So Bowe gets some flat out ridicule for ducking Lewis when he put the WBC belt in the trash. This happened on the 15th December 1992. Bowe beat Holyfield in their first fight on 13th November 1992. So a month later he trashed the belt. Lewis beat Ruddock the month before Bowe beat Holyfield on 31st October 1992. So the timeline there is 31st October - Lewis demolishes Ruddock 13th November - Bowe beats Holyfield 15th December - Bowe trashes belt. I take it Bowe always ducking Lewis from this point onward but what about before this? Here is Bowe on Lewis on the 11th August 1992 so he already had the Holyfield fight booked and Lewis had just won a fight in 4 rounds. Bowe is trashing Lewis and saying Ruddock will beat him. It seems like Bowe was the only one ducking. Was Lewis ever ducking him? Can we put this down to Rock Newman? Interestingly enough if you rewatch Bowe vs Lewis at the Olympics, Bowe is very much on top until he gets hit with the right in round 2. Bowe is looking like the superior fighter.
Bowe signed a huge deal with Time Warner right after beating Holyfield the first time. It seems like he and Newman (who had beef with the WBC) wanted to make big money facing easy opponents like Michael Dokes, Jesse Ferguson, and a supposedly shot Evander Holyfield. I think they eventually planned on facing Lennox, but knew he was a big risk, and wanted easier paydays before facing him. But Bowe lost to Holyfield, and then Lennox lost to McCall a year later. https://www.washingtonpost.com/arch...reement/8baecd6e-582e-48af-95fb-545f566b08ac/ Bowe signs six-fight cable deal
Right. It seems understandable what happened post 92, things just didn't fall into place after the Bowe trash can incident. Was there ever any possibility of them fighting before late 92 when you had the Bowe Holyfield and Lewis Ruddock fights scheduled? Didn't Lewis have what was seen as a bad performance at the time vs Mercer when Bowe was seen to also look a little less impressive vs Coetzer? If Lewis had looked better vs Mercer could the fight have happened then? If Bowe had beat Holyfield in their rematch in November 93, Lewis would have been coming off a bad performance vs Bruno in October 93. Could the fight have happened then?
Lewis vs Mercer was much later, in 1996. It was the same time that Golota ended Bowe's career. Had Bowe beaten Golota, I assume he would have aimed for Tyson. I believe 93 could have been a possibility, but it really seemed Bowe wanted no part of Lewis. According to Bowe's biography he offered to defend against Lennox with a 90/10 purse share, on other words, he knew it would be turned down.
It was too early in their careers. They both were in the 1988 olympics. They would have been pros for only 3 years at that point.
Lennox Lewis Kicked Riddick Bowe’s Ass in the ‘88 Olympics. Subsequently, Bowe DIDN’T Want Any Professional “Smoke” w/Lennox… The End… REED
Bowe gave up when he tried to bully Lewis after Holy 1, and Lummox just stood there calmly waiting for Bowe to make a move. Bowe liked cats like Larry Donald, who he could punch in the face and they did nothing. He knew better than try to swing on Lewis. He would have gotten knocked out on the spot like Marvin Shabazz knocked out James Roper.
Lewis-Mercer was in 96’, not too long before Bowe-Golota 1 (Lampley mentions Lewis-Mercer during it). In 92’, Bowe and Lewis were aiming for the champion in Holyfield, and facing each other would be too high risk and low reward. Bowe got a title shot by facing Coetzer, who was ranked the #1 contender by the WBA. Lewis-Ruddock was for the WBC mandatory. If Bowe had kept winning, they probably would have had some negotiations for a Lewis fight in 94’, but who really knows how that would turn out?
Its damn shame because if the olympic fight said anything about the style mesh then BOOM. Most Lewis fights against tall guys he couldn't stay away from were wars and Bowe would bring him a good one
The Great White Hype is so underrated. Interesting back story is that the writer didn't like how it was filmed as a comedy. He wanted a darker movie and if you think about it, THAT would have worked also. They should remake it like that.
It really is that simple. I watched that Olympic fight when I was 9 and could tell that Bowe was ducking him just a few years later.
