BoxRec

Ed - great interview with Riddick Bowe. But what was the reason given for not fighting Tyson? I honestly couldn't understand what he said. I played it back a few times but his speech was so slurred I couldn't understand what he said.

I always thought Riddick Bowe could have been an all time great. I hope and pray he doesn't carry out his threat to make a comeback.

It all went downhill when he had a fridge installed in his bedroom.

milpool, cheers! From memory I think he said that Tyson said that they were partners and shouldn't fight, both from the same area of Brooklyn.

orbtastic, I did ask him about the fridge before the interview and he said that was a myth, that back in the day he mentioned it as something he'd like to do and the story snowballed and became a fact. According to him he never actually got the fridge fitted. Who knows, perhaps he's just embarrassed about it now.

haha, he has a poor memory! It was shown on an ITV segment before one of his fights, the Holyfield rematch I think. They were doing a short "here's Riddick Bowe's crib" type thing, they had all his cars etc.

chinny wrote:

Glyn Leach wrote: Very nice fella though and I found his people great to deal with.

Thats interesting and surprising given the press Rock Newman got. And also the ridiculous entourage for the Golota bouts

I'm talking about Newman and his staff really, those muppets in the Golota fighting were Bowe's old mates from Brownsville who had attached themselves to him, bag carriers and the like. But Rock was good to deal with once you realised how firmly his tongue was in his cheek, Swanson was and remains the best PR consultant in boxing, and their office staff excellent - very down to earth and helpful.

Those following the game in 95, 96 will remember THE big fight wasn't Tyson/Lewis or Tyson/Foreman, these were just bodies padding the road to Tyson/Bowe. THAT was the mega fight most of us were looking forward to. God the heavies were exciting at that time. Jampacked with marquee names.

Then Bowe's bedroom fridge and Andrew Golota had to mess it all up. And Holyfield too I guess, for bludgeoning Tyson.

Incidentally, fear of an opponent did bring out one of his most perfect & violent performances - versus the very intimidating (and gigantic) Jorge Luis Gonzalez who had destroyed Bowe as an amateur.

Bowe was a boy when he boxed Lennox Lewis, a teenager and by all accounts an overgrown manchild whilst Lennox was a 23, 24 year old grown man. It was a mismatch on paper but Bowe still hurt Lewis in the first with his clubbing uppercut.

I think Bowe's mix of fear and pure hatred for Lewis would have brought out the best in him, whilst Lewis in 93/94 could frequently be an arrogant, clumsy oaf. I think Lewis is quite lucky the fight never happened.

loaded_gloves wrote:Lewis in 93/94 could frequently be an arrogant, clumsy oaf. I think Lewis is quite lucky the fight never happened.

Exactly. Bowe was far superior technically, a very good boxer for a heavyweight and with a good chin and decent power. I think he would have stopped Lennox around the seventh at that time. Lennox didn't get his game together until relatively late in his career, he got by on his excellent natural attributes for a long time and didn't develop his full capability until Manny Steward took over the training and made him a far more rounded fighter.

I have to disagree; I can remember the 'belt in a bin' performance. If Bowe hated Lewis so much for the Olympic stoppage he could've put it right. Riddick became an excellent box fighter but Lewis had the voodoo over him; and; incidently, over Golota who Bowe had a terrible time with.

Good interview, really enjoyed it. It's a shame to see him like that. Anyone know what the lump was on his head?

Just watched the first Tillery fight for the first time

Line up opponents between the 2, Lewis is head and shoulders above Bowe. It goes to show what desire and dedication can do for a boxer.

Old bones Ian wrote:Line up opponents between the 2, Lewis is head and shoulders above Bowe. It goes to show what desire and dedication can do for a boxer.

Comparing their careers is a mismatch, Bowe's should have taken off after the Holyfield trilogy but it never happened. Lewis is certainly the more successful of the two, no question

Glyn Leach wrote:

Old bones Ian wrote:Line up opponents between the 2, Lewis is head and shoulders above Bowe. It goes to show what desire and dedication can do for a boxer.

Comparing their careers is a mismatch, Bowe's should have taken off after the Holyfield trilogy but it never happened. Lewis is certainly the more successful of the two, no question

What was Bowe's reasoning for fighting the past it Dokes and over matched Ferguson? Was it his management, or did the boxer himself avoid a Lewis fight?
I think it was those 2 fights that ruined Bowe, as they were too easy and he believed that he could cut corners in training then and still win.

and this is a great pre-fight report

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2 ... 12,1036019

Old bones Ian wrote:

Glyn Leach wrote:

Old bones Ian wrote:Line up opponents between the 2, Lewis is head and shoulders above Bowe. It goes to show what desire and dedication can do for a boxer.

Comparing their careers is a mismatch, Bowe's should have taken off after the Holyfield trilogy but it never happened. Lewis is certainly the more successful of the two, no question

What was Bowe's reasoning for fighting the past it Dokes and over matched Ferguson? Was it his management, or did the boxer himself avoid a Lewis fight?
I think it was those 2 fights that ruined Bowe, as they were too easy and he believed that he could cut corners in training then and still win.

and this is a great pre-fight report

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2 ... AAAAIBAJ&s
jid=pzYNAAAAIBAJ&pg=1412,1036019

At that point they were milking it, I feel, all of them. The idea seemed to be get Bowe out there as champion, establish him. But it never really got further than that because the holiday mood was hard to shake, they lost the second Holyfield fight, and then the rubber match became their priority. HBO was very supportive of Bowe and whatever he did, it saw him as an Ali type. Lewis fought on HBO too but Bowe was the network favourite.

Does anyone else remember that the initial advertising for one of Lewis's British fights, McCall I think, had Bowe appearing on the undercard? Didn't happen of course and Lewis lost the title, which gave the Bowe camp reason enough not to fight him and go their own way again.

i wonder what happened to the belt Bowe put in that bin? Rumour has it the management fished it out when the cameras stopped clicking.

and the other is that Lewis accepted a winner takes all offer, but when he faxed yes. no more was heard from the Bowe camp.

I cannot believe anyone with half a brain would criticise Bowe for not going straight in there, defence number 1, with Lennox Lewis - right after an epic war with a peak Evander Holyfield. Because Lewis, right, went straight in there with David Tua didn't he? Oh no, sorry, he put that off for a year and milked it versus Grant and Frans Botha. But when Bowe milked it, THEN it was bad. But when Lewis did it, Brits can forget it.

Hilarious the WBC demanding Bowe to do the right thing and fight Lewis right away. I doubt there are enough character spaces in this post to list the amount of times they bent over backwards to accommodate Don King controlled WBC champs who wanted to fight softies, one after another.

It fcuking stunk, and Bowe was totally right to flush it away.

loaded_gloves - With hindsight Grant wasn't much of a test but at the time he was taken seriously and was getting the big build up and hype by HBO. Lewis was taking on the 'big' American hope over there. Botha was just a homecoming showcase in London.

I think it's a tad harsh to point a finger at the quality of opponents Lewis faced. Ruddock was considered a monster when he faced Lennox. Mason, Tua, Holyfield, Klitschko, Tyson (eventually).... Even when you look back at defences that you remember being a bit soft they weren't too bad. Phil Jackson's the most obvious but he'd only lost to Ruddock in 31 going in.

From memory, Hugging Henry Akinwande was picked by Colin Hart to dethrone Lewis in The Sun.

Agree with your thoughts on the WBC though....

ed robinson wrote:loaded_gloves - With hindsight Grant wasn't much of a test but at the time he was taken seriously and was getting the big build up and hype by HBO. Lewis was taking on the 'big' American hope over there. Botha was just a homecoming showcase in London.

I think it's a tad harsh to point a finger at the quality of opponents Lewis faced. Ruddock was considered a monster when he faced Lennox. Mason, Tua, Holyfield, Klitschko, Tyson (eventually).... Even when you look back at defences that you remember being a bit soft they weren't too bad. Phil Jackson's the most obvious but he'd only lost to Ruddock in 31 going in.

From memory, Hugging Henry Akinwande was picked by Colin Hart to dethrone Lewis in The Sun.

Agree with your thoughts on the WBC though....

Ed, you were working for FM around that time I think, do you remember the Bowe in Britain story? It was even on the posters for the Lewis card in question I seem to remember. I think it was for McCall I but I'm not entirely sure. Can you shed some light on it please old chap?

ed robinson wrote:Ruddock was considered a monster when he faced Lennox.

thank you. i've said this on other threads in the past but was always shot down, i'm glad to see someone agrees with me

Adamj1987 wrote:

ed robinson wrote:Ruddock was considered a monster when he faced Lennox.

thank you. i've said this on other threads in the past but was always shot down, i'm glad to see someone agrees with me

His reputation came almost because of the Michael Dokes knockout and his game losses v Tyson. Most were used to seeing men fold straight away v Tyson so the fact that Ruddock hung in there and fired back added to his stock.

ed robinson wrote:loaded_gloves - With hindsight Grant wasn't much of a test but at the time he was taken seriously and was getting the big build up and hype by HBO. Lewis was taking on the 'big' American hope over there. Botha was just a homecoming showcase in London.

I think it's a tad harsh to point a finger at the quality of opponents Lewis faced. Ruddock was considered a monster when he faced Lennox. Mason, Tua, Holyfield, Klitschko, Tyson (eventually).... Even when you look back at defences that you remember being a bit soft they weren't too bad. Phil Jackson's the most obvious but he'd only lost to Ruddock in 31 going in.

From memory, Hugging Henry Akinwande was picked by Colin Hart to dethrone Lewis in The Sun.

Agree with your thoughts on the WBC though....

Ed - I do actually agree with you. Grant certainly was considered 'the' top guy by the American press (who were desperately keen to have a replacement for Holyfield and bring the titles back), but one of the main reasons I think Lewis was keen to fight him was that he sat ringside and saw his frailties when Golota decked him twice, hard, in the first round.

I wasn't implying Lewis ran from challenges at all, as you say Ruddock was a beast and favoured to kayo Lewis by most experts, and he took on all comers. Lionel Butler was a scary comeback fight for a man who had just been laid out by McCall. I just think this business of Bowe being criticised for his first two title opponents is a bit off. Ferguson had beaten Mercer, he was hardly inept and no one had punched through him like Bowe did, including Mike Tyson.

The Dark Destroyer wrote:

Adamj1987 wrote:

ed robinson wrote:Ruddock was considered a monster when he faced Lennox.

thank you. i've said this on other threads in the past but was always shot down, i'm glad to see someone agrees with me

I wasn't of age to remember at the time, but wasn't Rudduck-Lewis Bowe-Holyfield an agreed tournament?

Yes it was.....indeed Lewis/Ruddock was tagged 'the fight for the right' as in the right to challenge for the heavyweight championship of the world against the Holyfield/Bowe winner.

That's the way it should have played out. Lewis destroyed Ruddock who was considered the most dangerous heavyweight in the world going into their fight. I think the general expectation was it'd be a Holyfield/Ruddock final as it were. But of course both underdogs delivered in sensational fashion. Bowe by demonstrating the heart and depths of talent to grind out a clear UD over Evander. And Lewis by clinically icing the Razor.

I am glad to see that Riddick looks to be happy at this point in his life. But he is straight up bullsh*tting when he claims Lewis was afraid of him(perhaps he's bullsh*tting himself as much as anyone) Watching him ramble on about Lewis going to get him stripped and thats why he threw the WBC belt away. There was absolutely NO danger of him being stripped by any organisation had he just gone through with what had already been agreed and faced the winner of Lewis/Ruddock.

The truth is Bowe was fearful of Lewis ever since Lennox hammered him at the Olympics. Bowe despised Lennox but didn't fancy his chances of revenge and that is why he dumped the title to avoid facing Lewis in what would have been one of the most anticipated heavyweight fights ever.

Any other theory on the situation just does not hold water when the simple facts of the matter are looked at. The fight should of happened for all the marbles. That it didn't is down to Bowe.

Again i a glad to see That Riddick looks to be in a relatively good place in his life now though. I couldn't stand the guy at the time he was avoiding Lennox and splintering the titles. But he's not had it easy since his career began to nosedive and its hard not to feel some sympathy for him.

loaded_gloves wrote:

ed robinson wrote:loaded_gloves - With hindsight Grant wasn't much of a test but at the time he was taken seriously and was getting the big build up and hype by HBO. Lewis was taking on the 'big' American hope over there. Botha was just a homecoming showcase in London.

I think it's a tad harsh to point a finger at the quality of opponents Lewis faced. Ruddock was considered a monster when he faced Lennox. Mason, Tua, Holyfield, Klitschko, Tyson (eventually).... Even when you look back at defences that you remember being a bit soft they weren't too bad. Phil Jackson's the most obvious but he'd only lost to Ruddock in 31 going in.

From memory, Hugging Henry Akinwande was picked by Colin Hart to dethrone Lewis in The Sun.

Agree with your thoughts on the WBC though....

Ed - I do actually agree with you. Grant certainly was considered 'the' top guy by the American press (who were desperately keen to have a replacement for Holyfield and bring the titles back), but one of the main reasons I think Lewis was keen to fight him was that he sat ringside and saw his frailties when Golota decked him twice, hard, in the first round.

I wasn't implying Lewis ran from challenges at all, as you say Ruddock was a beast and favoured to kayo Lewis by most experts, and he took on all comers. Lionel Butler was a scary comeback fight for a man who had just been laid out by McCall. I just think this business of Bowe being criticised for his first two title opponents is a bit off. Ferguson had beaten Mercer, he was hardly inept and no one had punched through him like Bowe did, including Mike Tyson.

Can't speak for Lennox but i know i was keen for Lennox to face Grant asap after the 'next great American heavyweight' got dumped twice in the first by Golota. Prior to that fight Grant was considered to have a very solid chin but a leaky defense, and i figured it'd probably take Lennox 6-8 rounds to grind him down.

But after Grants brush with disaster against Golota it was clear Lewis would jump all over him in the manner he did when he sensed any kind of weakness be it physical or mental. I got odds of 23/1 for Lewis to win by stoppage in both rounds 1 or 2 from a small independant bookmaker(thats not surprisingly gone bust now) Biggest boxing bet i've ever won!

The Dark Destroyer wrote:

Adamj1987 wrote:

ed robinson wrote:Ruddock was considered a monster when he faced Lennox.

thank you. i've said this on other threads in the past but was always shot down, i'm glad to see someone agrees with me

I wasn't of age to remember at the time, but wasn't Rudduck-Lewis Bowe-Holyfield an agreed tournament?

Supposedly

loaded-gloves - Lionel Butler was a real brute of a puncher but, I think, had real problems when he fought Lennox, worse than McCall. What's strange is that he was Bowe's pro debut wasn't he?

Glyn, I remember the poster with Bowe's name on it but for whatever reason it never happened. Shame, because McCall was a hard sell and there wasn't a great turn out for the show. The undercard wasn't too strong, Corrie Saunders replaced Bowe and laboured as the chief support against Garing Lane. The bill struggled for publicity and Correa got stick for throwing a suspender belt on the table at the press conference and telling McCall that was the only belt he'd be leaving London with.

I sneaked into the Peacock gym to watch Lewis spar with Lane and John Ruiz late at night in the build up and Lennox didn't look too good. I thought Ruiz outsped him and Lane was limping and not an ideal chief sparring partner!

Incidentally, the McCall return was my first trip to Las Vegas but the promotion was very low key. It's the only World title fight I've been to anywhere in the World where there were no programmes for sale.