What If? Reviewing the Heavyweight Fights of the 1990s That Weren’t By Sean Newman, (Oct 20, 2011) Doghouse Boxing - Tweet
It’s
been done to death. From the boxing columns of the Internet to the
features in Ring Magazine, to message boards everywhere, experts and
wannabes have posted their opinions on what might have happened if
certain important fights had come off when they were originally set.
Some of these fights eventually happened way past the time they
should have, some never came off at all. Other fights are excluded
from consideration here for being foregone conclusions, such as
Michael Moorer vs. George Foreman 2 (does anyone really think Moorer
would make the same mistake twice? Even Big George knew better, and
that’s why it didn’t happen) and Lennox Lewis vs. Tommy Morrison
in 1993 (please.). Allow me to beat the dead horse a little longer,
as I take a look at three heavyweight fights from my favorite era
that we missed out on. After all, look at that horse. It’s just
asking for a beating.
Mike
Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield Originally
set for June 1990, and then November 8, 1991
We
all know that this fight eventually occurred after Tyson’s best
years had been beaten out of him by Buster Douglas, Razor Ruddock,
and time spent in prison. Still, Tyson had enough left in the tank
to frighten Bruce Seldon and Frank Bruno into submission, good for
two of the three major heavyweight titles at the time. Lest we
forget, Holyfield was also considered a spent commodity, having
labored somewhat against Alex Stewart in a rematch and a fight with
Bobby Czyz, and having been knocked out against Riddick Bowe. So, we
had a Holyfield who looked shot but had at least been active against
a Tyson who had put in a handful of rounds after a four year layoff
but had won two belts. Holyfield was clearly the better fighter in
each of the two fights against Tyson. But what if the fight had
happened in 1990 or 1991?
Against
Buster Douglas in February 1990, Tyson was uninspired and distracted
in taking a ten round drubbing before finally being knocked out. Had
he managed to win that fight, it’s unlikely he would have been as
bored with the idea of fighting Holyfield. Evander had unified the
cruiserweight title and had stepped up to the heavyweight division
with a string of impressive wins against faded opposition. The guess
here, given 20/20 hindsight, is that Holyfield would have always had
Tyson’s number. He had the skills, the chin, and the mental
toughness to hang around against “Iron” Mike, and though Tyson
hadn’t begun to quit outright at the time (as he would later do
against Holyfield by biting, Lewis by folding, and Williams/McBride
by sitting down), he seemed not to have an answer for opponents who
had fought back and made it past a few rounds. A younger, more spry
Holyfield would have mixed boxing with power-punching, and taken
Tyson out in 10 or 11 rounds, much as he would do in 1996.
Riddick
Bowe vs. Lennox Lewis Originally
set for spring 1993
The
intent going in to a two week period in late 1992 was that the winner
of the Lennox Lewis-Razor Ruddock fight would fight the winner of the
Evander Holyfield-Riddick Bowe title fight. Lewis, for his part, won
a fight by a shocking two round destruction against a fighter many
thought would have too much experience and power. Lewis had looked
lethargic against Levi Billups in the months leading up to this
fight, and was awkward and off-balance. He also had the stigma at
the time of being a British heavyweight. The memory of Frank Bruno’s
multiple failures at capturing the heavyweight title were still too
fresh for anyone to take seriously any fighter coming from Her
Majesty’s homeland. Bowe, on the other hand, had a reputation as a
lazy fighter who might perhaps have a yellow streak. Against
Holyfield, however, he would have the fight of his career, showing
discipline having come into the fight in excellent shape, as well as
heart, battling punch for punch against the game and aggressive “Real
Deal.” Bowe won that fight and the world title by convincing
decision, and afterward had a verbal exchange with Lewis, who was
doing color commentary for HBO. Lewis promised to knock Bowe out,
while Bowe was as colorful as ever with his trash talk.
Then,
Bowe inexplicably called for a press conference where he made a big
show of dropping the WBC belt into a trash can in a move orchestrated
by manager Rock Newman. Bowe and Newman conveniently used politics,
specifically a disdain for the WBC’s actions, to avoid the fight
against Lewis, which was, shocker, mandated by the WBC! Lewis would
call out, badger, bait, and harass Bowe for years, but the fight
never happened. Many people assumed that Bowe was afraid of Lewis,
having suffered a stoppage loss at Lennox’s hands during the 1988
Olympics.
Had
the fight happened in March or June of 1993, and the best Bowe showed
up against the best Lewis, Bowe might have had a real shot at
winning. Lewis, despite his impressive showing against Ruddock, was
still relatively green and awkward. He was also chinny, as Oliver
McCall would expose in September of 1994. Once Emanuel Steward got
hold of Lewis in 1995, forget about it. It would have been an easy
Lewis victory. But in 1993, Bowe would have (hopefully) been
motivated, in shape, and stayed on the inside where he fought very
well for a big man. Bowe by technical knockout in the middle rounds.
Lennox
Lewis vs. Ike Ibeabuchi Never
originally scheduled, might have happened in late 1999 or early 2000
I
choose this fight because I want to try to help put the myth of Ike
Ibeabuchi to rest. Ike looked very impressive against David Tua and
Chris Byrd, there’s no question. He was undefeated, and had done
all of us a favor by temporarily ridding us of the chore of having to
watch Byrd in a major fight. I think Larry Merchant expressed our
elation best following Ibeabuchi’s knockout, as he was almost
orgasmic in his excitement. Let’s take a look and see how
impressive those victories really were, though.
Hindsight
once again comes into play, and we know that Tua was a
one-dimensional fighter who relied heavily on his powerful left hook
and little else. He was thoroughly trounced in his only heavyweight
title shot to date against Lewis, and came within an ace of losing to
Oleg Maskaev and David Izon, even in his prime. So impressive was
his knockout of John Ruiz, who proved to be very durable later on,
that we dismissed the scares against lesser opposition. Still, even
given his limitations, Ike scored a very narrow decision against Tua
in a real barnburner of a fight.
Ibeabuchi
was a very busy fighter with decent, but not exceptional power. The
left hook/uppercut that knocked the sense out of Chris Byrd was a
major league, swing for the fences, Hail Mary punch that caught Byrd
just right. Byrd would later be beaten decisively by a Wladimir
Klitschko who still had not reached his peak. So, in retrospect,
more evaluation on Ibeabuchi was needed to determine if he really was
as good as we thought he was. A fight against Lewis would have done
that. Instead, Ibeabuchi’s savage behavior landed him in prison,
and we never got to find out.
Meanwhile,
Lewis was at the absolute top of his game. He would unify the
heavyweight title twice against Holyfield regardless of what the
judges said the first time, after Holyfield had impressively beaten
Tyson and destroyed Michael Moorer. In a Lewis-Ibeabuchi fight,
Lewis would have jabbed and grabbed, busting Ike up with power shots
en route to an easy unanimous decision win.
So,
what do you have to say? I’m interested in reading your opinions,
so feel free to e-mail me at newmanduke@yahoo.com
