If Mike Tyson had fought Riddick Bowe

[Balboa]

a prime riddick bowe would have KO'd that rapist, wife beating, mike tyson who i believe was a huge hype job. aside from getting spanked by the incomparable (sarcasm) buster douglas, the first real great fighter he fought (holyfield) showed he was a hyper job. he's very fortunate to have fought in the mid-late 80's instead of the rough and tumble 70's cause he would have never have won any title.

This not only strikes me as an unfair summation, but a pretty heavily biased one as well. It's simply not true. Legal and social antics outside the ring aside, Mike Tyson was an absolute phenom for the very short window his spark was at it's hottest. There was no lengthy prime or peak for Iron Mike but for about a 4 year span in the late 80's right up to the very early 90s Mike could have stood his ground with any heavyweight in history and been competetive. I find that to be a gross underevaluation of the man's talents inside the ring and heavily tainted by his troubles outside it.

That said, a Bowe-Tyson fight for me gets really simple. This one boils down to chins. Riddick was a very fluid and suprisingly graceful boxer in flashes who possessed decent power. Tyson was an uncorked typhoon with ridiculous power and a swarming style coupled with great combo ability.

Mike also had one of the most underrated chins in boxing. To beat Mike, you had to beat his ass silly (obviously we're not talking about McBride here, I mean when he was still passionate). Buster and Evander and even Lewis had to damn near break his face before enough was enough. Mike could take a HELL of a shot.

Riddick? Not so much. Can he outbox Mike over 12? Yes, and it's not an unplausible scenario.

More likely however, is that a prime Mike busts Riddick ALL up and early and it's over and nasty like any number of brutal Tyson Ko's before. Too much thunder for that chin, IMO.