Where'd it go wrong for Riddick Bowe

He should have never thrown the WBC belt in the trash. He should have fought Lewis in his first or at least 2nd defense. He should have skipped the tour of Africa or wherever he went. He should have stayed in shape. fighting Ferguson and Dokes was a shame... yeah, I know Ferguson upset Mercer.

He relied on his toughness and power sometimes. He had the ability to easily outbox guys like Biggs, Tubbs, Coetzer, Hide and even Golota but he took way too many punches from these guys. Even Cooper and Dokes were able to land some decent shots on him in the 1st round

 

u rly du not now wot saunding aut iz ? it iz de percepshen of haw de words r sed in saund.
not may invenshen ez u cud c he grant uzd it 1st

Akinwande fot Lewis , McCall , Timo Hoffman (autpointed e (BIG & durable) German in Germany (!!)) , stopt Alexander Zolkin (d only men 2do sow), autpointed yet enader German in Germany , n andefited dis taim @ det , in Axel Schulz , flord Lennox Lewis wizaut bi'ing flord himself (yes , I wocht it @ list twaic) end mey hev e cleim 4 floring McCall (wocht it olso @ list twaic)

Akinwande's accomplishments r around Riddick Bowe's , wum wud hev bin stopt by McCall jast laik Lewis & Akinwande wer wiz hiz sheiki chin , stayl & difenc .
Akinwande simply fot e tafer comp dan Riddick Bowe. Dis shud ecaunt ez wel wen considering deit mutual ranking.

 

I do watch the Cooper fight sometimes and wonder....what if that was Tyson in there instead of Bert. Bowe seemed asleep in the first round and thats all Tyson would need

 

his face looked too gay in the homophobic early 90s and late 80s.

 

yeah talk about life regrets..

 

He was heavyweight champion of the world, and couldn't cut it in the Marines for the long Haul, enough said.

 

Actually, it doesn't say much of anything. The Riddick Bowe that won the title from Holyfield and the bumbling, unstable basket case that decided to join the Marines on a lark weren't exactly the same guy. The latter was seriously damaged goods.

 

Riddick Bowe had an excellent boxing career.
But like many other successful boxers he took a lot of punches, too many. But he's not as bad as Ali.

Where'd it go wrong in his life generally is another question.

 

I have no idea what his family and friends were doing when he was doing whatever he wanted and throwing it away in the process. Probably too busy sponging off him and therefore encouraging him

 

IF it is true that a couple of his kids by his wife weren't really his, then it's understandable that he would snap.

 

who joins the Marines in the thirties and with illnesses like Hep A anyway? bad career move, few would cut it at that age and with a crumbling body.



but other than that, a great post for a teenage keyboard warrior who knows nothing well done mate.

 

Thanks!:?:huh!

 

A lot of revisionist and forgetful history in this thread. I carefully watched Bowe's career. The guy was a hell of a fighter. I would like to correct a lot of misconceptions about his career.

First of all, Bowe was only slightly stunned by Lewis in the Olympic final. He never went down. The stoppage by the East German referee was very premature for an Olympic final, and consistent with the shaky/shady officiating/judging in that '88 Olympics. Recall also that the referee took a point off Bowe for ducking - in the very 1st round, when Lewis had been pushing his head down incessantly with no point off. Bowe was only 216 and 21 years old for that fight, and got a lot bigger, stronger, better, and more mature over the years. He was fighting a 23-year-old who had already fought in the '84 Olympics.

I honestly believe the Bert Cooper Bowe stopped in 2 rounds was the "on" version of Cooper, but Bowe had freaky underrated power blended with great height and reach that Cooper could not handle. If you watch carefully, Cooper's punches are speedy, snappy, and sharp, and he's pretty frisky in that fight, trying hard to nail Bowe with something big.

Beating Pinklon Thomas and Tony Tubbs on the way up wasn't too bad either. Tubbs was one of the fastest and most skillful heavys around, and Bowe met a very sharp version of Tubbs. Former Olympic champion Biggs came to fight and was in good shape for that one too.

Bowe blasted through future WBA champ Seldon in 1 round. Bruce's only loss to that point was a 9th round KO to McCall.

The first Holyfield fight was a war because Bowe forced Holyfield to fight a war. Bowe was relentless in that fight, could hit Holy from far away with his height and reach, kept a tremendous pace, and could war on the inside. His body shots and uppercuts in that fight were excellent.

Sure Bowe got a bit fat after that, but he was still in darn good shape. He blasted through Dokes in 1. Remember, Dokes was on a nine-fight win streak, Holy had stopped him in 10, and Ruddock in 4. Bowe was like a knife through butter.

Mercer was supposed to fight Bowe, but Mercer then got beat by Ferguson. Bowe then blasted through Ferguson in 2.

I say that although Bowe was not in the type of shape he was in for the first fight, he was still in good shape for the second fight. I actually think he kept a solid pace, and if you aren't swept away by Holy's flurries, particularly the round stealing ones at the conclusion of rounds, Bowe actually did the more consistent work during the rounds. His jab was very heavy and solid. Holy took off a large portion of rounds and moved a lot. Holy tended to get tired in fights, and Bowe was the type of fighter whose consistent output and pressure does not allow a fighter off the hook when he gets tired. Instead of giving you a rest, Bowe works the body and wears you down. He did it in fights I and III. However, fan man gave Evander a 20-minute break in the 7th round, fundamentally altering the bout and making it less likely that Bowe would be able to wear him down. That fight should have been a no contest. That said, I still thought Bowe earned no worse than a draw watching it live. Bowe lost a close majority decision 113-115, 114-115, 114-114.

Now here is where everyone's memory fades. Bowe had an excellent resume after the close loss to Holyfield, perhaps the best in boxing during those years. He was not afraid to take on undefeated fighters.

True he accidentally fouled Mathis, Jr. who had taken a knee, but that it was only one punch and is excusable given how low Buster was constantly ducking. In reality Bowe stopped him, and Mathis was undefeated at 14-0.

Larry Donald was a former Olympian, cagey, quick, slick boxer, who had beaten Cooper and then undefeated Jeremy Williams. Donald was undefeated at 16-0, and Bowe won every round against a guy who was so intimidated by the power that he was basically in there to survive. Donald would not lose another fight for the next 6.5 years, and beat guys like Witherspoon, Puritty, and Phil Jackson.

Herbie Hide was 26-0 with 25 KOs, and was coming off a brutal KO of Michael Bentt, who had quickly stopped Tommy Morrison. Bowe looked like a ferocious powerful killer in that fight and blasted the hell out of Hide.

Cuban Jorge Luis Gonzalez was 23-0, and boasted amateur victories over Bowe and Lewis. Big, tall, heavy dude. Watch Bowe's performance in that one. Nothing wrong with him there. He is absolutely razor sharp, and looked fantastic in administering a brutal beating. His punches are sharp and quick, and his pace excellent for a heavyweight.

So then Bowe fights Holyfield for the third time. Evander is coming off a great victory in a very competitive fight over an "on" and in-shape Mercer, having dropped Ray for the first time in that iron-jawed heavyweight's career. And anyone who followed Mercer's career knows that when Ray was in shape, he had serious power, speed, and a freaking jaw that couldn't be cracked by a bat.

The third Holyfield fight was a war. Bowe again kept a very good consistent pace, making Evander fight him constantly, not allowing him any breaks, working the body very well, and landing his heavy blows at his usual metronome rate. Evander tried to get Bowe to back off, firing bombs. Eventually, with Evander on the verge of going out, he blasts Bowe with a picture perfect hook that drops him. Bowe shows heart and some caginess in getting out of trouble. He is very well recovered by the next round. Again in the 8th round, Evander nails him with a good punch. In trying to follow-up, Evander attacks. Bowe counters with a beautifully timed right that nails Evander perfectly and decks him. Evander rises, but Bowe follows up well and stops him. This was the first time Evander was ever stopped in his career. Two fights later, Holy would stop Mike Tyson. Holy would not be stopped again for eight years. Nothing wrong with Bowe's toughness, heart, power, or condition in that one. People seem to want to forget that Bowe won two out of three with Evander, beat him soundly in those two, and only lost razor close in one.

Andrew Golota was another former Olympian, undefeated at 28-0. Another big, tall, heavy guy. The Golota fights ruined him of course, but Bowe also sealed his legend in those fights as well. He proved himself to have not only power and condition, but toughness and heart the likes of which I have never seen in the heavyweight division, EVER, bar none. The brutal punishment he took in those fights, and yet to be able to continue fighting to the best of his ability, says something special about him as a fighter. People forget that although he took a beating in the second Golota fight, he administered plenty of punshiment himself all the while, decking Golota and hurting him badly on occasions as well. Golota was frustrated by the fact that no matter how hard or often he hit Bowe, Riddick would not quit, and Andrew kept getting hit back on occasion by some seriously heavy blows, blows hard enough to cause Golota to lose heart and lose his mind. In the battle of wills, Bowe twice defeated him; twice got him to break mentally. That's no fluke. And to do it, Bowe had to show the heart of a lion.

Bowe retires. At that point, he had never been stopped, only one loss which was very close, which was avenged by KO, having beaten Holyfield twice, and was the only man to stop Holy.

The combined record of Bowe's opponents after losing his title in a majority decision to Holy was 166-3. Holy had two losses (Bowe, Moorer) and Golota one as of the rematch (to Bowe). Bowe had fought five undefeated fighters in that stretch of time and beat all of them.

 

Very good points. I have often been hard on bowe but this is fair.:good