Riddick Bowe

In 2017, The Ring magazine ranked Bowe as the 19th best heavyweight of all time in a poll of a panel of 30 trainers, matchmakers and members of the boxing media. The consensus was that Bowe, described as both a "super talent" and a "super waste", only had one great fight, when winning the title from Holyfield, and ultimately disappointed in squandering his obvious natural ability due to laziness.

In 2013, Riddick Bowe announced his intentions to start training to be a professional wrestler. He was to make his debut for the UK-based Preston City Wrestling organisation on March 1, 2014. On December 14, 2013, Preston City Wrestling announced on their Facebook Page that Bowe would no longer be appearing due to a disagreement with Bowe's new agent.

United States National Championships (heavyweight), Colorado Springs, Colorado, March–April 1988:

Summer Olympics (super heavyweight), Seoul, South Korea, September–October 1988:

A couple of weeks earlier in London, Bowe's old Olympic rival, Lennox Lewis, knocked out Canadian Donovan "Razor" Ruddock in two rounds, establishing himself as the World Boxing Council's number one contender. The Bowe-Holyfield and Lewis-Ruddock fights were part of a mini-tournament, whereby all four fighters agreed the two winners would meet each other for the undisputed world heavyweight championship. Bowe's manager Rock Newman made a proposal: the $32 million purse HBO was offering should be split 90–10 in Bowe's favor, an 'absurd' offer which Lennox Lewis rejected. Lewis's manager, Kelley Maloney (known as Frank Maloney at the time), rejected another offer of two million for Lewis to fight on a Bowe undercard, citing her distrust of the Bowe camp after the aforementioned financial negotiations. Bowe responded by holding a press conference in which he dumped the WBC world heavyweight championship belt into a trash can and relinquished it in order to protest the actions of the WBC and WBC President José Sulaimán concerning the fight payoff.

Bowe's fighting weight during his career ranged from 218–271  ⁄4  lb (98.9–123.0 kg). His prime fighting weight was 235–245 lb (107–111 kg). It was within this weight span that Bowe achieved all of his most notable victories.

In March 2013, Bowe announced his Muay Thai debut, having trained under Kru Airr Phanthip and Kru Chan in Las Vegas. He faced Levgen Golovin for the WPMF Super Heavyweight World Title in Pattaya, Thailand. On June 14, 2013, Bowe was knocked down five times from kicks to his leg. The championship match was called to a stop halfway through the second round.

Bowe declared bankruptcy in 2005. On December 13, 2008, with the help of new manager Bob Bain, Bowe, 41, returned to the ring for the first time in over three and a half years on the undercard of the Wladimir Klitschko versus Hasim Rahman world heavyweight title bout in Mannheim, Germany and won an eight-round unanimous decision over Gene Pukall.

Bowe retired from boxing after the Golota fights, making low-key comebacks in 2004 and 2008. In a 2010 article by BoxingScene, Bowe was ranked the 21st greatest heavyweight of all time. In 2015, he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

On September 25, 2004, after seven and a half years away from boxing, Bowe returned with a second-round knockout over Marcus Rhode. In a second comeback fight, in April 2005, an overweight Bowe narrowly defeated journeyman Billy Zumbrun by ten round split decision.

Bowe was convicted of the February 1998 kidnapping of his estranged wife Judy, and their five children. Thinking it would reconcile his marriage, Bowe went to his wife's Cornelius, North Carolina home and threatened her with a knife, handcuffs, duct tape and pepper spray. He forced her and their children into a vehicle and set out for his Fort Washington, Maryland home. During the kidnapping, Bowe stabbed his wife in the chest. Police captured Bowe in South Hill, Virginia, freeing his family. Bowe agreed to a plea bargain of guilty to 'interstate domestic violence', and was sentenced to 18 to 24 months in prison. Despite the agreed sentence, on February 29, 2000, the judge sentenced Bowe to only 30 days, due to a claim of brain damage by Bowe's defense. This sentence, counter to the plea agreement, was later overturned. Bowe served 17 months in Federal prison. On February 8, 2001, Bowe was arrested in Long Island after a domestic dispute with his new wife. Bowe allegedly dragged his wife and left her with cuts on her knees and elbows.

Bowe's reputation suffered because of the weak challengers he faced as champion (Michael Dokes and Jesse Ferguson) before losing the title to Holyfield in their rematch. He is also widely criticized for relinquishing the WBC title rather than defending it against mandatory challenger Lennox Lewis, thus fracturing the undisputed championship until Lewis unified the titles in 1999.{cn}

Bowe arrived at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island on February 10, 1997. On his first day of recruit training, Bowe discussed leaving the Corps with Marine commanders, and quit after three days of heavy physical training with his platoon in Parris Island, South Carolina on February 21, 1997.

He later regained a portion of the world heavyweight championship in 1995, defeating Herbie Hide for the then-fledgling WBO title. In doing so, Bowe became the first boxer in history to win the titles of all four major sanctioning bodies—the WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO—. Later that year, Bowe vacated the WBO title in order to fight Holyfield for a third time, and won decisively by being the first boxer to defeat Holyfield by knockout. 1996 saw Bowe engage in two brutal slugfests with Andrew Golota, both of which ended controversially when Golota repeatedly hit him with low blows.

In March 1995, Bowe won the WBO version of the world heavyweight championship by knocking down England's Herbie Hide six times en route to scoring a sixth-round knockout.

In June 1995, after a heated build up, Bowe defended the WBO heavyweight title against his archrival in the amateurs, Jorge Luis González, At the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The prefight hype contained bizarre trash talk, which included Gonzalez declaring a desire to eat Bowe's heart and likening himself to a lion while making Bowe out to be a hyena. Bowe won by sixth-round knockout over Gonzalez. He vacated the WBO championship soon after. After the Gonzales fight, Bowe fought a rubber match with Evander Holyfield, their third and final meeting. Holyfield knocked Bowe down during the fight, but Bowe maintained his composure, and persevered to score an eighth round stoppage victory.

BoxRec ranks Bowe as the 32nd best heavyweight of all time. Noted for his in-fighting skills, jab and combination punching, Bowe's first fight with Evander Holyfield is considered one of the greatest world heavyweight title fights of all time. Following this victory, he met Nelson Mandela during a visit to South Africa. Bowe's trainer at the time, Eddie Futch, lamented that upon his return, Bowe failed to ever achieve the same physical condition for his subsequent fights. Yet, as late as 1995 and past his peak, Bowe was good enough to become the first man to stop Evander Holyfield, outclass former amateur standout and undefeated pro, Jorge Luis González, and bludgeon over-matched Herbie Hide to win the then lightly-regarded WBO version of the world heavyweight championship.

Bowe also took action when he heard news of other tragedies. In 1995, when Alexis Denny was in Indonesia on other business, she read Asian news coverage of Rodolfo Yap, a young man in the Philippines who was electrocuted while positioning his antenna so his family could watch a Riddick Bowe fight. She relayed this news to the Bowe, and explained to the media at the time 'The heavyweight champion was very moved by the story and having lost a brother and a sister earlier in life, decided to make a financial contribution to the family of Mr. Yap." Bowe authorized her to fly to the Philippines and try to locate the man's family, make a contribution to their expenses, and also provide funds to support the Philippine boxing Team training for the Olympics (in the name of the deceased).

In August 1994, Bowe fought two comeback fights. He faced the much smaller Buster Mathis Jr and, after struggling to connect with his bobbing and weaving target, hit Mathis while he was down with what was ruled an accidental blow, and the bout was ruled a 'No Contest' by referee Arthur Mercante, Sr. In December 1994, Bowe punched Larry Donald at a prefight press conference, later beating him by 12 round unanimous decision for the WBC Continental Americas Heavyweight title, giving the 16-0 heavyweight contender Donald his first loss.

Bowe's first defense of his remaining titles came on February 6, 1993, when he fought 34-year-old former champion Michael Dokes at Madison Square Garden and knocked him out in the first round. In February 1993, Bowe met Pope John Paul II during the pope's general audience at the Vatican, a day after Bowe completed a goodwill mission to Somalia. In Bowe's next fight, May 22, 1993 at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., Bowe knocked out Jesse Ferguson in the second round to retain the title. This set up a rematch with Evander Holyfield.

Bowe's sole loss, to Evander Holyfield in 1993, was avenged in 1995, meaning that he finished their trilogy 2-1 ahead. With the exception of a 1994 no-contest with Buster Mathis Jr., Bowe defeated every opponent he faced as a professional.

In 1993, a video game entitled Riddick Bowe Boxing was released for various platforms. Also in 1993, Bowe appeared as himself in an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, entitled "You Bet Your Life". Bowe also appeared in the music video “Mo Money Mo Problems” by The Notorious B.I.G.

In November 1992 he fought reigning champ Evander Holyfield for the undisputed heavyweight title. Bowe won a unanimous decision in an entertaining fight, flooring Holyfield in the 11th round. However, it was the tenth round most boxing fans will remember. The epic brutal back and forth exchanges helped make it Ring Magazine's "Round of the Year." Commentator Al Bernstein exclaimed, "That was one of the greatest rounds in heavyweight history. Period!"

In March 1991, Bowe knocked out 1984 Olympic Super Heavyweight Gold medalist Tyrell Biggs. In Bowe's next fight, ex-champion Tony Tubbs appeared to outbox and outsmart Bowe in a close bout, only to have the judges award Bowe a unanimous decision. In August 1991, Bowe knocked out future world heavyweight champion Bruce Seldon in one round. In July 1992 knocked out South African Pierre Coetzer in the seventh round of a world title eliminator.

Bowe fought two interesting bouts against Elijah Tillery in 1991. Their first fight was in Washington D.C. at the Washington Convention Center was known as the 'crazy fight' for its bizarre conclusion. Bowe dominated the first round and dropped Tillery. After the round ended, Tillery walked toward Bowe and taunted him, and Bowe responded by punching Tillery. Tillery then threw several low kicks at Bowe, who then unleashed a flurry of punches on Tillery as he lay on the ropes. Bowe's trainer Rock Newman grabbed Tillery from behind on the ring apron and pulled him over the ropes as Bowe continued to throw punches. Tillery somersaulted over the ropes, and was quickly detained by security. After order was restored and the fighters returned to the ring, Tillery and Bowe continued a war of words, and minor incidents continued until the ring was cleared. Tillery was controversially disqualified for kicking Bowe, with Bowe getting the win, much to the surprise of the television announcers. The referee, Karl Milligan, had stepped between the two fighters to separate them and stepped forward as he did so, inadvertently missing the action behind him after the bell between the combatants. The fighters fought a rematch two months later at Convention Hall in Atlantic City, with Bowe dominating and stopping Tillery in four rounds.

After turning professional in 1989, Bowe went on to become a two-time world heavyweight champion. In 1992 he won the undisputed WBA, WBC and IBF titles by defeating then-unbeaten former undisputed cruiserweight champion Evander Holyfield. That same year, Bowe was named Fighter of the Year by The Ring and the Boxing Writers' Association of America. Bowe vacated the WBC title later that year in protest, instead of defending the title against their number one contender, Lennox Lewis. This left the undisputed championship fragmented until 1999. In a rematch with Holyfield in 1993, Bowe narrowly lost the WBA and IBF titles in what would be his only professional defeat.

Bowe turned professional in March 1989, and knocked out Lionel Butler. His then manager, Rock Newman kept Bowe active, fighting 13 times in 1989, beating journeymen, the most notable being Garing Lane, whom he beat twice. In September 1990, Bowe made his first step up in class, fighting faded ex-champion Pinklon Thomas, whom he dominated until Thomas gave up after eight rounds. The following month, Bowe knocked out Bert Cooper in two rounds, which added to his reputation and high ranking.

Bowe won the silver medal in the 1988 Seoul Olympics, outpointing Soviet Alex Miroshnichenko in the semifinals, and losing a controversial match in the finals to future world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis. Bowe had a dominant first round, landing 33 of 94 punches thrown (34%) while Lewis landed 14 of 67 (21%). In the first round the referee from East Germany gave Bowe two cautions for headbutts and deducted a point for a third headbutt, although replay clearly showed there was no headbutt. Commentator Ferdie Pacheco disagreed with the deduction, saying they did not hit heads. In the second round, Lewis landed several hard punches. The referee gave Bowe two standing eight counts and waved the fight off after the second one, even though Bowe seemed able to continue. Pacheco disagreed with the stoppage, calling it "very strange," but Marv Albert said Bowe took "a pounding."

Olympic Trials (super heavyweight), Concord Pavilion, Concord, California, July 1988:

Olympic Box-offs (super heavyweight), Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada, July 1988:

Prior to 1987 Pan American Games, Bowe said he had suffered a hairline fracture in his right hand during one of his two fights at the Olympic Festival in July 1987. The injury, he said, was revealed in X-rays he had taken at home. Roosevelt Sanders, the head coach, said he was aware that Bowe's hand was being treated, but had not known it was broken. Bowe said he kept those injuries secret from the U.S. team coaching staff for fear of being kept out of the tournament.

U.S. Olympic Festival Eastern Qualifier (super heavyweight), Lake Placid, New York, May 1987:

U.S. Olympic Festival (super heavyweight), Raleigh, North Carolina, July 1987:

Pan Am Box-offs (super heavyweight), International Center of the Broadmoor, Colorado Springs, Colorado, July 1987:

Pan American Games (super heavyweight), Indianapolis, Indiana, August 1987:

He was a light heavyweight runner-up for the 1986 World Championships and 1986 Goodwill Games but for some reason didn't qualify. Meanwhile, during the year-and-a-half hiatus he gained well above thirty pounds and jumped from light heavyweight to super heavyweight, coming back for the 1987 United States Olympic Festival.

At first, Bowe was dismissed from the Olympic-year training camp, because U.S. Olympic boxing Coach Ken Adams didn't like him. U.S. Army superheavyweight Robert Salters, a Brooklyn-born 25-year-old artilleryman of Fort Bragg, NC, who took up boxing in 1986, and had less than twenty amateur fights in his 16-months-long record before they first met at the 1988 AAU National finals, where Salters floored Bowe twice before ref stopped the fight, became a real nemesis for Bowe during his amateur career, as they fought each other to nearly a draw in the 1988 Olympic Box-offs at Caesars Palace, after Bowe lost to Salters in the Olympic Trials (Bowe came in at 231 lbs, Salters at 247.). "He was talkin' trash about me, and that helped me mentally," Salters said. Bowe had been boxing reportedly with ligament damage on the middle knuckle of his right hand, which he got the day before the Box-offs, and with a damaged right ankle, eventually managed to win, for the judges had to pick up a winner despite the even 58–58 score. The fifth unidentified judge, who scored the bout 58–58, gave it to Bowe on unidentified subjective grounds. Despite giving Bowe a hard time on four occasions in a row, Salters never turned pro.

New York Golden Gloves (light heavyweight), Elks Club, Queens, New York, and Madison Square Garden, New York City, February 1985:

New York State Golden Gloves, novice division (light heavyweight), Madison Square Garden, New York City, March 1985:

National Golden Gloves (light heavyweight), Little Rock, Arkansas, March 1985:

Junior World box-offs (light heavyweight), El Paso Civic Center, El Paso, Texas, August 1985:

Junior World Championships (light heavyweight), Bucharest, Romania, September 1985:

World Cup (light heavyweight), Seoul, South Korea, November 1985:

Bowe was training at the Bedford-Stuyvesant Boxing Association Gym or the "Bed-Stuy BA" for short. As an amateur, Bowe won the prestigious New York Golden Gloves Championship and other tournaments. In 1984, age 17, he knocked out opponent James Smith in just 4 seconds. In 1985, at the National Golden Gloves championships, he lost to Fort Worth heavyweight Donald Stephens. Apart of boxing he attended Kingsborough Community College, where he studied drama — in hopes of an acting career after boxing — also he took up a business administration study.

Bowe won four New York Golden Gloves Championships. He won two bouts as a 178-pounder in 1984 before failing to show for a third bout. He won the 1985 178 lb Novice Championship, 1986 178 lb Open Championship and the 1987 and 1988 Super Heavyweight Open Championship. Already in 1985 Bowe was ranked #1 light heavyweight in the Unites States.

New York Golden Gloves (light heavyweight), New York City, February 1984:

United States Junior Championships (middleweight), 1983:

Riddick Lamont Bowe (born August 10, 1967) is a retired American professional boxer who competed between 1989 and 2008. He reigned as the undisputed world heavyweight champion in 1992, and as an amateur he won a silver medal in the super heavyweight division at the 1988 Summer Olympics.

Bowe was born on August 10, 1967, the twelfth of his mother Dorothy Bowe's thirteen children. Bowe was born and raised in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, New York City. His brother Henry died of AIDS, and his sister Brenda was stabbed to death by a drug addict during an attempted robbery.