By Robert Brown: For the last decade the Klitschko brothers have been dominating faceless challengers in the Heavyweight division with monotonous regularity, and the majority of boxing insiders and boxing fans have generally come to the conclusion that the only Heavyweight of the modern era that could beat either of the Klitschko’s, and indeed did beat Vitali, is former British world Heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis. However in my opinion the boxing world has forgotten about a Heavyweight that was blessed with all the attributes in order to beat the Klitschko’s, this Heavyweight is Riddick (Big Daddy) Bowe.
Skeptics will be saying what are you talking about, Riddick Bowe only had the championship for around 18 months, and he was known to be undisciplined and lazy and was known for putting on large amounts of weight in between fights, which eventually ruined his boxing career. All of these facts are true, however I believe a prime fully fit and dedicated Riddick Bowe, like the one that fought and took the championship from Evander Holyfield would give the Klitschko’s all the problems in the world.
Before everybody thinks that I am on illicit drugs let’s look at the facts, Riddick Bowe had one of the best jabs ever possessed by a Heavyweight, certainly in the top 5 of all time, he had tremendous speed even though the Klitschko’s are deceptively fast, Bowe in my opinion is faster than both of them and Bowe is arguably the best inside fighter in the history of the Heavyweight division, along with possessing an incredibly powerful uppercut which in particular could cause wladimir Klitschko’s chin massive issues.
The Klitschko’s beat their opponents by keeping them on the outside with the jab and when they eventually get inside tying them up and on some occasions pulling the opponents head and neck down to wear them out, which is technically illegal, but the Klitschko’s are smart enough to get away with it as Ali was in his day.
Riddick Bowe who could at least compare and probably beat the Klitschko’s in a jabbing battle, which would enable him to force his way inside where he would have the strength and speed not to be bullied by the Klitschko’s and because the Klitschko’s have not been tested by someone that could fight on the inside, it is clear to me that in a fight against Riddick Bowe they would be tested in waters that not even Lennox Lewis could put them in, cause even though Lennox Lewis had the size, the foot work and the jab to bother the Klitschko’s, in my opinion he was not the inside fighter Riddick Bowe was, and therefore A prime dedicated and trained Riddick Bowe would cause more problems than Lewis because Lewis did not have the adaptability to fight on the inside that Bowe had, particularly with Wladimir, who has a susceptible chin and would be vulnerable against Bowe’s punching power and powerful right uppercut on the inside.
Vitali showed in his last fight that his foot work and coordination is slowing, Chisora was able to on a number of occasions get to Vitali’s body, it’s just that Chisora did not have the strength nor the technique or stamina to sustain the attack.
Riddick Bowe would be a much more difficult proposition if Vitali was receiving those punches to the body from Bowe the fight would have been a much different story, possibly with a much different result because Bowe would have the stamina, strength and speed to sustain a much more concise and methodical attack on the inside and would be much more difficult to control the distance and range against which the Klitschko’s have become masters at.
In summing up Bowe had the jab and the reach to compete with them on the outside and was a master technician on the inside, with both power and speed, so before you say that Lennox Lewis would be the only fighter in the modern era to compete with the Klitschko’s I’m just reminding you of the most wasted and unfulfilled talent in the history of boxing that was blessed with all the attributes to beat the Klitschko’s, Riddick (Big Daddy) Bowe.