Mike tyson vs riddick bowe 1991?

[Ambling Alp II]

It wasn't like all everyone was talking about was Bowe-Lewis for several years.
In 1992 Bowe fought Holyfield and won the title.
In 1993, Bowe fought Holyfield in a rematch.
Bowe-Lewis was signed. All Lewis had to do was beat Oliver McCall in 1994. He didn't.
So instead, Bowe fought Holyfield for the third time in 1995.
In 1996, Lewis won a dubious decision over Mercer. Bowe had the two Golota fights in 1996 and then retired. it was a wise move given the physical signs that he was showing.

If we just look at the timeline of event, it makes perfect sense why this fight never happened.

[gilgamesh]

All correct, but I would take exception to the claim that Lewis' win over Mercer was dubious.

[Ambling Alp II]

Maybe I was being too charitable to Lewis calling it dubious.

[gilgamesh]

Maybe I was being too charitable to Lewis calling it dubious.

You're being too charitable to Mercer I'd say. It is close, but certainly not an unfair decision.

[Cojimar 1946]

It wasn't like all everyone was talking about was Bowe-Lewis for several years.
In 1992 Bowe fought Holyfield and won the title.
In 1993, Bowe fought Holyfield in a rematch.
Bowe-Lewis was signed. All Lewis had to do was beat Oliver McCall in 1994. He didn't.
So instead, Bowe fought Holyfield for the third time in 1995.
In 1996, Lewis won a dubious decision over Mercer. Bowe had the two Golota fights in 1996 and then retired. it was a wise move given the physical signs that he was showing.

If we just look at the timeline of event, it makes perfect sense why this fight never happened.

Lewis had gotten his career back on track well before Bowe Holyfield 3 so I don't see how his loss to McCall is relevant. Bowe fought Holyfield thinking he was an easier fight. Simple as that. Holyfield had also recently lost to Moorer.

In 1996 Lewis was again the obvious fight to make rather than the unranked, totally unproven Golota. It seems again Bowe chose an easier opponent.

[Ambling Alp II]

First of all, and probably most importantly, The McCall fight was very relevant because if Lewis would have beaten McCall in their first fight then he and Bowe would have then fought.

Holyfield had performed poorly in the Moorer fight, but he had a great performance against Mercer.

After Lewis got stopped by McCall, he then beat three unranked fighters in a row (Butler, Fortune, and Morrison.) So no he had not proven he was better than Holyfield.

If you were around at the time, or follow the timeline, you know that the only real obvious time for Bowe-Lewis was going to be after the first McCall-Lewis fight had Lewis won. The Bowe-Lewis fight was already signed but was contingent on Lewis beating McCall. He didn't.

So no, Bowe did not duck Lewis. That is a myth.

[Cojimar 1946]

First of all, and probably most importantly, The McCall fight was very relevant because if Lewis would have beaten McCall in their first fight then he and Bowe would have then fought.

Holyfield had performed poorly in the Moorer fight, but he had a great performance against Mercer.

After Lewis got stopped by McCall, he then beat three unranked fighters in a row (Butler, Fortune, and Morrison.) So no he had not proven he was better than Holyfield.

If you were around at the time, or follow the timeline, you know that the only real obvious time for Bowe-Lewis was going to be after the first McCall-Lewis fight had Lewis won. The Bowe-Lewis fight was already signed but was contingent on Lewis beating McCall. He didn't.

So no, Bowe did not duck Lewis. That is a myth.

People didn't rate Mercer at the time who was unranked and had just lost to Marion Wilson.

Lewis had an excellent case for fighting Bowe in 1995/96 and there was no reason the fight shouldn't have happened. Losses have never stopped big fights from happening.

And there's no excuse for facing Golota instead of Lewis. Golota was seen by everyone as the easier opponent

[wouter]

After Lewis got stopped by McCall, he then beat three unranked fighters in a row (Butler, Fortune, and Morrison.) So no he had not proven he was better than Holyfield.

Butler was highly rated at the time.

[Ambling Alp II]

Everyone knew that Butler was not a serious contender. I think Ring had him #10 once. The WBC or whoever rig their rankings to make certain fights look like a bigger deal going in than they are. Nobody thought Butler was a serious threat to Lewis.

[Ambling Alp II]

First of all, and probably most importantly, The McCall fight was very relevant because if Lewis would have beaten McCall in their first fight then he and Bowe would have then fought.

Holyfield had performed poorly in the Moorer fight, but he had a great performance against Mercer.

After Lewis got stopped by McCall, he then beat three unranked fighters in a row (Butler, Fortune, and Morrison.) So no he had not proven he was better than Holyfield.

If you were around at the time, or follow the timeline, you know that the only real obvious time for Bowe-Lewis was going to be after the first McCall-Lewis fight had Lewis won. The Bowe-Lewis fight was already signed but was contingent on Lewis beating McCall. He didn't.

So no, Bowe did not duck Lewis. That is a myth.

People didn't rate Mercer at the time who was unranked and had just lost to Marion Wilson.

Lewis had an excellent case for fighting Bowe in 1995/96 and there was no reason the fight shouldn't have happened. Losses have never stopped big fights from happening.

And there's no excuse for facing Golota instead of Lewis. Golota was seen by everyone as the easier opponent

Watch the Moorer-Holyfield fight. Holyfield looked great.
Watch the Lewis-Mercer fight. Lewis needed the judges to bail him out.

In 1996, Bowe could have fought someone better than Golota.
And in 1996, Lewis could have fought someone better than Mercer.
And that isn't evidence of Bowe ducking Lewis.

Yes, there are times in boxing where it would have made sense for two guys to have fought. Pacquaio-Mayweather could have fought when they were in their prime and would meant a lot more than it did when they finally fought.

There was about 6 years when the obvious light heavyweight fight was Roy Jones-Dariusz Michalczewski. It never happened. Nobody ever talks about that.

But somehow, someway, Bowe supposedly ducking Lewis keeps coming up.

[Cojimar 1946]

First of all, and probably most importantly, The McCall fight was very relevant because if Lewis would have beaten McCall in their first fight then he and Bowe would have then fought.

Holyfield had performed poorly in the Moorer fight, but he had a great performance against Mercer.

After Lewis got stopped by McCall, he then beat three unranked fighters in a row (Butler, Fortune, and Morrison.) So no he had not proven he was better than Holyfield.

If you were around at the time, or follow the timeline, you know that the only real obvious time for Bowe-Lewis was going to be after the first McCall-Lewis fight had Lewis won. The Bowe-Lewis fight was already signed but was contingent on Lewis beating McCall. He didn't.

So no, Bowe did not duck Lewis. That is a myth.

People didn't rate Mercer at the time who was unranked and had just lost to Marion Wilson.

Lewis had an excellent case for fighting Bowe in 1995/96 and there was no reason the fight shouldn't have happened. Losses have never stopped big fights from happening.

And there's no excuse for facing Golota instead of Lewis. Golota was seen by everyone as the easier opponent

Watch the Moorer-Holyfield fight. Holyfield looked great.
Watch the Lewis-Mercer fight. Lewis needed the judges to bail him out.

In 1996, Bowe could have fought someone better than Golota.
And in 1996, Lewis could have fought someone better than Mercer.
And that isn't evidence of Bowe ducking Lewis.

Yes, there are times in boxing where it would have made sense for two guys to have fought. Pacquaio-Mayweather could have fought when they were in their prime and would meant a lot more than it did when they finally fought.

There was about 6 years when the obvious light heavyweight fight was Roy Jones-Dariusz Michalczewski. It never happened. Nobody ever talks about that.

But somehow, someway, Bowe supposedly ducking Lewis keeps coming up.

It keeps coming up because Bowes resume is so poor outside of Holyfield. Not fighting Lewis isn't acceptable when Bowes other opponents are so unimpressive.

Lewis also beat Bowe in the Olympics and stopped him from winning a gold medal. Obviously that's something he should have wanted to avenge.

[Ambling Alp II]

Agree that there is a huge drop off after Holyfield. it is to some extent deceiving. Can you even imagine a fighter in the last 20 years fighting some of opponents he fought before he got a title shot? Pinklon Thomas, Bert Cooper, Tyrell Biggs, Tony Tubbs, Bruce Seldon, Pierre Coetzer?
Not saying these guys were legends (and not all close to their prime) but that's pretty respectable for a prospect.

Bowe also beat several opponents that people thought might be good but whose careers declined after they fought Bowe-Donald, Hide, Gonzalez, Golota.

Bowe was set to fight Mercer which would have been a fairly big fight, but Mercer (as inconsistent as ever) lost to Jesse Ferguson which put Mercer temporarily out of the picture.
As I have said before, if you actually follow the timeline of what was happening in the sport, it made perfect sense why the fight never happened.
He didn't duck Lewis. That simply was not the case.