Lewis vs Bowe : Why didn't this fight happen ?

[Quixall]

Why didn't a fight between Lennox Lewis and Riddick Bowe happen ?

With all the talk of the proposed fight between Haye and Fury, it got me thinking back to the time when the heavyweight division still carried a lot of prestige. In my opinion and some will disagree, the last great era of heavyweight boxing was when Lewis was around with Tyson, Holyfield and Bowe with the Klitschko's coming up on the rails. I never fully understood why Lewis and Bowe never fought. Now some would say that Bowe was running scared of Lewis after Lewis beat him at the Olympics in 1988 i think, but i have never bought that theory. When you think of the triology of fights that happenned between Holyfield and Bowe and the money made by each fighter for those fights, surely a fight between Lewis and Bowe was a formality ? Even Tyson and Holyfield had two fights and yet Lewis and Bowe never fought. It's rather like Ali never fighting Frazier in some ways.

When you look at Lewis' career, you could say that four things were missing. One is that he was handed a world title and didn't fight for it. The second was that he didn't fight a less shot version of Tyson. The third is that he didn't give Vitali a re-match, but my far the biggest is that he never fough Riddick Bowe. I think it slightly tarnished Lewis' career and denied the heavyweight divsion of that era some great fights. Was it the fact that Bowe thought he would lose ? Was it that Lewis thought he would lose ? Surely a large purse mounts that obsticle and bith lost in their careers to other men. Was it because they hated each other ? All the more reason to get in the ring, surely ? Was it the promoters that kept the men away from each other through out their careers ? I'm intrigued that it didn't happen. All the key points were in place. Both had names, were in their primes, could generate money and enhance their careers and reputations by beating the other man. The heavyweight division should have had this fight.

So, why didn't it happen ??

[expe]

Why didn't a fight between Lennox Lewis and Riddick Bowe happen ?

With all the talk of the proposed fight between Haye and Fury, it got me thinking back to the time when the heavyweight division still carried a lot of prestige. In my opinion and some will disagree, the last great era of heavyweight boxing was when Lewis was around with Tyson, Holyfield and Bowe with the Klitschko's coming up on the rails. I never fully understood why Lewis and Bowe never fought. Now some would say that Bowe was running scared of Lewis after Lewis beat him at the Olympics in 1988 i think, but i have never bought that theory. When you think of the triology of fights that happenned between Holyfield and Bowe and the money made by each fighter for those fights, surely a fight between Lewis and Bowe was a formality ? Even Tyson and Holyfield had two fights and yet Lewis and Bowe never fought. It's rather like Ali never fighting Frazier in some ways.

When you look at Lewis' career, you could say that four things were missing. One is that he was handed a world title and didn't fight for it. The second was that he didn't fight a less shot version of Tyson. The third is that he didn't give Vitali a re-match, but my far the biggest is that he never fough Riddick Bowe. I think it slightly tarnished Lewis' career and denied the heavyweight divsion of that era some great fights. Was it the fact that Bowe thought he would lose ? Was it that Lewis thought he would lose ? Surely a large purse mounts that obsticle and bith lost in their careers to other men. Was it because they hated each other ? All the more reason to get in the ring, surely ? Was it the promoters that kept the men away from each other through out their careers ? I'm intrigued that it didn't happen. All the key points were in place. Both had names, were in their primes, could generate money and enhance their careers and reputations by beating the other man. The heavyweight division should have had this fight.

So, why didn't it happen ??

Wasn't Lennox mandatory and Bowe binned the belt rather than face him and defended the other titles against Michael Dokes, who was WBA champion for a few months 10 years earlier. So, to start with, Bowe ducked Lewis. Bowe then went on to lose to Holyfield and Lewis was beaten by McCall, by the time he won the title again, Bowe had just beaten Golota for the second time and didn't fight for another 8 years.

[loaded_gloves]

Bowe did not duck Lennox Lewis. He made a business decision.

Bowe and Newman refused to play into the Don King/Jose Suliman sanctioning chicanery right away in 1993. The closest King had to the then-lucrative heavyweight title in 1992 was Razor Ruddock, and after Lewis bombed Ruddock he got options on Lewis, and saw a potentially weak link with his green team of Maloney et al. King with Sulaiman lifelong in his pocket tried force Bowe to fight Lewis immediately to try quicken his grip on the heavyweight title. There is a long, long, long list of King fighters with WBC titles not having to fight mandatories for years, and the flagrant corruption was not lost on Newman & Bowe.

Thus, Bowe & Newman, intending to make some money* from Bowe's hard earned world title before taking on the most dangerous contender, ditched the WBC belt and went their own way. The plan was to fight Lewis in 94. That Bowe lost to Holyfield threw a spanner in the works.

* like when Lewis repeatedly deferred David Tua in favour of Michael Grant and Frans Botha.

With Lewis in the driving seat as WBC champ, Lewis and Bowe had both agreed to big money HBO fight in 1995 - but Lewis got KOd by McCall and that again threw a spanner in the works.

Bowe fresh off his KO of Holyfield and recognised in the media as the Best Heavyweight in the World offered Lennox Lewis a big money fight, on HBO, in 1996, but Lewis didn't fancy it for whatever mysterious reason - possibly deeming Bowe a high risk fight with the Tyson sweepstakes in full swing?

Essentially King and Sulaiman's heavy handed antics nixed the first opportunity to fight, then Evander Holyfield, then Oliver McCall, then Lewis for reasons unknown.

They should have boxed, alas they didn't, and both men are to blame.

[SteveO]

For whatever reason, Bowe refused to fight his WBC mandatory against Lennox Lewis and ceremoniously dumped his belt in the trash can on 14th December 1992. Two days later the WBC proclaimed Lewis as champion due to his 31st October 1992 win over Donovan 'Razor' Ruddock in a WBC elimination contest.
Tyson relinquished the WBC title on 24th September 1996 being unable to fight Lewis due to a TV contractual problem - each had signed exclusive rights to show their fights with different TV networks. The WBC then announced Lewis v McCall for the vacant title.

[Quixall]

Why didn't a fight between Lennox Lewis and Riddick Bowe happen ?

With all the talk of the proposed fight between Haye and Fury, it got me thinking back to the time when the heavyweight division still carried a lot of prestige. In my opinion and some will disagree, the last great era of heavyweight boxing was when Lewis was around with Tyson, Holyfield and Bowe with the Klitschko's coming up on the rails. I never fully understood why Lewis and Bowe never fought. Now some would say that Bowe was running scared of Lewis after Lewis beat him at the Olympics in 1988 i think, but i have never bought that theory. When you think of the triology of fights that happenned between Holyfield and Bowe and the money made by each fighter for those fights, surely a fight between Lewis and Bowe was a formality ? Even Tyson and Holyfield had two fights and yet Lewis and Bowe never fought. It's rather like Ali never fighting Frazier in some ways.

When you look at Lewis' career, you could say that four things were missing. One is that he was handed a world title and didn't fight for it. The second was that he didn't fight a less shot version of Tyson. The third is that he didn't give Vitali a re-match, but my far the biggest is that he never fough Riddick Bowe. I think it slightly tarnished Lewis' career and denied the heavyweight divsion of that era some great fights. Was it the fact that Bowe thought he would lose ? Was it that Lewis thought he would lose ? Surely a large purse mounts that obsticle and bith lost in their careers to other men. Was it because they hated each other ? All the more reason to get in the ring, surely ? Was it the promoters that kept the men away from each other through out their careers ? I'm intrigued that it didn't happen. All the key points were in place. Both had names, were in their primes, could generate money and enhance their careers and reputations by beating the other man. The heavyweight division should have had this fight.

So, why didn't it happen ??

Wasn't Lennox mandatory and Bowe binned the belt rather than face him and defended the other titles against Michael Dokes, who was WBA champion for a few months 10 years earlier. So, to start with, Bowe ducked Lewis. Bowe then went on to lose to Holyfield and Lewis was beaten by McCall, by the time he won the title again, Bowe had just beaten Golota for the second time and didn't fight for another 8 years.

Yeah, Lennox was a mandatory i believe and initially Bowe did duck Lewis. Still, there was enough time for them to fight, even if both didn't hold titles at the same time. I don't know the dates, i will check, but i am sure there was a sufficiant enough time for them both to have met at some point. It's not like they had a year to fight each other.

[Quixall]

Bowe did not duck Lennox Lewis. He made a business decision.

Bowe and Newman refused to play into the Don King/Jose Suliman sanctioning chicanery right away in 1993. The closest King had to the then-lucrative heavyweight title in 1992 was Razor Ruddock, and after Lewis bombed Ruddock he got options on Lewis, and saw a potentially weak link with his green team of Maloney et al. King with Sulaiman lifelong in his pocket tried force Bowe to fight Lewis immediately to try quicken his grip on the heavyweight title. There is a long, long, long list of King fighters with WBC titles not having to fight mandatories for years, and the flagrant corruption was not lost on Newman & Bowe.

Thus, Bowe & Newman, intending to make some money* from Bowe's hard earned world title before taking on the most dangerous contender, ditched the WBC belt and went their own way. The plan was to fight Lewis in 94. That Bowe lost to Holyfield threw a spanner in the works.

* like when Lewis repeatedly deferred David Tua in favour of Michael Grant and Frans Botha.

With Lewis in the driving seat as WBC champ, Lewis and Bowe had both agreed to big money HBO fight in 1995 - but Lewis got KOd by McCall and that again threw a spanner in the works.

Bowe fresh off his KO of Holyfield and recognised in the media as the Best Heavyweight in the World offered Lennox Lewis a big money fight, on HBO, in 1996, but Lewis didn't fancy it for whatever mysterious reason - possibly deeming Bowe a high risk fight with the Tyson sweepstakes in full swing?

Essentially King and Sulaiman's heavy handed antics nixed the first opportunity to fight, then Evander Holyfield, then Oliver McCall, then Lewis for reasons unknown.

They should have boxed, alas they didn't, and both men are to blame.

Good post loaded

That makes sense to me. It seems that both lost at crucial times. It also seems that they were only prepared to face off if one or the other had the value of a belt, instead of fighting for a shot at the title. Strange how Lennox didn't take up the offer in 1996 though. Seems like boxing poli-tricks, as Lennox used to say, were involved.

[frankgreaves]

Another fight we should've had! The list it a long one unfortunately. Bowe was somewhat of a strange one, why did he "retire" after Golota 2? What was he, 28 / 29 years old? Not even at his peak for a heavy!!

[jamesmcdonnell]

Another fight we should've had! The list it a long one unfortunately. Bowe was somewhat of a strange one, why did he "retire" after Golota 2? What was he, 28 / 29 years old? Not even at his peak for a heavy!!

Bowe was already past his peak by then, his poor die led to an early demise. He was apparently often weight drained coming into a fight as he would have to shed so much blubber in his training camps.

He wasn't the same man who beat Holyfield by the time Golota got to him

[loaded_gloves]

He was terribly overweight for the first Golota fight, around 252, they wrote at the time that by fight time he was around 260 - disgusting! - and as a result was near-immobile and shipped punishment from Golota.

Futch ditched him, he trained himself for the rematch, hugely overtrained, came in at his classic 235 weight but seemed drained - he didn't make the weight the right way. He took another beating, albeit knocking Golota down and breaking the Pole's jaw in the process.

Bowe was below-par for both fights. There didn't seem a way back for him post-Golota 2.

[loaded_gloves]

Christ, rewatching Bowe/Golota 2 just now. What a hard man Bowe is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJ4svaCoeQs

He looks slow and shot in the first, Golota outjabbing him, then in the second Golota decks him and yet, despite being dazed and having the Pole pummeling him, he keeps swinging back bombs and trying to decapitate Golota! Just finished the third where Bowe starts to look vintage, roughing Golota up and knocking him around with big shots. He seemed to be warming up at this point, and Golota goes crying back to his corner, saying strange things into his corner men's ears.

On another note, Golota's physique looks unreal, and he's absolutely riddled with an abormal level of acne for a grown man...

[loaded_gloves]

Bowe knocks Golota down in the 4th, Golota looks like he wants to quit, and guess what - three volleys of lowblows in the 4th alone post-knockdown.

[Finn]

I thought Lewis had hammered Bowe in the AMs so Bowe wanted an insane percentage of the purse to fight him, then when he was forced to he ditched the belt instead.

[el_grande_mauro_mina]

Why didn't a fight between Lennox Lewis and Riddick Bowe happen ?

Because Bowe didn't have to, if he could make a good living fighting the likes of a shot Mike Dokes
and Jesse Ferguson then why fight Lewis who would have beaten him.

Saying that, I loved watching Bowe fight - he was excellent in his day. A massively talented
individual.

[banjo]

One is that he was handed a world title and didn't fight for it. The second was that he didn't fight a less shot version of Tyson. The third is that he didn't give Vitali a re-match, but my far the biggest is that he never fough Riddick Bowe.

1. Very true however he proved himself by unifying the division to become the undisputed champion.

2. Lewis was Tysons mandatory in 1996 and King did everything he could to keep Lewis out of the picture, that's why Tyson ended up dropping the WBC title and fighting soft touch Seldon to prepare for a more lucrative fight with Holyfield.

3. I agree, however I think a fully motivated/prepared Lewis wouldn't have had the problems he had in the first bout(wasn't he supposed to fight somebody else but Vitali replaced them at short notice?).

4. He did TKO2 No obviously as others have stated Bowe wanted to milk his status as the undisputed heavyweight champion for as long as he could rather than face losing his title in his first defence and although Bowe was around for a good few years it just never happened, nobodies fault, it's just boxing.

[Autobarn]

bowe was shit-hot in 1992 after beating holyfield, but after hi 2 easy defenses he faded, lost to holyfeld and he never fought again on the biggest stage. his WBO title wins were not really recognised at the time, and even the 3rd holyfield fight didn't have the same level of prestige. bowe was always one of the best but he was never The Man after losing that 1993 fight with holyfield. he could never really get himself together so he wouldn't really have been on lewis' radar (acknowledging lewis' little hiccup vs mccall which proved career-stalling).

once lewis obliterated golota, one of the many heavyweights hyped by HBO, that was it, no need for it.

[loaded_gloves]

Why didn't a fight between Lennox Lewis and Riddick Bowe happen ?

Because Bowe didn't have to, if he could make a good living fighting the likes of a shot Mike Dokes
and Jesse Ferguson then why fight Lewis who would have beaten him.

Saying that, I loved watching Bowe fight - he was excellent in his day. A massively talented
individual.

Fat Git, that's not at all what happened. Please read my first post in this thread.

Why people insist on clinging to a viewpoint which they have not bothered to research is beyond me, it must be to dowith the mental calibre.

[loaded_gloves]

even the 3rd holyfield fight didn't have the same level of prestige. bowe was always one of the best but he was never The Man after losing that 1993 fight with holyfield.

I know you're a knowlegeable poster but you are wrong in this case.

The third Holyfield fight was deemed as the fight to determine the world's best heavyweight. This was media-wide. King had the post-prison Tyson and his band of alpha-champs, Lewis was suspect after the McCall defeat, and Bowe was still considered the man in the division. All roads led to Bowe/Tyson at this point.

[Quixall]

Why didn't a fight between Lennox Lewis and Riddick Bowe happen ?

Because Bowe didn't have to, if he could make a good living fighting the likes of a shot Mike Dokes
and Jesse Ferguson then why fight Lewis who would have beaten him.

Saying that, I loved watching Bowe fight - he was excellent in his day. A massively talented
individual.

Fat Git, that's not at all what happened. Please read my first post in this thread.

Why people insist on clinging to a viewpoint which they have not bothered to research is beyond me, it must be to dowith the mental calibre.

True, but i appreciate it Loaded. It answered the question for me

[keithmoonhangover]

Bowe did not duck Lennox Lewis. He made a business decision.

He made a business decision that involved him not fighting Lewis. In what way is that not ducking?

[banjo]

Bowe did not duck Lennox Lewis. He made a business decision.

He made a business decision that involved him not fighting Lewis. In what way is that not ducking?

Call it what you want but it's something that has happened for many years and will continue to happen, boxers and their managers have to make the choice that is best for them and sometimes it isn't always what the fans want.

[loaded_gloves]

Bowe did not duck Lennox Lewis. He made a business decision.

He made a business decision that involved him not fighting Lewis. In what way is that not ducking?

Simply read the rest of my post Keith, I explain the empirical facts in terms that even a child could understand.

[keithmoonhangover]

Bowe did not duck Lennox Lewis. He made a business decision.

He made a business decision that involved him not fighting Lewis. In what way is that not ducking?

Simply read the rest of my post Keith, I explain the empirical facts in terms that even a child could understand.

I read the rest of the post and some of it is right. But, answer my question.....

In what way is that not ducking?

[JC]

I thought Lewis had hammered Bowe in the AMs so Bowe wanted an insane percentage of the purse to fight him, then when he was forced to he ditched the belt instead.

If you watch the fight from the olympics it was no where near a hammering.

[keithmoonhangover]

I thought Lewis had hammered Bowe in the AMs so Bowe wanted an insane percentage of the purse to fight him, then when he was forced to he ditched the belt instead.

If you watch the fight from the olympics it was no where near a hammering.

Bowe took numerous clean shots. Lewis was a much better boxer than him.

[Finn]

I thought Lewis had hammered Bowe in the AMs so Bowe wanted an insane percentage of the purse to fight him, then when he was forced to he ditched the belt instead.

If you watch the fight from the olympics it was no where near a hammering.

ive never actually watched it, i just thought that was the reported reason bowe didnt want to fight lewis. I wasnt really a bowe or lewis fan at the time and was only a lad (big bruno fan) so never really paid it much mind. I might check out the am fight.