Prime Foreman vs Prime Bowe

[keithmoonhangover]

Who do you like in this one?

[Goodnight, Irene]

Physically, it could have been intriguing, but the reality is no one with defense THAT absurdly leaky is gonna survive Foreman.

[Jaywheel]

If you can't even avoid Golota's punches, you won't do long against Foreman...

[dempseyfire]

I wouldn't be confident of Bowe beating the 42 year old version, let alone a peak George.

[jezzamundo]

Depends when it happens. Foreman still had very good power in his second career and would surely hurt Bowe whenever they fought. That said, I can't help but think that if Tommy Morrison could outpoint that version of Foreman, then Bowe would do it more convincingly and possibly even stop Big George late in the fight.

If the fight happened during Foreman's prime, Bowe would have been six years old and the fight probably wouldn't have been sanctioned.

Prime-for-Prime, which I believe is a '73-'74 Foreman vs '92-'93 Bowe, I see this as a clear knockout win to Foreman, probably around the 5th round.

[Jaywheel]

That said, I can't help but think that if Tommy Morrison could outpoint that version of Foreman, then Bowe would do it more convincingly and possibly even stop Big George late in the fight.

The thing is, Bowe would never fight Foreman the way guys like Morrison and Briggs did. He'd come in, trade with Foreman and proceed to get GTFO.

[Ambling Alp]

No way Bowe would lose to the old version of Foreman. Bowe actually (in a joking way) challenged Foreman on a HBO telecast. George wisely didn't want any part of this.
A prime Foreman wins in 5 or 6 rounds. Would have been fun while it lasted.

[BoxBuzz]

No way Bowe would lose to the old version of Foreman. Bowe actually (in a joking way) challenged Foreman on a HBO telecast. George wisely didn't want any part of this.
A prime Foreman wins in 5 or 6 rounds. Would have been fun while it lasted.

Would the "post prime" affair be as interesting as the Foreman Holyfield fight? In your opinion? (A fight I thought was highly entertaining).

[Ambling Alp]

No, because Bowe could hit a lot harder than Holyfield. Foreman would get hurt badly. This would not be fun to watch.

[gilgamesh]

Yeah I agree Bowe just took too many clean shots to last against a peak Foreman, who is quite possibly the most powerful Heavyweight ever. Bowe is very aggressive and throws vicious uppercuts on the inside, and could use his height reasonably well when he remembered too. I figure the fight would probably last 4-6 rounds but it would be an awesome fight every step of the way.

[dempseyfire]

No, because Bowe could hit a lot harder than Holyfield. Foreman would get hurt badly. This would not be fun to watch.

Holyfield was moving on his toes and throwing continual 4-6 punch combos that fight. Bowe isn't fighting Foreman that way. A much better matchup for Georger style-wise.

[AngryGoon38]

Definately Foreman,no question.

Bowe was rocked and hurt by a body shot from Andrew Golota and Foreman threw devastating body shots,those super heavy loopers would've gotten in on Bowe and it would be a similiar ko as the Hopkins-DeLaHoya fight. Also,Bowe relied alot on intimidation ala Mike Tyson,guys lost to him before the bell even rang,he was a scarey guy,Larry Donald was utterly petrified of Bowe but in this one,Bowe faces a scarier Monster who charges right in with those killer loopers,gets at least one in out of a six punch barrage attack ? No problem. Bowe crunches right down from a mega belly blast blow,a harder punch than Golota's for sure and its fetal position city for Bowe. Foreman wins by 4th round bodyshot ko.

[AngryGoon38]

Definately Foreman,no question.

Bowe was rocked and hurt by a body shot from Andrew Golota and Foreman threw devastating body shots,those super heavy loopers would've gotten in on Bowe and it would be a similiar ko as the Hopkins-DeLaHoya fight. Also,Bowe relied alot on intimidation ala Mike Tyson,guys lost to him before the bell even rang,he was a scarey guy,Larry Donald was utterly petrified of Bowe but in this one,Bowe faces a scarier Monster who charges right in with those killer loopers,gets at least one in out of a six punch barrage attack ? No problem. Bowe crunches right down from a mega belly blast blow,a harder punch than Golota's for sure and its fetal position city for Bowe.

bowe was also terribly faded by that time

Pierre Freakin Coetzer gave Bowe some fits as i recall,and that was Bowe's so called prime heyday.
Even old foreman beat up and dominated coetzer worse than 1992 riddick bowe. Nah,i still see Foreman demolishing any so called prime version of Bowe,its an ideal stylistic type match for Foreman.
And with that,i'll add by saying,prime Holyfield would beat a prime Foreman,and yeah,Bowe beat Holy 2 out of 3 but thats boxing,styles make fights,and quite often this is prevelant and profound. And on Bowe's behalf,i'll admit to say,he would've had a much better chance of beating Larry Holmes than Foreman would. But on the other hand,i see Frazier having a very good chance against Bowe.He had obvious stylistic flaws against certain style boxers.Foreman would find the body,Frazier could find the face with his mighty hooks.Foreman had a better defense overall than Bowe and more resiliant.Stamina would'nt figure in coz these guys would be bombing right from the opening bell.

[BoxBuzz]

So by the goons calculations.....in their primes, Holy Beats Foreman, Foreman beats Bowe and Bowe Beats Holy. Based on styles.


....that dog don't hunt. I.M.H.O.

[NazNaci1]

Bowe was talented but in my opinion. was also one of the most overrated HW's, in recent times.

Sure he beat Holyfield 2 out of 3, which was a fantastic achievement, to be fair, but that's it. Barely beat Tubbs, blatantly avoided Lewis, beat up badly by Golota and beat up some no names and past it fighters. His resume, bar Holyfield is pretty crap.

Nope, sorry I don't rate him all that highly. Big George nails him hard and often.

[Ambling Alp]

If you are going to say the rest of Bowe's career was crap, then look at Foreman in his comeback period.

He lost to Tommy Morrison. Struggled with Alex Stewart. Struggled with Lou Savarese. Should have lost the decison to Axel Schulz.
For his age, he did great. However, if you go just by how good he was, when he was old and fat, he simply was not at the level of Bowe.

[clubberlang]

Prime for prime this could be a thriller or a massacre, either way big George wins, Bowe is the more skilled fighter but his chin wasn’t that great & his defence was way to leaky to keep out Foremans arching shots.

Prime Bowe would beat ancient George comfortably on points or possible stop him on facial damage, Bowe would have to take a few bombs on route though.

[dempseyfire]

If you are going to say the rest of Bowe's career was crap, then look at Foreman in his comeback period.

He lost to Tommy Morrison. Struggled with Alex Stewart. Struggled with Lou Savarese. Should have lost the decison to Axel Schulz.
For his age, he did great. However, if you go just by how good he was, when he was old and fat, he simply was not at the level of Bowe.

Morrison and Schultz decided to run and box, and that's where their success came from. Even Stewart after he got knocked around the ring early started moving and sticking more in the later rounds. Bowe simply wasn't a stick and move fighter . . for starters he was too big/heavy to even really employ that strategy. I don't remember seeing Bowe move around on his toes . . .EVER. He's going to come into George's punching range, and big strong guys like Saverese and Briggs (and those fights were after George won the title and was simply fighting for money/pride's sake) ended up getting busted up (Briggs even turned into more of a runner type after tasting more of George's punches but his awful stamina ensured he didn't move as much as he wanted). Just taking George's jabs severely weakens a fighter physically. I talked to one guy who sparred Foreman in the mid-late 90s and went on to spar many top HWs, including both Klitschko brothers. Hardest hitter he was ever in the ring with? He said, definitely George Foreman . . he said he couldn't believe how hard he punched and how strong he was.

[The Great John L]

No way Bowe would lose to the old version of Foreman.

Agreed. While I think Bowe is over-rated, the old, fat, glacier slow George wasn't just over-rated, he was easily one of the most carefully managed athletes in history.

A prime Foreman wins in 5 or 6 rounds. Would have been fun while it lasted.

That sounds about right.

[Ambling Alp]

I don't blame Foreman for fighting many of the weak opponents during his comeback. He was off for 10 years and had a lot of ring rust. What he did at his age was impressive.
However, he was not in Bowe's league during this period of his career.

As for demspeyfires comments:
Schulz did not run from Foreman at all. Foreman just couldn't hurt him.
Savarese and Briggs? Seriously? Foreman may have busted them up, but was he able to stop them? No. Neither had that good of a chin; certainly not as good as Bowe's.They gave old George a lot of trouble.
Bowe hit harder, threw more punches, was faster and more accurrate than Savarese or Briggs. (It would be hard to find anything that they did better than Bowe.)

The best case scenario would be that the old Foreman would lose a one-sided decision. More likely, he loses and it's ugly.

[roccittymaj]

Prime Foreman, hands down, but the matchup that I would love to see would be a Prime Ken Norton vs a Prime Bowe! That would be a great fight!

[dempseyfire]

I can buy he loses, but it's competitive the whole way. Bowe's style is tailor-made for Foreman (and just as a side-note, I'd contest that Bowe hit any harder than Briggs did)

Schultz didn't "run" as in dance around on his bike, but he did employ a hit and move strategy the whole night. Bowe never did that his whole career.

[Goodnight, Irene]

Foreman's my boy and all, but he gets busted up pretty bad by Bowe in the early 90's. The sad part is Foreman matches favourably with Bowe in several areas --- the jab, the mental battle of composure, the ring intelligence --- but he was out-sped and out-hustled by Holyfield's youth and would be at the same disadvantage here, except Bowe could punish him a lot worse.

Bowe by wide UD, maybe TKO. Foreman was crazy tough and would have gotten Bowe's respect early, so I'll say he lasts, but he's in real danger of getting hurt regardless.

[Syntax Error]

I thought this thread was about 'PRIME' Foreman, i.e. 1973? :??

If so, then he beats Bowe IMO.

Bowe was good but he was overrated.

If Bowe was scared of Lennox Lewis, he would have hyperventilated at the prospect of facing the 1973 Foreman.