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I don't believe those punches had any ill effects on his career. It was Donald's lack of any real offense that did.

I'm not saying those punches caused physical damage.

I'm saying after he got sucker punched at the press conference, he fought like a pussy against Riddick Bowe. And that trend continued after that fight.

That Bowe was a classy guy... Donald took that 1st punch like it was nothing.

Larry Donald took the punches well, he had a good chin. The second punch was especially violent.
I dont see how these shots had any detrimental effect on his career. He was cagey and tough, but a shade below top class

Was Bowe fined for that great act of courage?

BoxBuzz wrote:Was Bowe fined for that great act of courage?

I think so, but am not sure.

He should have received a 6-12 month ban in my opinion.

JCS wrote:That Bowe was a classy guy... Donald took that 1st punch like it was nothing.

to me he looked out of it after the first punch and the second punch seemed to wake him up again

Donald did have some talent. He just didn't always use it. In the Bowe fight, he didn't do much in the early rounds, then looked very good in the middle rounds, then he got lazy again in the later trounds.

Donald had very good boxing skills and was pretty fast on his feet in his younger days. For whatever reason, after the Bowe fight he hardly ever fought a name opponent again. He just sort of drifted along fighting journeyman. (Tony Tucker did the same thing).

After a few years of fighting nobodies after the Bowe fight, he finally fought Witherspoon, and looked pretty decent. Then he went back to fighting mostly nobodies again for a few years until he lost to Kirk Johnson. He did almost nothing in the Johnson fight (supposedly he hurt his hand).

He was better than many of the weak titlists of the 1990's and this decade.

Do we have Bowe to thank for the start of the "I am going to attack my opponent during the press confrence" fad?

As bad as that is, I'd heard worse. My impression, from listening to people talk about it, was that Bowe had punched Donald behind the head when Donald wasn't looking. Still, pretty ugly... Bowe tended to find himself in those positions. Brooklyn fighters...

Donald was pretty boring in his pre-Bowe fights as well.

A decent gatekeeper-type opponent, but never an elite fighter.

In my own personal opinion, I never was quite a Donald fan, though he came from my home state. He was a boring fighter, and an over-hyped one at that. He beat on grade C to B- minus guys and claimed he was ready for the big times...and he did get his opprotunities, but just because you have a contract with Don King and beat up on Holyfield and other faded guys, doesnt mean that you are.

But I do admit, he was robbed against Valuev, and later on so was John Ruiz.

God knows I would never rewatch it. But didn't Donald hurt Bowe at some point?

I have a faint memory of him stunning Bowe and dancing away like he was the one who was hurt.