U.S. Amateur Boxing Tournament : Riddick Bowe Is Back, and He's a Heavy Favorite March 30, 1988|EARL GUSTKEY | Times Staff Writer COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Fisticuffs were out of the question, since it was a major mismatch. One combatant would have been a 47-year-old bantamweight, the other a 19-year-old super-heavyweight. Instead, it ended with heated words and the prompt issuance of a plane ticket home. That's how the bantamweight, U.S. Olympic boxing Coach Ken Adams, showed everyone who's in charge here. The incident occurred last December, at a USA Amateur Boxing Federation workout at the U.S. Olympic Committee Training Center here. About two dozen boxers were on hand, hoping to be selected for a team about to leave for competition in Cuba. One of the United States' best amateur boxers is super-heavyweight Riddick Bowe of Brooklyn. Adams didn't like Bowe's lackadaisical performance during a sparring session with Louisiana super-heavy Tevin George of Louisiana. http://articles.latimes.com/1988-03-30/sports/sp-157_1_riddick-bowe
Doesn't even mention the fact that Bowe had been fighting at 178 as recently as 1986... Probably takes some serious "indiscipline" to go up 40+ pounds in one year.
I just wish that Lewis could have gotten Bowe in the ring as a professional. That was chicken$hit of Bowe to dump the WBC belt in a trashcan instead of fighting Lewis. Lewis would have torn him a new a$$hole.
The best thing that coul've happened to Bowe in boxing was meeting Eddie Futch. I don't think Bowe would be nearly as good with his attitude to boxing without Futch.
I like Bowe. I think he had a ton of talent and we caught a couple glimpses of what he could have been had he kept his discipline and not driven Futch away. Talent wise I think he had it on just about everybody at that time. I'd take an in shape focused Bowe over Lewis.
I think he would have been better signing with the Duvas and George Benton at Main Events. They would have kept him on the straight and narrow for longer in terms of discipline plus he would have shared a stable with fellow former Olympians which would have help. Not to say Futch wasn’t a good trainer but he was pretty old by then plus having a loose cannon like Rock Newman as manager, it was bound to end in tears sooner or later.
