performance that saw Holyfield never set a predictable pattern.And while the fight was very competitive,it was not close enough to dispute.Bowe would never have beaten that version of Holyfield.

"I want you to know something about me; I'm not afraid of you, Lennox..." Bowe had just won a world title and the first thing he did was walk up to the man who had earned a fight with him (Lewis/Ruddock: Fight for the Right) and explain he wasn't scared. Bowe should have covered himself in feathers and walked around clucking - it would have been more subtle.

Bowe is overrated. He was a punching bag. He blatantly ducked Lewis and was exposed and destroyed twice by Golota. Klitschko/Bowe common opponents: Bowe was badly hurt and out on his feet against Hide. Vitali easily destroyed Hide in 2. Bowe couldn't stop Donald. Vitali is the only man to knockdown and KO Donald. He floored Donald 4 times. Prime For Prime....Bowe gets annihilated by Vitali, Wlad, Lennox, etc. Come on now :/ Bowe fought Hide 4 years before Vitali did. Hide was actually a pretty awesome puncher even if he did have a few shortcomings. You also HAVE to bring into play that Bowe had taken an aweful beating from Holyfield and was damn near shot to pieces by the Hide fight, both Bowe and Holyfield left huge chunks of themselves in the first 2 fights, Bowe got the worst of it for sure though! Either way you are right here. Vitali whooped Hide good! Bowe was not a puncher. Vitali is a awesome technician. And once again the Donald fight was past Bowe's best. I think the Vitali-Bowe fight would be fairly entertaining, not a great matchup for Bowe IMO. Against Vitali it takes pressure, lots and lots of pressure, or a ATG boxer puncher. Bowe did neither obviously. Bowe could win, but I would bet on Vitali by SD or close UD. And it is just pathetic to take Bowe's fights with Golota as his prime...Bowe should have retired long before that, and was a very sad sight to see in the Golota fight. Any fight fan worth half a tit knows that. That is like saying Larry Holmes would beat Frazier and Foreman's ass because he beat Ali so bad >.> Now what would be a barn burner is Wlad-Bowe.... But saying Bowe gets annihilated by anyone is ridiculous, but what do I expect from someone who cites the Golota fight as legitimate Riddick Bowe material?

Today I decided to watch 15 or so of Bowe's fights. He was a monster. With the best HW trainer of all time (Eddie Futch RIP) and motivated, Bowe was basically unstoppable. He outclassed, dominated and beatdown Holyfield. Prime for prime Bowe destroys both Klitschkos brothers. He has the 2nd greatest jab in HW history (behind Ali only), big power, could fight inside and out, had a great right hand, left hook, uppercut, you name it. It's sad that they refused to fight Lewis as a pro due to purse percentages. Lewis beat Bowe in the Olympics, but that was long before Bowe hooked up with Futch and got his act together. Still, Bowe in shape and motivated is a top 5 HW and could have beaten any HW on any night. He also had a great punch volume and cardio in his prime. He's actually not that underrated. He makes the top 15 or 20 ATG for HW's on most major lists. ......actually i should correct that, it's more like 20-30.

Tyson and Bowe didn't fight because they were friends. Lewis was dusted by McCall and didn't improve much from the amateurs to pros. Bowe improved by leaps and bounds. He was a better boxer than Lewis with more power, a better jab and better cardio. Yep he showed how much better he was in the Golota fights. :rofl:

Respect to Bowe , He's one of the best heavyweights during his time. but there's a good reason why he avoided ( I hope the TS admits this ) a fight with Lewis. Lewis beats him prime for prime imo and despite the fact the Evander has stylistic and size problem againts him. Vander was able to beat him in fight II. He didnt fight Tyson and Lennox for reasons that we dont know but a big backslash in evaluating his greatness. Tyson and Bowe didn't fight because they were friends. Lewis was dusted by McCall and didn't improve much from the amateurs to pros. Bowe improved by leaps and bounds. He was a better boxer than Lewis with more power, a better jab and better cardio.

Bowe wasn't scared of Lewis. You can see it. It was Rock. He looked like he was trying to cover up his fear to me. "i thought we was cool?", "you are not the man i thought you were" it sounds like he didn't want to fight Lewis to me.

if riddick was underrated, its his fault. he wasnt devoted enough to the sport. he could have been great, but instead he chose to be fat. no different fom james toney

"Don't let me call him chicken Bowe" :rofl: Bowe wasn't scared of Lewis. You can see it. It was Rock.