Evander Holyfield faced heavyweight rivals Lennox Lewis and Riddick Bowe across five incredible showdowns.
The two-weight undisputed champion locked horns with Bowe in November 1992, falling short to ‘Big Daddy’ in a unanimous decision defeat, losing his unified WBA, IBF and WBC titles in the process.
12 months later, ‘The Real Deal’ avenged his maiden career defeat to Bowe, beating his heavyweight rival by majority decision, reclaiming the WBA and IBF heavyweight titles.
The third and final instalment of their rivalry came in 1995, with ‘Big Daddy’ overcoming Holyfield with an eighth round stoppage, settling their differences and securing the all important bragging rights.
After becoming the unified heavyweight champion once again, Holyfield defended his crown against Lewis in March 1999, with the first contest being ruled a draw that many felt was the wrong decision. In November of the same year, ‘The Lion’ was given another chance to dethrone the American champion, where he prevailed in a unanimous decision victory, ripping the WBA and IBF titles from the grasp of Holyfield.
‘The Real Deal’ spoke to Boxing Social, where he shared his thoughts on who would have won if a fight between Lewis and Bowe had ever taken place.
“If they fought early before Lennox got Emmanuel Steward, I think Riddick Bowe would’ve got him.”
It’s a tale of what could have been, with the heavyweight duo being ordered to face each other back in 1992, which led to ‘Big Daddy’ vacating his WBC heavyweight title as he avoided facing Lewis in what might have been another classic heavyweight battle.
