Could Riddick Bowe have been the best heavyweight ever?

[yiddo14]

Always rated Big Daddy highly, and for me, in terms of talent, he and Lewis would feature above Holy and Tyson for best of the particular era. Such a shame that these four never had a series of fights with each other. Could have eclipsed the rivalries of the 70s.

His mentality has to be questioned though. As I have said before, I don't think he was scared of Lewis, I think he was scared stiff of actually losing to him such was his hatred for Lennox. I believe this is what kept him out of a Lewis fight. Again, such a shame, could have developed into an epic series.

On his very best night, very few beat him and only Lewis from his era would have done so.

[Captain Hook]

Lewis would have always beaten him, for me.

But he could have been a whole lot better.

In his prime, and when fit (as he could be) he was fabulous

[tonyevs]

Bowe was simply superb when he was at his peak. You will be hard pushed to find a more complete heavyweight.
Sadly - and I don`t now why. But he didn`t maintain his peak for long.

[Matt W]

Bowe became too satisfied at being heavyweight champion that he lost the motivation to do what it took to be heavyweight champion. He had what it took to get there, but not to stay there.

[carrotcruncher]

Bowe was simply superb when he was at his peak. You will be hard pushed to find a more complete heavyweight.
Sadly - and I don`t now why. But he didn`t maintain his peak for long.

The biggest reason was that he didn;t know when to stop eating. Made Ricky look like Gandhi. When he started earning big, he invested in an en suite kitchen in the big beroom of his house so he could get burgers any time he wanted. Poor old Eddie Futch despaired.

[chinny]

it wasn't just post- Holy Bowe lacked discipline. Even in the fight before - an eliminator against the very limited Pierre Coetzer - Bowe was fat and sluggish. His shorts even ripped and he showed his fat arse to the world until it was finally stopped with the South African on his feet.

got to respect his balls (no pun) for the Gotota fights though, and prior to the fight (which he completely dominated) Gonzales was considered an intimidating threat.

[McCannW14]

(I know he was American and there is a boxers of the past section but I'd like the British opinion)

Bomber mentioned Bowe in Captain Hook's article and Glyn subsequently highlighted his recognition of Bowe's ability. And with this being a week of heavyweight discussion, I thought this was worth bringing up.

I have always thought Bowe had all the tools to go down as the greatest heavyweight in history. His lack of drive and self-discipline not to mention his mental frailties prevented him from reaching the ultimate pinnacle of personal performance. Bowe's underachieving is one of my biggest boxing disappointments.

Is the general consensus similar or not?

Bowe has all the tools to be the best Heavyweight ever. Beautiful fighter in his prime, he has everyting you could wish for, except a lock on his fridge.

[McCannW14]

Lewis would have always beaten him, for me.

But he could have been a whole lot better.

In his prime, and when fit (as he could be) he was fabulous

I think prime Bowe hammers Lewis.

[Matt W]

Lewis would have always beaten him, for me.

But he could have been a whole lot better.

In his prime, and when fit (as he could be) he was fabulous

I think prime Bowe hammers Lewis.

But he didn't think he would, that's why I pick Lewis over him event though Bowe looked the better fighter in 92/93.

[Old bones Ian]

Bowe was a strange one really, he had all the skills and punch power , only lost 1 fight.

but he's remembered for losing that one against Holyfield and the 2 winning ones against Golata.

[Jon Saxon]

Lewis would have always beaten him, for me.

But he could have been a whole lot better.

In his prime, and when fit (as he could be) he was fabulous

I think prime Bowe hammers Lewis.

Yeah with an actuall hammer but not with the west hams finest straight hammer punches coming at him.
Bowe hated straight punchers and these are what Lewis was great at, this is what clocked Bowe at the Olympics also.

It would have been close as Bowe who beat Holy in the first fight looked like one of the best HW's ever.

BUT Holy had one thing Bowe didn't have which was great footwork.
Bowe tended to lumber a bit.

Still had he kept it together then the GREAT Eddie Futch might have been right that he could have been THE best in history.

thoughts?

[jamesmcdonnell]

Probably not the best, but the Bowe that beat Holyfield in the 1st fight would have taken some beating by anyone. Sadly, he ate his way out of greatness and by the time he fought Golota, was shot to pieces, mentally and physically despite getting his weight down. A real shame because after that 1st Holyfield fight I genuinly thought he had all the tools and longevity beckoned.

Yes, Bowe looked like he was going to dominate the division for quite some time at that point.

Always felt he was a little unlucky in the 2nd fight. At the point the twat with the fan descended into the ringside, he was getting on top of Holyfield and was giving him a real hammering, then there was a delay of 20 minutes. When they resumed, Holyfield seemed to warm up much quicker, and Bowe lost the momentum.

I think that without that incident, Bowe was on his way to dominating Holyfield, but of course we will never know.

Either way, his lack of discipline would always have been his undoing. He simply couldn't stop eating. He was entering fights weight drained because he balooned to over 300 lbs between fights. That took it's toll, and by the time he got to Golota, he was shot. However, even shot, his great chin and heart allowed him to prevail as Andrez punked and fouled his way out of the fight.

A great waste.

[Jon Saxon]

Probably not the best, but the Bowe that beat Holyfield in the 1st fight would have taken some beating by anyone. Sadly, he ate his way out of greatness and by the time he fought Golota, was shot to pieces, mentally and physically despite getting his weight down. A real shame because after that 1st Holyfield fight I genuinly thought he had all the tools and longevity beckoned.

Yes, Bowe looked like he was going to dominate the division for quite some time at that point.

Always felt he was a little unlucky in the 2nd fight. At the point the twat with the fan descended into the ringside, he was getting on top of Holyfield and was giving him a real hammering, then there was a delay of 20 minutes. When they resumed, Holyfield seemed to warm up much quicker, and Bowe lost the momentum.

I think that without that incident, Bowe was on his way to dominating Holyfield, but of course we will never know.

Either way, his lack of discipline would always have been his undoing. He simply couldn't stop eating. He was entering fights weight drained because he balooned to over 300 lbs between fights. That took it's toll, and by the time he got to Golota, he was shot. However, even shot, his great chin and heart allowed him to prevail as Andrez punked and fouled his way out of the fight.

A great waste.

Hey James want to hear my theory?

Fan man descended in round 7 and as you may know 7 is the biblical number..

Answer? gods timely divine intervention of behalf of the all Holy one to save to division from the satanic evil that was Rock Newman!