Originally posted by chloelloyd
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I think the reason Lewis didn't hit his prime in the early 90s was simply because Pepe Correa wasn't the ideal trainer for him (he didn't do much for Ray Leonard either!). Lewis had it athletically but not defensively and his chin hadn't really been exploited yet so he was a little more right hand happy.
He did look good against Ruddock, but we didn't see how he'd have handled one of those left hook/uppercuts from Razor. Tyson absorbed a few, but I'm doubtful as to whether Lewis would have. Full credit to Lewis, his fight strategy was perfect.......but Bowe was rather better than Ruddock in just about every department, not to mention chin (no one ever knocked him out!). At that point he was technically superior to Lewis. I can't see Lewis knocking Bowe out in the same fashion as Ruddock.
Bowe gets a tough time in these parts for apparently being only great in one fight (1992 Holyfield 1). But the return was much closer than people remember. It was a majority decision (a draw, 2 point margin, 1 point margin by the judges). How many heavyweights these days would get so close to beating the Holyfield from 19 years ago? 1993 Bowe was no joke either despite him weighing more!
He'd have surely been too much for Lewis right then. Bowe's poor shape in the 90s was quite a myth! Between Holyfield 2 and the first Gotota fight his conditioning/stamina and focus seemed spot on. It all fell apart with Golota in 1996. But 1992-1995 I'd put money on Bowe to beat the Lewis from those years.
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