Lennox Lewis v Riddick Bowe who wins?

Question

I know they fought at least once as amateurs, but who would win in a twelve rouned pro fight?

Answer 1

Lewis stopped Bowe in two rounds in the 1988 Olympics to capture the super-heavyweight Gold Medal. However, any objective observer would have to admit that the stoppage was premature, and the referee did a horrible job officiating during the entire bout. On the other hand, I have no doubt that Lewis was on his way to winning the fight regardless of the premature stoppage. Lewis was the more experienced fighter and was competing in the Olympics for the second time. So, lets clear the Olympic fight up once and for all. Lewis was the more experienced amateur, the fight was stopped too quickly, but it didn't change the outcome. Lewis was on his way to winning it anyway.
They were close in height, reach, and weight. These two are so similar and evenly matched, it's almost impossible to give one a decided advantage over the other when breaking down their fighting styles. I guess Lewis has to get the nod when it comes to jab and right hand, and Bowe gets the nod with the left-hook and right-uppercut. Regardless of which fighter you feel gets the nod over the other in certain categories, I think the fighter who has the edge is only by a minuscule margin. The one thing that stands out to me is that Lewis was effective moving to or away from his opponent. Bowe was most effective when he was pushing the fight.

My pick is Lewis.

Answer 2

As he demonstrated against Hasim Rahman and Michael Moorer, Lewis was beatable on "any given day". Assuming he was taking his training seriously and not off filming "Oceans 11" (which is widely blamed for his lack of focus against Rahman) Lewis most likely gets the win.

Even if Bowe was at this best--which, ufortunately, was probably 12 or so rounds out of his career (the first Holyfield fight) assuming that Lewis used his superior height and reach he could have dominated, at least on the scorecards.

Besides, from the looks of things Lennox had Bowe's number. The "belt in the trash" theatrics notwithstanding, Bowe was afraid to even think about fighting Lewis as a pro. That whole fiasco was Rock Newman management at his finest--start your new champion's career by publicly denigrating one of the belts with a "pro wrestling" type theatrical angle. So not only are you essentially throwing the undisputed World Heavyweight championship in the trash, you're taking one--and most likely two or three--of Bowe's biggest potential paydays off the table. At the same time you're causing the general public to question his toughness and manhood. And after that instead of having your new champion actually fight send him to Africa on a goodwill tour where he can eat and not train. I never got the vibe that Newman was purposely trying to sabotage Bowe and his career, but even if he had been he couldn't have screwed things up more for him...

Answer 3

This would've been a tough fight to pick. They were just about even in height, reach, and weight. Both had good jabs but i think Bowe was a better inside fighter than Lewis, but i would give Lewis the edge in one punch power. It's a shame this fight never happened and it should've been all set after Lewis destroyed Razor Ruddock and Bowe won the title from Evander Holyfield just 2 weeks later. I thought it was a done deal. And remember the ringside confrontation Bowe and Lewis had shortly after Bowe won the title from Evander. Lewis was a commentator for the fight and Bowe came right in his face after the fight and told him "i owe you one" and the two nearly came to blows and had to be seperated. Lewis said right after that incident that he looked into Bowe's eyes and seen "absolute fear". I guess he was right because Bowe threw his WBC belt in the trash rather than face Lennox. I think Lewis would've won a very tough fight by coming from behind to knock Bowe out late in the fight.

Answer 4

Lennox Lewis.

Answer 5

...to the usually reliable and informative smitty, lewis and tyson only fought once! back in the day, tyson woulda knocked the snot outta him, as well as the braids! but, anyways, the outcome of this fight depends on which of the two showed up that night. think bowe had a puncher's chance, but if the bowe who tamed holyfield, the warrior, showed up, he would've knocked lewis into the press row, as lewis would never have been able to withstand that kinda pressure and focus. however, a lewis in prime condition might really be too much for bowe. though it pains me to do so, i'll pick lewis by late round stoppage or split decision

Answer 6

Lewis TKO round 10. Bowe ducked Lewis as a pro. There may have been other reasons, but he threw one of his championship belts in the trash can, and I believe he did that because Lewis was the mandatory challenger for that particular belt.

Answer 7

Lennox Lewis by ko Bowe have no hearth

Answer 8

Bowe if the fought early, Lewis matured in the ring ( like fine wine!!)

Answer 9

This would be a matchup of two big guys with good jabs. I believe that Lewis would probably stop Bowe in about the 11th round.

Answer 10

Bowe - W 42 (KO's 33) TF 44 - W pct 95% - KO pct 75% - wins over Holyfield{2}, Dokes, P. Thomas and Biggs - KO'ed by none (Would Golota have KO'ed him)
Won Olympic Silver medal in 1988 at Super Hwy wt

L.Lewis - W 41 (KO's 32) TF 44 - W pct 93% - KO pct 73% - wins over Tyson{2}, Holyfield[2] and Mercer - KO'ed by McCall and Raham (ordinary fighters) - #33 ranked puncher - #53 ranked fighter
Won Olympics Gold medal in 1988 at Super Hwy wt

Both of these fighters suffer from lack of focus during critical times: Lewis - the 2 times he was KO'ed, Bowe - the 2 Golota's fights.
For this fight, both fighters are very sloppy. This becomes a waste of your money on pay-per-view 15 rd draw.