Riddick Bowe should certainly be remembered as one of boxing’s greats, born in Brooklyn, New York on the 10th of august 1967, he has certainly had a lucrative career and never did fail to entertain the audience/spectators.
At 6’5 and with a reach of 81 inches, Riddick was bigger than most of his opponents, he started with a great amateur career and also competed in the summer Olympics of 1988 for USA, in his quest for gold, he was stopped by future heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis but earned himself a silver medal, he later turned pro in 1989 with a impressive second round knockout over Lionel Butler.
He has notable wins against Pinklon Thomas, a 2nd round knockout over Bert Cooper, 8th round KO over Tyrell Biggs and a decision win over Tony Tubbs, but he has had some fights that shouldn’t just be called notable but legendary and crazy! He has been criticized over his weight and lack of training and many more, press conference brawls are a definite, lets not forget that he punched Larry Donald in the face twice before the actual fight and also threw a glass at Jorge Luiz Gonzales at the press conference. Funny moments took place as well, such as during the fight with Herbie Hide he told him to ‘stop moving too much’ And when he refused to fight Lennox Lewis he put the WBC title in the bin, which is a bit disrespectful, also the confrontation between the two rivals stemming from their fight in the Olympic final.
The trilogy between Riddick Bowe and Evander holyfield was legendary, both fighters came undefeated and fought to the death, battering each other black and blue, Riddick Bowes team described it as the best camp ever, he certainly came in the ring prepared and fit, none of the two backed down and it was crazy to see two people throw and receive bombs for 36 minutes straight, it was a great fight and Riddick won, he also scored a 11th round knockdown on Holyfield, he won the fight by Unanimous decision and was crowned world champion. In the second fight it was a war but very more notable on the fact that a fan man(james miller) crashed in with a paraglider in the 7th round causing a 21 minute delay, Bowe as well was not as fit as before and didn’t know what to do considering his wife, who was pregnant at the time, passed out, but as a true warrior he continued but went on to lose against Evander Holyfield to experience his first and only loss. The third and final fight between the two was crazy and spectacular, both fighters ready for war but Holyfield reported that he had contracted hepatitis a before the fight, the result was another great war and Holyfield scored a knockdown on Bowe in the 6th round but in the 8th Bowe dropped him twice forcing Joe Cortez to stop the fight. He became the first man to knock out Holyfield.
I can’t leave this profile without including the fight with Elijah Tillery, Bowe hit him after the bell and Tillery responded with a kick, Tillery was disqualified in the 1st round but Bowe got him back with a 4th round knockout in their rematch.
Riddick Bowes two fights against Andrew Golota were anticipated considering Golota was undefeated at the time but even though both fighters would receive a punch to give one, also scoring knockdowns on each other, Andrew repeatedly low blowed Bowe in both fights, causing him to be disqualified from both fights and causing a riot…in both fights!
He retired in 1996 but made a comeback and retired against Gene Pukall and officially retired in 2008, he has quite a sad ending though as he turned bankrupt and forced himself into a kickboxing match against Levgen Golovin losing via round 2 leg kick TKO. His record though is in boxing though is great with 45 fights, 43 wins(33kos), 1 loss and 1 no contest against Buster Mathis jr for hitting him on the floor. Riddick Bowe fought in an era involving other great heavyweights such as Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis and is often overlooked in this period, yet his victories over Holyfield and his excellent ring record suggests he should also be remembered alongside them as great Heavyweight champions.
Here is just one of the many crazy moments from Riddick Bowe’s entertaining career.
