jamesmcdonnell wrote: ↑03 Jul 2020, 18:29
I think the highest I ever saw was around the 70% mark, not for a whole fight, in a single round, trying to remember who the fighter was, it was quite some years ago, I've a feeling it might have been Chavez.
Bowe and holy tagged each other at crazy clips.
Biggest myth, women weaken legs.
Yeah, there wasn't much defence in their first fight.
Oh for those days. The first two fights were so intense.
What a great fight, you forget just how quick Bowe's hands were for a big man, he was a beautiful combination puncher.
Holyfield's left hook was a thing of beauty too.
Bowe hit Evander with some monster uppercuts in that fight, amazing that Evander was able to shake them off.
I really miss the heavyweight scene of that era. The level of skill of the top operators was far higher.
My goodness - how on earth did Holyfield stay on his feet in that 10th round, he took some absolute monster punches after he was wobled, and came back firing - incredible stuff, a while since I watched it, and even better than I remember.
jamesmcdonnell wrote: ↑04 Jul 2020, 05:46
Oh for those days. The first two fights were so intense.
What a great fight, you forget just how quick Bowe's hands were for a big man, he was a beautiful combination puncher.
Holyfield's left hook was a thing of beauty too.
Bowe hit Evander with some monster uppercuts in that fight, amazing that Evander was able to shake them off.
I really miss the heavyweight scene of that era. The level of skill of the top operators was far higher.
My goodness - how on earth did Holyfield stay on his feet in that 10th round, he took some absolute monster punches after he was wobled, and came back firing - incredible stuff, a while since I watched it, and even better than I remember.
I remember watching the second fight thinking rematches are usually such a disappointment and then bang! And that was before the skydiver!
Also I hadn't planned to watch it, it was just on!
Bowe was exceptional but his style was one where he took shots. He was comfortable standing there chest to chest and finding the leverage for his short hooks and then lighting his opponents up. To do that he was happy to rely on slipping and parrying shots. He was able to ride a shot and take most of the weight off it. He'd have invited the likes of Tyson, Frazier, Louis, Foreman, Marciano, Ali etc to fight him in the pocket and on his best night he would have beaten them at that game if you ask me. He just had a short shelf life due to the shots he had to take doing that. He was a shell of himself in the Golota fights.
TheLeprechaun wrote: ↑04 Jul 2020, 22:19
Bowe was exceptional but his style was one where he took shots. He was comfortable standing there chest to chest and finding the leverage for his short hooks and then lighting his opponents up. To do that he was happy to rely on slipping and parrying shots. He was able to ride a shot and take most of the weight off it. He'd have invited the likes of Tyson, Frazier, Louis, Foreman, Marciano, Ali etc to fight him in the pocket and on his best night he would have beaten them at that game if you ask me. He just had a short shelf life due to the shots he had to take doing that. He was a shell of himself in the Golota fights.
Great fights against Golota, I hadn't realised he had slipped and I overrated The Pole because of it.
Lennox showed him who was boss!
TheLeprechaun wrote: ↑04 Jul 2020, 22:19
Bowe was exceptional but his style was one where he took shots. He was comfortable standing there chest to chest and finding the leverage for his short hooks and then lighting his opponents up. To do that he was happy to rely on slipping and parrying shots. He was able to ride a shot and take most of the weight off it. He'd have invited the likes of Tyson, Frazier, Louis, Foreman, Marciano, Ali etc to fight him in the pocket and on his best night he would have beaten them at that game if you ask me. He just had a short shelf life due to the shots he had to take doing that. He was a shell of himself in the Golota fights.
Bowe's weight went over 17 stone post-Holyfield 1, and it took probably 10% away from him in performance. I'm still of the opinion that he would have been too much for a pre-McCall, Lewis. But the later version of Lewis was much more balanced and skillful.
“Ike ibeabuchi is going to be released soon and clear up the heavyweight division”
I remember reading initial reports of Oscar De La Hoya being blackmailed over a sex tape in which he allows 2 women to perform sex acts on him with kitchen utensils and thinking that must be a myth .... turned out it wasn’t . Strange fella is Oscar, clearly
TheLeprechaun wrote: ↑04 Jul 2020, 22:19
Bowe was exceptional but his style was one where he took shots. He was comfortable standing there chest to chest and finding the leverage for his short hooks and then lighting his opponents up. To do that he was happy to rely on slipping and parrying shots. He was able to ride a shot and take most of the weight off it. He'd have invited the likes of Tyson, Frazier, Louis, Foreman, Marciano, Ali etc to fight him in the pocket and on his best night he would have beaten them at that game if you ask me. He just had a short shelf life due to the shots he had to take doing that. He was a shell of himself in the Golota fights.
Bowe loved pie and burger. That was his downfall
He was a strange case, had the tools to be a great but lacked discipline, remember when he quit boxing to join the marines and left after 3 days because he couldn't hack it?
He was a strange case, had the tools to be a great but lacked discipline, remember when he quit boxing to join the marines and left after 3 days because he couldn't hack it?
From what I've read it's partly discipline but mostly that he just deteriorated mentally very quickly after the Holyfield fights, probably by eating hundreds of punches from an opponent who could really whack even at world level. There is no way the Bowe of a few fights earlier would have been wobbled repeatedly, floored and smacked around by Golota.
Unfortunately, some guys genetically suffer more long-term damage than others from the same amount of punishment (a trip through Boxing Life Stories puts that into sharp relief) and Bowe seems to have been one of the very unlucky ones.
He was a strange case, had the tools to be a great but lacked discipline, remember when he quit boxing to join the marines and left after 3 days because he couldn't hack it?
From what I've read it's partly discipline but mostly that he just deteriorated mentally very quickly after the Holyfield fights, probably by eating hundreds of punches from an opponent who could really whack even at world level. There is no way the Bowe of a few fights earlier would have been wobbled repeatedly, floored and smacked around by Golota.
Unfortunately, some guys genetically suffer more long-term damage than others from the same amount of punishment (a trip through Boxing Life Stories puts that into sharp relief) and Bowe seems to have been one of the very unlucky ones.
I remember Futch saying he would blow up to over 300 lbs between fights, then kill himself to get ready for a fight as he had so much weight to lose, which certainly isn't going to help your longevity.
Wales wrote: ↑05 Jul 2020, 18:30
It’s run it’s course now, but for years
“Ike ibeabuchi is going to be released soon and clear up the heavyweight division”
I remember reading initial reports of Oscar De La Hoya being blackmailed over a sex tape in which he allows 2 women to perform sex acts on him with kitchen utensils and thinking that must be a myth .... turned out it wasn’t . Strange fella is Oscar, clearly
dookus wrote: ↑06 Jul 2020, 11:26
From what I've read it's partly discipline but mostly that he just deteriorated mentally very quickly after the Holyfield fights, probably by eating hundreds of punches from an opponent who could really whack even at world level. There is no way the Bowe of a few fights earlier would have been wobbled repeatedly, floored and smacked around by Golota.
Unfortunately, some guys genetically suffer more long-term damage than others from the same amount of punishment (a trip through Boxing Life Stories puts that into sharp relief) and Bowe seems to have been one of the very unlucky ones.
I remember Futch saying he would blow up to over 300 lbs between fights, then kill himself to get ready for a fight as he had so much weight to lose, which certainly isn't going to help your longevity.
Going back to his amateur career, Bowe had a reputation for not fighting to his full potential. I have to say his olympic fight with Lewis is pretty interesting. For me, Bowe wins the first round very emphatically and hurts Lewis in the round. He has a point taken for some unknown reason and the referee has a shocker as he breaks them up and slows the action. Bowes inside work is superb in the fight. Lewis caught him within the first few seconds of the second, kinda jumped on him and the fight was stopped very prematurely. Watching that fight, I don't see how you can say Lewis was the better fighter, at that time. I reckon a Prime Bowe would have taken Lewis apart in the professionals if it ever happened.
I remember Futch saying he would blow up to over 300 lbs between fights, then kill himself to get ready for a fight as he had so much weight to lose, which certainly isn't going to help your longevity.
Going back to his amateur career, Bowe had a reputation for not fighting to his full potential. I have to say his olympic fight with Lewis is pretty interesting. For me, Bowe wins the first round very emphatically and hurts Lewis in the round. He has a point taken for some unknown reason and the referee has a shocker as he breaks them up and slows the action. Bowes inside work is superb in the fight. Lewis caught him within the first few seconds of the second, kinda jumped on him and the fight was stopped very prematurely. Watching that fight, I don't see how you can say Lewis was the better fighter, at that time. I reckon a Prime Bowe would have taken Lewis apart in the professionals if it ever happened.
I think Bowe would have given a young Lewis a proper hiding, he matured quicker as a pro, I think in their respective primes it would have been a toss up. Bowe had deceptively quick hands for a big man, and punched to head and body very well.
Lewis was better disciplined, particuarly after the loss to McCall, and learned to box effectively off the jab and not take risks, Bowe relied a little too much on his ability to take a shot - he didn't half take a larruping off holyfield in all 3 fights.
Going back to his amateur career, Bowe had a reputation for not fighting to his full potential. I have to say his olympic fight with Lewis is pretty interesting. For me, Bowe wins the first round very emphatically and hurts Lewis in the round. He has a point taken for some unknown reason and the referee has a shocker as he breaks them up and slows the action. Bowes inside work is superb in the fight. Lewis caught him within the first few seconds of the second, kinda jumped on him and the fight was stopped very prematurely. Watching that fight, I don't see how you can say Lewis was the better fighter, at that time. I reckon a Prime Bowe would have taken Lewis apart in the professionals if it ever happened.
I think Bowe would have given a young Lewis a proper hiding, he matured quicker as a pro, I think in their respective primes it would have been a toss up. Bowe had deceptively quick hands for a big man, and punched to head and body very well.
Lewis was better disciplined, particuarly after the loss to McCall, and learned to box effectively off the jab and not take risks, Bowe relied a little too much on his ability to take a shot - he didn't half take a larruping off holyfield in all 3 fights.
I remember Futch saying he would blow up to over 300 lbs between fights, then kill himself to get ready for a fight as he had so much weight to lose, which certainly isn't going to help your longevity.
Going back to his amateur career, Bowe had a reputation for not fighting to his full potential. I have to say his olympic fight with Lewis is pretty interesting. For me, Bowe wins the first round very emphatically and hurts Lewis in the round. He has a point taken for some unknown reason and the referee has a shocker as he breaks them up and slows the action. Bowes inside work is superb in the fight. Lewis caught him within the first few seconds of the second, kinda jumped on him and the fight was stopped very prematurely. Watching that fight, I don't see how you can say Lewis was the better fighter, at that time. I reckon a Prime Bowe would have taken Lewis apart in the professionals if it ever happened.
Bowe definitely won the first---but he did get hurt himself at the end of the round with a big right hand and the first and last minute were very competitive, it wasnt just one way traffic. Lewis came right out and Bowe was getting rocked again, like he was still feeling a bit buzzed, though ref defo seemed eager to stop it and the point off in the first was weird. I'd say in all Lewis clearly did the biggest work, though Bowe showed he could really get to Lewis at points.
The amateur fight doesn't really paint a definitive picture of what would have happened in the pros, woulda been a hell of an interesting fight
Last edited by margaret thatcher on 08 Jul 2020, 16:48, edited 1 time in total.
I think Bowe would have given a young Lewis a proper hiding, he matured quicker as a pro, I think in their respective primes it would have been a toss up. Bowe had deceptively quick hands for a big man, and punched to head and body very well.
Lewis was better disciplined, particuarly after the loss to McCall, and learned to box effectively off the jab and not take risks, Bowe relied a little too much on his ability to take a shot - he didn't half take a larruping off holyfield in all 3 fights.
Brilliant
Thanks. It's definitely apt in the case of those fights. Bowe was reeling around like a drunk with one roller skate on at times.
Another thing I'll say is that Bowe showed vs Holy and Golota that he was tough as hell and could take a beating and still come back from it (i know , it was nut shots vs golota, but underrated resolve and enough offense from Bowe to make Goloto's weirdoness activate). Though it was a stoppage in the amateurs the reality is that Lewis didn't have him as badly hurt as he was in the Holy fights he won, and he never got 1 punch starched.
Man it sucks they never fought as pro, 2 big skilled, offensively studly hws
