Prime Lennox Lewis vs Prime Rid**** Bowe?

[Sugarj]

Agreed Axl, in the early 90s Bowe was clearly superior to Lewis in my eyes at least.

I tend to think of Lennox's true prime as being in 1997, around the time he beat Golota......and with Manny Steward in his corner. But even then I'd pick 92 Bowe over 97 Lewis. It'd be a great fight while it lasted though!!!!

[mickey malone]

Bowe had all the physical gifts to beat Lewis, but no confidence in his own dedication to do so.. He pretended not to be bothered, but in reality, he was scared of deep water and having to get into the shape of his life..
It wasn't just the WBC belt he threw into the bin, it was his heart too, and a poetical admission that Holyfield had made it quite tough enough for him, in their 1st war.. Not to mention a huge smack in the kisser for every boxing fan and his dog..
So he opted to fight, full blown junkie, Michael Dokes instead..
He then had a meaningless easy win over Jesse Fergusson, lost and won agains Holy, and put in 2 lame performances against another 'special-needs' fighter in Andrew Golota.. He would have been no match for Lewis, who was far more hungry for success than fried chicken.. Lewis genuinely wanted to be a proud champion, where as Bowe wasn't really that bothered.. This annoys me, because i'd say he was the more talanted of the two.. He may rap on about, we offered this and we offered that, but if he sincerely wanted that fight to happen, he would never have thrown a championship belt into a trash can, or allow himself to be called 'Chicken Bowe,' for many months afterwards by a furious Lewis..
The boxing public were definitely robbed of a true classic, because if Bowe had a true fighting heart, not only would the fight have definitely happened, but I'd have picked him to beat Lewis in an absolute thriller..

[sonnyboyx2]

Bowe had all the physical gifts to beat Lewis, but no confidence in his own dedication to do so.. He pretended not to be bothered, but in reality, he was scared of deep water and having to get into the shape of his life..
It wasn't just the WBC belt he threw into the bin, it was his heart too, and a poetical admission that Holyfield had made it quite tough enough for him, in their 1st war.. Not to mention a huge smack in the kisser for every boxing fan and his dog..
So he opted to fight, full blown junkie, Michael Dokes instead..
He then had a meaningless easy win over Jesse Fergusson, lost and won agains Holy, and put in 2 lame performances against another 'special-needs' fighter in Andrew Golota.. He would have been no match for Lewis, who was far more hungry for success than fried chicken.. Lewis genuinely wanted to be a proud champion, where as Bowe wasn't really that bothered.. This annoys me, because i'd say he was the more talanted of the two.. He may rap on about, we offered this and we offered that, but if he sincerely wanted that fight to happen, he would never have thrown a championship belt into a trash can, or allow himself to be called 'Chicken Bowe,' for many months afterwards by a furious Lewis..
The boxing public were definitely robbed of a true classic, because if Bowe had a true fighting heart, not only would the fight have definitely happened, but I'd have picked him to beat Lewis in an absolute thriller..

alot of what you say i can agree with, Yet what is forgotten in this argument over and over again is that Rid**** Bowe WAS the UNDISPUTED Heavyweight Champion of the World, and when you are the Top Dog then NO-ONE tells you what to do, NO contender tells you that if you are going to fight him that you must give him a 50/50 purse cut or options on your next 5 fights should you win him... Those kind of demands is IMO known as "Pricing yourself out" -- which is what Lennox Lewis and his team done, Lets no forget that Lewis also turned down $10 million in 1995 to fight Bowe when neither man held a title, so you must ask yourself why a fighter can turn down a career highest purse of $10 million.. it is IMO Lewis who was the one who did not want the fight to happen... alot is made of their meeting in the Olympic final yet i have watched it many times and Bowe was `Robbed`the referee was worst than the guy who refereed Ottke vs Reid

[Shazam!]

if they had faugt in 93 Rid****s prime, Bowe wins the fight. Lewis at this time was beaten by McCall, was outjabbed by Bruno (behind on points) and struggling with a ****aine wreck tony tucker for 12 rounds( tucker was comming of 2 years retirement).
I just cant see this version of Lewis beat Big daddy. Lewis was unimressive in these years and Bowe had hammered evander holyfield big time.

For people who really belive in Lewis against Bowe, sit down and watch both fighters fights around 91-92-93. Easy fight for Bowe.

Lewis beat the **** out of Bruno and knocked him out.

Lewis KTFO'd Razor Ruddock (who went 19 rounds with Tyson) in 2 ROUNDS.

Lewis would have destroyed Bowe. Bowe beat Holyfield? Haha. So ****ing what? Holyfield also beat Bowe and Lewis would have never lost to either of these fighters.

Nice try though ;-)

[Shazam!]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRGkSozWPYE&feature=related

There's Lewis KO'ing Ruddock. Meanwhile, Bowe got in a lot of trouble against Tyrell Biggs and Tony Tubbs, then got a title shot against Holyfield. Lewis dominated these guys and KO'd Ruddock. Why did Bowe get the first shot? Cus he was American.

Bowe never put in a good performance against a big world class heavyweight and Lewis would have dominated him just like he did in the 88 Olympic Final.

[sonnyboyx2]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRGkS...eature=related

There's Lewis KO'ing Ruddock. Meanwhile, Bowe got in a lot of trouble against Tyrell Biggs and Tony Tubbs, then got a title shot against Holyfield. Lewis dominated these guys and KO'd Ruddock. Why did Bowe get the first shot? Cus he was American.

Bowe never put in a good performance against a big world class heavyweight and Lewis would have dominated him just like he did in the 88 Olympic Final.

you are talking garbage... i was at the Lewis v Ruddock fight and it was clear to me that Ruddock was "Damaged Goods" after having his jaw & cheekbone smashed by Mike Tyson... Bowe beat a peak Holyfield whereas Lewis managed a draw with old Holyfield and Evander was Robbed in their rematch...yet which ever way you look at it there is no chance that Rahman or McCall would poleaxed Rid**** Bowe, in fact i would strongly tip Bowe to take care of those two the same way he took care of Dokes and Ferguson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0eins2DhSo

[The_Demon]

Bowe had all the physical gifts to beat Lewis, but no confidence in his own dedication to do so.. He pretended not to be bothered, but in reality, he was scared of deep water and having to get into the shape of his life..
It wasn't just the WBC belt he threw into the bin, it was his heart too, and a poetical admission that Holyfield had made it quite tough enough for him, in their 1st war.. Not to mention a huge smack in the kisser for every boxing fan and his dog..
So he opted to fight, full blown junkie, Michael Dokes instead..
He then had a meaningless easy win over Jesse Fergusson, lost and won agains Holy, and put in 2 lame performances against another 'special-needs' fighter in Andrew Golota.. He would have been no match for Lewis, who was far more hungry for success than fried chicken.. Lewis genuinely wanted to be a proud champion, where as Bowe wasn't really that bothered.. This annoys me, because i'd say he was the more talanted of the two.. He may rap on about, we offered this and we offered that, but if he sincerely wanted that fight to happen, he would never have thrown a championship belt into a trash can, or allow himself to be called 'Chicken Bowe,' for many months afterwards by a furious Lewis..
The boxing public were definitely robbed of a true classic, because if Bowe had a true fighting heart, not only would the fight have definitely happened, but I'd have picked him to beat Lewis in an absolute thriller..

brilliant post.spot on

[mickey malone]

alot of what you say i can agree with, Yet what is forgotten in this argument over and over again is that Rid**** Bowe WAS the UNDISPUTED Heavyweight Champion of the World, and when you are the Top Dog then NO-ONE tells you what to do, NO contender tells you that if you are going to fight him that you must give him a 50/50 purse cut or options on your next 5 fights should you win him... Those kind of demands is IMO known as "Pricing yourself out" -- which is what Lennox Lewis and his team done, Lets no forget that Lewis also turned down $10 million in 1995 to fight Bowe when neither man held a title, so you must ask yourself why a fighter can turn down a career highest purse of $10 million.. it is IMO Lewis who was the one who did not want the fight to happen... alot is made of their meeting in the Olympic final yet i have watched it many times and Bowe was `Robbed`the referee was worst than the guy who refereed Ottke vs Reid

I have no concrete evidence to say that Lewis didn't price himself out of it, but I would however, strongly suggest that money wasn't everything to do with it..
As you rightly point out, Bowe was undisputed champ, but only up until, just after Lewis defeated Ruddock to become the WBC's no2.. This was when Bowe forfeited that distinction, by tossing a portion of it into the bin..
My question would be: -

Did the WBC allow the challenger to call the shots?

The impression I get here, is that Bowe and his team got priced out of it by the WBC, otherwise what would be his reason to trash the belt?.. I doubt if it was to teach Lewis a lesson for being too greedy..
I'd say, most of the disagreement was between Bowe and the WBC (Suliaman and King) and not so much between Bowe and Lewis..
My guess would be that Lewis's inflated demands went upon deaf ears while Bowe in turn, was offered a crap deal by the WBC.. It wouldn't take long for him to figure out he could earn the same kind of dollar in easy defenses against the likes of Dokes and Ferguson while still being the recognized champ..
I'll buy that Lewis may have used his champion status, to price himself out of it in 95, but i'm not so sure about the 1st time because he only had a no1 contender status to bargain with..

Like you, I don't look into amateur performances when commenting on the pro's as it bears into insignificance.. Who knows what would have happened, had the ref actually let them fight?.. But like all amateur refs, he stopped it over nothing..
The one thing i will say though, is that the Olympic victory just may have played a particular role in the mindset of Lewis, in a 'he needs me more than I need him' kind of way..

[GRANDSLAM]

Bowe was **** scared of Lewis after Lewis spanked him in the Olympics. I think a Prime Lewis is post Holyfield as that was when he was most sure of himself. Bowe was never sure of himself hence why he'd spend more time in the fridge than in the Gym. Lewis by early stoppage

[Shazam!]

you are talking garbage... i was at the Lewis v Ruddock fight and it was clear to me that Ruddock was "Damaged Goods" after having his jaw & cheekbone smashed by Mike Tyson... Bowe beat a peak Holyfield whereas Lewis managed a draw with old Holyfield and Evander was Robbed in their rematch...yet which ever way you look at it there is no chance that Rahman or McCall would poleaxed Rid**** Bowe, in fact i would strongly tip Bowe to take care of those two the same way he took care of Dokes and Ferguson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0eins2DhSo

Look at my post. When it comes to fights, I've stated facts. Look at your post...

You talk about Lewis 'only managing a draw against old Holyfield'. Everyone acknowledges that Lewis dominated the first fight (he landed TWICE as many punches!) and won the second fight also. Virtually everyone acknowledges that.

Lewis dominated Bowe in 88 and Bowe refused to fight him in 92. Those are the undisputable facts.