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What if Riddick Bowe, World Heavyweight Champion in 1992 when he beat the great Evander Holyfield, accepted a challenge from the #1 contender at the time, Lennox Lewis, who flattened and destroyed dangerous challenger Razor Ruddock in only two rounds.

What if Bowe would have never thrown the belt in the trash can and accept a fight with the Lion?

Or what a fight would be between Bowe of circa 1991-1992, with the great trainer Eddie Futch at his side vs Lewis of circa 1996-2002, when he was much heavier and stronger and had trainer Emmanuel Steward on his corner. These are two scenarios of Bowe vs Lewis.

Now, the other fight, I am very intrigue by, would be the great Mike Tyson in his prime, with trainer Kevin Rooney, circa 1986-89 vs:
1. Lewis of the early 90s
2. Lewis of the late 90s and early 2000s when he had Steward

These are the 4 scenarios. Would have Lewis come on top anyway? Your Comments.

Bowe beats Lewis in 92-93 and of this, I have relatively little doubt.

I used to think Bowe would beat any Lewis --- but Ive come around to thinking the peak Lewis (late-90s and early-00s) reverses that first fantasy fight. They go 1-1, with Bowe knocking Lewis out in the 1993 fight, and Lewis decisioning Bowe in a prime-for-prime bout.

Tyson at his best decapitates Lewis, early or late-90s edition.

Had they fought in 92/93, I think Bowe probably would have knocked Lewis out. That said, Bowe's chin was not rock solid and Lewis was a bigger puncher than anyone he ever faced. I can see Lewis winning by knockout in the early to mid rounds, but if it goes much longer, I see Bowe getting to Lewis's chin eventually. If pushed, I'll go for Bowe by TKO in round 3 after visiting the canvas himself in the 2nd in one of the best short heavyweight fights in history.

Prime-for-prime, I think Lewis definitely takes it. Bowe's defense was always poor and Lewis hits too hard and too accurately not to stop him eventually. Lewis would have to be very discliplined an tie Bowe up so he couldn't use his superior in-fighting. Lewis by TKO in the 7th after dishing out a beating in the previous round.

Tyson knocks a young Lennox Lewis out, no question, it's just a matter of when.

Prime-for-prime I think it could go either way, but I favour Lewis. He would need to execute a perfect gameplan and dominate with his jab. I'm of the school that believes the Buster Douglas of 1990 would be trouble for ANY version of Tyson, and Lewis has the size, speed and skills of Douglas, plus superior punching power. That said, one flush power punch and it's all over for Lewis, so it's really not much better than a 50:50 proposition IMO.

Lewis didnt have Douglas' speed and he didnt have the jab Douglas used to dominate Tyson so (it boggles the mind to see so many people laud Lewis' lazy, pawing left hand. He couldnt even outjab Mercer ) and more significantly, Lewis had a below-average (not glass, mind) chin and very ordinary recuperative powers.

Speed kills, and it would have been Lewis' undoing against the young Tyson.

Peak for peak I think Lewis wins both fights.

Not really sure about the younger version.

elmersalsa wrote:What if Riddick Bowe, World Heavyweight Champion in 1992 when he beat the great Evander Holyfield, accepted a challenge from the #1 contender at the time, Lennox Lewis, who flattened and destroyed dangerous challenger Razor Ruddock in only two rounds.

What if Bowe would have never thrown the belt in the trash can and accept a fight with the Lion?

Bowe would have won in this moment in time... Mostly because Lewis had not yet matured into the fighter he would become.

elmersalsa wrote:Or what a fight would be between Bowe of circa 1991-1992, with the great trainer Eddie Futch at his side vs Lewis of circa 1996-2002, when he was much heavier and stronger and had trainer Emmanuel Steward on his corner. These are two scenarios of Bowe vs Lewis.

Lewis wins fairly conclusively.

elmersalsa wrote:Now, the other fight, I am very intrigue by, would be the great Mike Tyson in his prime, with trainer Kevin Rooney, circa 1986-89 vs:
1. Lewis of the early 90s
2. Lewis of the late 90s and early 2000s when he had Steward

These are the 4 scenarios. Would have Lewis come on top anyway? Your Comments.

A Prime Tyson beats both versions of Lewis.

jezzamundo wrote:Had they fought in 92/93, I think Bowe probably would have knocked Lewis out. That said, Bowe's chin was not rock solid and Lewis was a bigger puncher than anyone he ever faced. I can see Lewis winning by knockout in the early to mid rounds, but if it goes much longer, I see Bowe getting to Lewis's chin eventually. If pushed, I'll go for Bowe by TKO in round 3 after visiting the canvas himself in the 2nd in one of the best short heavyweight fights in history.

Prime-for-prime, I think Lewis definitely takes it. Bowe's defense was always poor and Lewis hits too hard and too accurately not to stop him eventually. Lewis would have to be very discliplined an tie Bowe up so he couldn't use his superior in-fighting. Lewis by TKO in the 7th after dishing out a beating in the previous round.

Tyson knocks a young Lennox Lewis out, no question, it's just a matter of when.

Prime-for-prime I think it could go either way, but I favour Lewis. He would need to execute a perfect gameplan and dominate with his jab. I'm of the school that believes the Buster Douglas of 1990 would be trouble for ANY version of Tyson, and Lewis has the size, speed and skills of Douglas, plus superior punching power. That said, one flush power punch and it's all over for Lewis, so it's really not much better than a 50:50 proposition IMO.

I don't think that Lennox had the speed of Buster Douglas. He might hit harder, but he was not as fast in foot nor hands.

Lewis would outbox and stop Riddick Bowe in the 8th or 9th round. Lewis at his absolute best would probably outbox Tyson, but had they have fought in the early 90's as they were at the time Tyson would've KO'd him. Tyson circa 1991 vs Lewis circa 2002 is an interesting match. I'd favor Lewis to win a hard fought decision, but it wouldn't shock me if Tyson could stop him.

Goodnight, Irene wrote:Lewis didnt have Douglas' speed and he didnt have the jab Douglas used to dominate Tyson so (it boggles the mind to see so many people laud Lewis' lazy, pawing left hand. He couldnt even outjab Mercer ) and more significantly, Lewis had a below-average (not glass, mind) chin and very ordinary recuperative powers.

Speed kills, and it would have been Lewis' undoing against the young Tyson.

You have a point - I think the young (pre-prime) Lewis had similar speed to Douglas, but in his prime years, while his defense and technique had improved, he had lost a bit of speed in hand and foot. I think Lewis had a very good jab when he remembered to use it properly, which he would certainly have to do against a prime Tyson.

I agree, Mercer outjabbed Lewis, but I think that was more to do with the fact that Lewis was defensively poor against the jab than anything about Lewis's own jab. Tyson's jab is not such a problem for Lewis, and Lewis was excellent defensively against the left hook and had good resistace against body shots. Obviously one flush power shot would likely be all it would take for Tyson to stop Lewis, but I've always favoured a focused, prime Lewis to win this matchup.

How do you imagine Lewis negating the (considerable) speed deficit? Clinching? Using range? Disruptive jabbing (which I dont really view as viable to Lewis, but you hold his jab in higher esteem than I)?

Goodnight, Irene wrote:How do you imagine Lewis negating the (considerable) speed deficit? Clinching? Using range? Disruptive jabbing (which I dont really view as viable to Lewis, but you hold his jab in higher esteem than I)?

Good question. I think Lewis's size helps him a lot in this matchup and if Tyson is going to win it, it has to be in the first half of the fight. To answer your question, Lewis would have to use a combination of clinching (where he has a size and strength advantage that would gradually wear Tyson down), using range and jabbing, as well as keeping his right hand up whenever Tyson is in range (which he did effectively against the shot Tyson he beat in 2002). I agree that Lewis's jab alone would not be enough.

I just can't see a fighter as short, with as short reach as Tyson nailing Lewis with a right hand from the outside and as I said, when focused, Lewis was very good defensively against the left hook. Also his right uppercut is one of the best ever at heavyweight and certainly enough to discourage Tyson from fighting on the inside. I actually think Tyson's best chance of winning is to counter punch, stay on the outside with lots of head movement and jump in with a left hook after slipping a Lewis jab, much like he did against Carl Williams.

These are largely the same reasons I believe a focused Lewis also beats Frazier and Marciano (actually I think Tyson has a better chance against Lewis than either of these two).

In 1992 I think Bowe would probably have beaten Lewis by decision.

However peak Lewis v peak Bowe I have no doubts Lewis would win, probably by late stoppage.

The tough one is peak Tyson v peak Lewis, I can see a scenario either way. Whilst the peak Tyson fought and beat some big guys none of them were as big, strong and powerful as Lewis. The other big factor is that Lewis would not be scared or intimidated like many of Tysons opponents. I honestly think though that the peak Tyson was an incredible fighter, whose place in history will always be underrated. I see his amazing speed, power, foot and head movement being too much for Lewis and Tyson scoring another stoppage from round 6 onwards as the most likely result.

Lewis stops Bowe 9 times out of 10.

Tyson pre Spinks butchers any version of Lewis.