Yeah 100%, great era but a lot of match ups didnt happen that could have
100% blame that one on Bowe's camp. Lewis repeatedly called him out and Bowe went as far as dumping a belt in a trash can on camera rather than defend it against Lewis
For sure. Probably worked out better for Evander
Man, while Tyson 100% deserved to go to jail for that there were SO many enablers in his camp giving him terrible advise and not holding him to account at the time, King chief among them. I saw a doco on it years back, it was horrifying. Tyson was doomed the moment Cus D'Amato died and he lost the one person in the world who really had his best interests at heart.
Moorer was a spud, remember when David Tua dismantled him? Speaking of another guy who never got the shots he deserved- None of the big names were in a hurry to give Tua a shot either, he was already past his peak by the time he fought Lewis. Still arguably the best heavyweight not to hold a major belt.
Yeah, I vividly remember the circus act when Bowe dumped the WBC Belt into the trash, at the behest of his charlatan manager, Rock Newman. What a waste of talent. There's another superb fighter that went downhill fast.
Bowe v
Galaki (that's Golota, but I always use that spelling because that's what my mother wrote on the VHS tape when she recorded their second fight for me) was a tragi-comedy. You can watch them in fits of laughter, or tears, depending on what mood you're in. The big Pole had both fights in the bag too, before those ridiculous, but deserved, disqualifications.
Moorer the spud? I get it, he was flawed. Good fighters sorted him out. But for a couple of years there, in the early/mid-90s, he had a bit of the x-factor, what with being a hard-punching southpaw, who got some decent hype, and he defeated Holyfield (who was sick, as we later found out) for the title.
On balance, I agree that Lewis proved to be the best fighter of the lot. It was his decade, as he ultimately defeated Holyfield at the end of it, which was nicely symbolic. Tremendous size and skills, but Bowe had that too, circa '92/93, and the man that started the decade as the ultimate champion, Tyson, blew it too. I went cold on him post-prison. We'll never know how good he really was, as he missed those crucial bouts, aforementioned in the prior post.
I personally think Tyson would've beaten Holyfield, Bowe, and Lewis, if he'd faced them in the early-90s, or even the mid-90s (without prison), whilst keeping his trainer, Kevin Rooney, and his manager, Bill Cayton, to cap off a remarkable career.
He was my favourite.
