After his Holyfield fights he was destined for greatness..he could have fought Lewis,maybe Tyson down the line..it all fell apart for Riddick so quickly with no way back..why ? and what could or should have been done differently.?
We had some pretty good inside information on classic a in that a famous heavyweight boxer used to post here -- and he basically says that Bowe was overperforming for the Holyfield fights. He said Bowe had all the ability but a bad attitude and that if Holyfield had been as smart about the first match as he was about the second, Bowe would never have held the title. I've always remembered it.
holyfield hit him with a lot of left hooks on the temple. holyfield wasn't concerned that bowe wouldn't go down.. hubris .. he knew exactly what young bowe was absorbing- permanent damage
To me he never looked like the shape he was in for his bouts with Holy. Afterwards he looked weak as if he dieted but did not train hard for his fights. I was very impressed with The Bowe who fought Holy but it was all downhill from there.
I understand that Riddick had a (full Stocked) fridge in his bedroom, if so not a good signpost to a long dedicated career.i
The book on Bowe as an amateur was he was talented but a bit lazy and had a weak chin ... he was knocked out several times as an amateur at advanced stages for that portion of his career ... in addition he completely froze in the gold medal match up against Lewis ... AS a pro his expections out of the gate were mixed, the questions were out there and for the pre-Holifield 1 run of his career he did very well ... he had a rocky moment or two along the way but for the most part he was terrific ... big, strong, good jab, very under rated power, n excellent body puncher and surprisingly his chin held up. For one night, Holyfield 1, Riddick Bowe was a truly great fighter. His conditioning, heart and skills were all alligned and he fought an exceptional battle with Evander. The interesting thing is that no one knew how great Holyfield was until that fight either .. Evander was widely percieved as a blown up cruiser who feasted on over the hill names and lucky to pop up while Tyson was in the can ... he was rocked by an inconsistant Bert Cooper, extended by an old Foreman and made to look foolish at times against an aged Larry Holmes. It was not until he met the much bigger , prime Bowe head on did we learn just how special Evander Holyfield was .. The first Bowe-Holyfield fight was one of the greatest heavyweight fights I have ever seen. You have to revisit it to appreciate just what a show these guys put on . It makes Manila look like a sparring exhibition .. neither man was ever the same after that fight. Evander simply started to break down and Bowe, younger, bigger and stronger never was willing to make the conditioning commitment necessary to achieve that level of performance. Riddick looked good in early blowouts of Dokes and Fergerson but when he came in soft and heavier for the Holyfield rematch you saw it was not the same guy ... that being said , that was still an exceptionally close fight that should have been a draw and Evander caught a break based on the drama of his style change and the blowback of the masses annoyed at a flabby Bowe .. All along Bowe simply lost focus. He was a dirt poor street kid who suddenly made a ton of money, Sports Illustrated cover level fame and got very sloppy with his diet and training .. he also won no fans with his shameless ducking of Lennox Lewis who showed no such hesitation in fighting Bowe .. Bowe's performances got sloppy , he began to get hit a lot and what might have been a hall of fame career ended early with two punishing "wins" over Golata where Bowe showed a ton of heart but terrible conditioning and muscle mass loss .. That being said I think Bowe is still either the second or third best super heavy ever ( behind Lewis and maybe Vitali ) ..
+ 1. Exactly the comparison I came on here to make. Corrie Sanders was cut from the same cloth. All 3 of those guys were talented on the world level but were their own worst enemies. There's a number of guys like that in boxing, but at least those 3 all have wins over HOF heavyweight champs to hang their hats on. Not bad for a "what if" fighter at all. The stars aligned perfectly for Riddick that night, but he didn't have the intangibles to hold on to a title and be "the man" for an extended amount of time.
A former pro boxer poster also reported that Bowe had many gym wars combined with a perpetual laziness. All the talent in the world but needed that push. Hey everyone has their limitations. Bowe was something special. ATG heavyweight, quite charismatic.
He was not only not really "the stuff" mentally and emotionally, but he was also hindered by Rock Newman, who badly hurt his reputation by being involved with..........well, Rock Newman, who cornered the market in being an *******. Newman was absolutely determined that his somewhat limited charge was going to be not only the next heavyweight champion, but an icon as well. That's gotta weigh on a person, particularly one who was never anything more than a pretty good heavyweight.
probably so.. but.. he was better than a "pretty good heavyweight". that guy could put his punches together.
Interesting post but I put Bowe ahead of those guys .. Bowe lost one fight in his whole career. He showed much more heart time and again than Sanders or Douglas ... Sanders big win was over a flawed, glass chinned Wlad .. notice how Wlad never rematched him .. Wlad changed his style to safety first and has won more boring fights than any champ I've ever seen other than Virgil Hill .. Douglas was a monster against a very flat Tyson but he never , ever fought anywhere that level ever again .. Al three were under achievers but Bowe far and away had the best career and the most consistency ...