Riddick Bowe didn't believe in himself. He didnt believe he could beat Lewis before the fight. Ray Mercer was rooming with Bowe at the games and he got tired of hearing Bowe talk about losing he grabbed his pillow and left the room. Mercer was a hardnose military guy who didn't like that negativity. I know into their pro career Mercer didn't like him.
Lennox Lewis vs. Riddick Bowe. Regardless of the controversy, I don't know of a greater showdown for the Olympic Gold Medal. Both Lewis and Bowe are in the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Consider other heavyweight and super heavyweight gold medal finals. Povetkin didn't fight anyone. His opponent was injured in the semifinal and didn't show. Foreman and Frazier beat guys who never amounted to anything. The guys Teofilo Stevenson beat in the finals never amounted to anything later on. Felix Savon once beat Sultan Ibragimov in the final, but Ibragimov was no all-time great. Ingemar Johansson lost to American Ed Sanders by DQ in the Olympic final, but Sanders was only a pro for less than a year before he was killed in the ring by a journeyman heavyweight. At super heavy, Tyrell Biggs and Francesco Damiani might be the closest. Damiani held a WBO belt. Briggs challenged Tyson for the world title and lost. In the lighter divisions, the best matchup in the final between future top pros may have been Joel Casamayor vs. Wayne McCullough. But, again, they (Biggs, Damiani, Casamayor and McCullough) weren't all-timers by a long shot. I don't think there has ever been a matchup for the Gold between two Hall of Famers, except for Lewis-Bowe. It's too bad the match ended prematurely. Regardless, it makes Lennox Lewis' gold medal win stand out even more than so many others, because he beat another future Hall of Famer.