Early years

Bowe was born on August 10, 1967, the twelfth of his mother Dorothy Bowe's thirteen children. Bowe was born and raised in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn. His brother Henry died of AIDS, and his sister Brenda was stabbed to death by a drug addict during an attempted robbery.

Amateur boxing career

As an amateur, Bowe won the prestigious New York Golden Gloves Championship and other tournaments. In 1984, age 17, he knocked out opponent James Smith in just 4 seconds. In 1985, at the National Golden Gloves championships, he lost to Fort Worth Heavyweight Donald Stephens. Bowe won the silver medal in the 1988 Seoul Olympics, where he was stopped in two rounds by future world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis.

Amateur highlights

Amateur Record: 104-18

• 1983 at United States Junior Championships, as a middleweight, lost to Adolpho Washington by second round TKO
• 1985 Junior World Champion as a light heavyweight, in competition in Bucharest. Defeated Péter Hart of Hungary in final.
• 1987 Heavyweight Bronze Medalist at Pan-American Games in Indianapolis. Lost to Jorge Luis Gonzalez on points
• 1988 Super Heavyweight Silver Medalist, boxing at the 1988 Summer Olympic Games, the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games. Results were:
  • Defeated Biko Botowamungu (Zaire, Congo) KO 2
  • Defeated Peter Hrivnak (Czechoslovakia) TKO 1
  • Defeated Alex Miroshnichenko (Soviet Union) on points
  • Lost to Lennox Lewis (Canada) TKO by 2

New York Golden Gloves Championships

Bowe won four New York Golden Gloves Championships. Bowe won the 1985 178 lb Novice Championship, 1986 178 lb Open Championship and the 1987 and 1988 Super Heavyweight Open Championship. Bowe trained at the Bed-Stuy BA.

Professional career

Bowe turned professional after his Olympic loss. Highly regarded trainer Eddie Futch took on the job of developing Bowe as he saw the talent. Eddie would say that Bowe had more potential than any boxer he had ever trained.

Bowe turned professional in March 1989, and knocked out Lionel Butler. His then manager, Rock Newman kept Bowe active, fighting 13 times in 1989, beating journeymen, the most notable being Garing Lane whom he beat twice. In September 1990, Bowe made his first step up in class, fighting faded ex-champion Pinklon Thomas, who he dominated until Thomas gave up after eight rounds. The following month, Bowe knocked out Bert Cooper in two rounds, which added to his reputation and high ranking.

In March 1991, Bowed knocked out 1984 Olympic Super Heavyweight Gold medalist Tyrell Biggs. In Bowe's next fight, ex-champion Tony Tubbs appeared to outbox and outsmart Bowe in a close bout, only to have the judges award Bowe a unanimous decision. In August 1991, Bowe knocked out future world heavyweight champion Bruce Seldon in one round. In July 1992 knocked out South African Pierre Coetzer in the seventh round of a world title eliminator.

Fights against Elijah Tillery

Bowe fought two interesting bouts against Elijah Tillery in Atlantic City in 1991. Their first fight at Harrah's Casino was known as the 'crazy fight' for its bizarre conclusion. Bowe dominated the first round and dropped Tillery. After the round ended, Tillery walked toward Bowe and taunted him, and Bowe responded by punching Tillery. Tillery then threw several low kicks at Bowe, who then unleashed a flurry of punches on Tillery as he lay on the ropes. Bowe's trainer Rock Newman grabbed Tillery from behind on the ring apron and pulled him over the ropes as Bowe continued to throw punches. Tillery somersaulted over the ropes, and was quickly detained by security. After order was restored and the fighters returned to the ring, Tillery and Bowe continued a war of words, and minor incidents continued until the ring was cleared. Tillery was controversially disqualified for kicking Bowe, with Bowe getting the win, much to the surprise of the television announcers. The referee, Karl Milligan, had stepped between the two fighters to separate them and stepped forward as he did so, inadvertently missing the action behind him after the bell between the combatants. The fighters fought a rematch two months later at Convention Hall in Atlantic City, with Bowe dominating and stopping Tillery in four rounds.

World heavyweight champion

Main articles: Evander Holyfield vs. Riddick Bowe, Riddick Bowe vs. Michael Dokes, Riddick Bowe vs. Jesse Ferguson and Riddick Bowe vs. Evander Holyfield II

In November 1992 he fought reigning champ Evander Holyfield for the undisputed heavyweight title. With his heart and dedication still in question, Bowe won a unanimous decision in an entertaining fight, flooring Holyfield in the 11th round. However, it was the tenth round most boxing fans will remember. The epic brutal back and forth exchanges helped make it Ring Magazine's "Round of the Year." Commentator Al Bernstein exclaimed, "That was one of the greatest rounds in heavyweight history. Period!"

A couple of weeks earlier in London, Bowe's old Olympic rival, Lennox Lewis, knocked out Canadian Donovan "Razor" Ruddock in two rounds, establishing himself as the World Boxing Council's number one contender. The Bowe-Holyfield and Lewis-Ruddock fights were part of a mini-tournament, whereby all four fighters agreed the two winners would meet each other for the undisputed world heavyweight championship. Bowe's manager Rock Newman made a proposal: the $32 million purse HBO was offering should be split 90-10 in Bowe's favor, an 'absurd' offer which Lennox Lewis rejected. Lewis's manager, Frank Maloney, rejected another offer of two million for Lewis to fight on a Bowe undercard, citing his distrust of the Bowe camp after the aforementioned financial negotiations. Bowe responded by holding a press conference in which he dumped the WBC world heavyweight championship belt into a trash can rather than fighting Lewis.

Bowe's first defense of his remaining titles came on February 6, 1993, when he fought 34-year-old former champion Michael Dokes at Madison Square Garden and knocked him out in the first round. In Bowe's next fight, May 22, 1993 at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., Bowe knocked out Jesse Ferguson in the second round to retain the title. This set up a rematch with Evander Holyfield.

In the rematch with Holyfield, Bowe looked overweight. He had entered training camp at a 266 lbs and weighed in at 246 lbs, eleven pounds heavier than in the first fight with Holyfield.

Bowe and Holyfield exchanged hard punches. Bowe ended up losing the belts to Holyfield by a majority decision. This fight was also known for a bizarre stunt in which parachutist James "Fan Man" Miller dropped into the open air arena, landing in the ropes by Bowe's corner. This surreal scene delayed the fight in the seventh round by nearly a half-hour. Bowe stated afterwards he thought the bout should have declared a 'technical draw' or a 'no contest' owing to the unfair delay.

After title loss

Main article: Riddick Bowe vs. Larry Donald

In August 1994, Bowe fought two comeback fights. He faced the much smaller Buster Mathis Jr and, after struggling to connect with his bobbing and weaving target, hit Mathis while he was down with what was ruled an accidental blow, and the bout was ruled a 'No Contest' by referee Arthur Mercante, Sr. In December 1994, Bowe punched Larry Donald at a prefight press conference, later beating him by 12 round unanimous decision for the WBC Continental Americas Heavyweight title, giving the 16-0 heavyweight contender Donald his first loss.

WBO title and Holyfield rubber match

Main articles: Herbie Hide vs. Riddick Bowe, Riddick Bowe vs. Jorge Luis González and Riddick Bowe vs. Evander Holyfield III

In March 1995, Bowe won the WBO version of the world heavyweight championship by knocking down England's Herbie Hide six times en route to scoring a sixth round knockout.

In June 1995, after a heated build up, Bowe defended the WBO heavyweight title against his arch rival in the amateurs, Jorge Luis González, At the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The prefight hype contained bizarre trash talk, which included Gonzalez declaring a desire to eat Bowe's heart and likening himself to a lion which making Bowe out to be a hyena. Bowe won by sixth round knockout over Gonzalez. He vacated the WBO championship soon after. After the Gonzales fight, Bowe fought a rubbermatch with Evander Holyfield, their third and final meeting. Holyfield knocked Bowe down during the fight, but Bowe maintained his composure, and persevered to score an eighth round stoppage victory.

Humanitarian Activities

Shortly after winning his first title against Evander Holyfield, Bowe saw a news story on television that revealed a million dollars worth of medicines donated to the Somali refugees and orphans were not able to be transported to the war-torn region due to a lack of funds to pay for the charter aircraft needed. Bowe immediately had his representatives reach out to AmeriCares, the NGO leading the effort, and pledged the 100,000 dollars need to fund the trip - on the condition he could go to the country with the goods, and make sure they got to their intended recipients. While in Somalia, he visited U.S. Marines and an orphanage on the Kenyan border. He was accompanied by several members of his management team, including manager Rock Newman and Head of International Sales Alexis Denny (CEO of an independent media distributor).

Bowe also took action when he heard news of other tragedies. In 1995, when Alexis Denny was in Indonesia on other business, she read Asian news coverage of Rodolfo Yap, a young man in the Philippines who was electrocuted while positioning his antenna so his family could watch a Riddick Bowe fight. She relayed this news to the Bowe, and explained to the media at the time 'The heavyweight champion was very moved by the story and having lost a brother and a sister earlier in life, decided to make a financial contribution to the family of Mr. Yap." Bowe authorized her to fly to the Philippines and try to locate the man's family, make a contribution to their expenses, and also provide funds to support the Philippine boxing Team training for the Olympics (in the name of the deceased).

Bowe vs. Golota I and II

Main articles: Riddick Bowe vs. Andrew Golota and Riddick Bowe vs. Andrew Golota II

After defeating Holyfield in the third bout of their trilogy, Bowe was matched against undefeated heavyweight contender Andrew Golota at the Madison Square Garden in an HBO Boxing event. Bowe's weight problem again resurfaced, as the favorite entered the ring at a career high of 252 lbs. Though ahead on points, Golota was penalized several times for low blows, and was finally disqualified in the seventh round after a volley of punches to Bowe's testicles. Seconds after Golota was disqualified, Bowe's entourage rushed the ring, attacked Golota with a two way radio (Golota traded punches with one of them, requiring 11 stitches to close the wound caused by the radio) and assaulted Golota's 74-year-old trainer Lou Duva, who collapsed in the ring and was taken out of The Garden on a stretcher). The entourage began rioting, fighting with spectators, staff and policemen alike, resulting in a number of injuries before they were forced out of the arena in what evolved into a lengthy televised ring spectacle.

The fight made many sports shows, including SportsCenter, and there was a good amount of public interest in a rematch. The rematch was on Pay Per View. Golota, after dropping Bowe in the second round, and being dropped himself later, was leading on the scorecards, only to be disqualified in the ninth round, once again for repeated shots to the testicles. Despite not having another riot, this fight also proved to be controversial, with an unsuccessful protest filed by Golota's camp to try to overturn the fight's result.

This fight was featured on HBO's documentary Legendary Nights: The Tale of Bowe-Golota.

Joining the Marine Corps

After the Golota fights, Bowe retired from boxing and decided to join the United States Marine Corps Reserve. He said he made the decision both to make his mother proud and to rededicate himself to training, with the intention of returning to boxing shortly after. On his first day of recruit training, however, Bowe discussed leaving the Corps with Marine commanders, and quit after 3 days of training with his platoon at the recruit depot at Parris Island, South Carolina.

Legal troubles

Bowe was convicted of the February 1998 kidnapping of his estranged wife Judy, and their five children. Thinking it would reconcile his marriage, Bowe went to his wife's Cornelius, North Carolina home and threatened her with a knife, handcuffs, duct tape and pepper spray. He forced her and their children into a vehicle and set out for his Fort Washington, Maryland home. During the kidnapping, Bowe stabbed his wife in the chest. Police captured Bowe in South Hill, Virginia, freeing his family. Bowe agreed to a plea bargain of guilty to 'interstate domestic violence', and was sentenced to 18 to 24 months in prison. Despite the agreed sentence, on February 29, 2000, the judge sentenced Bowe to only 30 days, due to a claim of brain damage by Bowe's defense. This sentence, counter to the plea agreement, was later overturned. Bowe served 17 months in Federal prison. On February 8, 2001, Bowe was arrested in Long Island after a domestic dispute with his new wife. Bowe allegedly dragged his wife and left her with cuts on her knees and elbows.

Return to boxing

On September 25, 2004, after seven and a half years away from boxing, Bowe returned with a second round knockout over Marcus Rhode. In a second comeback fight, in April 2005, an overweight Bowe narrowly defeated journeyman Billy Zumbrun by ten round split decision.

Bowe declared bankruptcy in 2005. On December 13, 2008, with the help of new manager Bob Bain, Bowe, 41, returned to the ring for the first time in over three and a half years on the undercard of the Wladimir Klitschko versus Hasim Rahman world heavyweight title bout in Mannheim, Germany and won an eight round unanimous decision over Gene Pukall.

His current boxing record stands at 43-1 with 33 knockouts. In his autobiography "Let's Get It On" famed referee Mills Lane, who had officiated at some of Bowe's fights, professed that Bowe could have been one of boxing's greatest fighters but foolishly squandered the opportunity through immaturity and lack of discipline.

In March 2013, Bowe announced his Muay Thai début, having trained under Kru Airr Phanthip and Kru Chan in Las Vegas. He faced Levgen Golovin for the WPMF Super Heavyweight World Title in Pattaya, Thailand. On June 14, 2013, Bowe was knocked down five times from kicks to his leg. The championship match was called to a stop halfway through the second round.

Professional boxing record

45 fights, 43 wins (33 knockouts), 1 loss, 1 no contest
No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
45	Win	43-1	Gene Pukall	UD	8	Dec 13, 2008
44	Win	42-1	Billy Zumbrun	SD	10	Apr 7, 2005
43	Win	41-1	Marcus Rhode	TKO	2 (10), 2:45	Sep 25, 2004
42	Win	40-1	Andrew Golota	DQ	9 (10), 2:58	Dec 14, 1996
41	Win	39-1	Andrew Golota	DQ	7 (12)	Jul 11, 1996
40	Win	38-1	Evander Holyfield	TKO	8 (12), 0:58	Nov 4, 1995
39	Win	37-1	Jorge Luis González	KO	6 (12), 1:50	Jun 17, 1995
38	Win	36-1	Herbie Hide	KO	6 (12), 2:25	Mar 11, 1995
37	Win	35-1	Larry Donald	UD	12	Dec 3, 1994
36	NC	34-1	Buster Mathis Jr.	NC	4 (10), 2:11	Aug 13, 1994
35	Loss	34-1	Evander Holyfield	MD	12	Nov 6, 1993
34	Win	34-0	Jesse Ferguson	KO	2 (12), 0:17	May 22, 1993
33	Win	33-0	Michael Dokes	TKO	1 (12), 2:19	Feb 6, 1993
32	Win	32-0	Evander Holyfield	UD	12	Nov 13, 1992
31	Win	31-0	Pierre Coetzer	TKO	7 (12), 2:59	Jul 18, 1992
30	Win	30-0	Everett Martin	TKO	5 (10), 2:28	May 8, 1992
29	Win	29-0	Conroy Nelson	KO	1 (10), 1:16	Apr 7, 1992
28	Win	28-0	Elijah Tillery	TKO	4 (10), 1:14	Dec 13, 1991
27	Win	27-0	Elijah Tillery	DQ	1 (12)	Oct 29, 1991
26	Win	26-0	Bruce Seldon	KO	1 (10), 1:48	Aug 9, 1991
25	Win	25-0	Philipp Brown	TKO	3 (10), 2:47	Jul 23, 1991
24	Win	24-0	Rodolfo Marin	KO	2 (10), 1:45	Jun 28, 1991
23	Win	23-0	Tony Tubbs	UD	10	Apr 20, 1991
22	Win	22-0	Tyrell Biggs	TKO	8 (10), 2:17	Mar 2, 1991
21	Win	21-0	Tony Morrison	KO	1, 2:20	Dec 14, 1990
20	Win	20-0	Bert Cooper	KO	2 (10), 3:09	Oct 25, 1990
19	Win	19-0	Pinklon Thomas	RTD	8 (10), 3:00	Sep 7, 1990
18	Win	18-0	Art Tucker	TKO	3 (10), 1:41	Jul 8, 1990
17	Win	17-0	Jesus Contreras	KO	1 (10), 1:18	May 8, 1990
16	Win	16-0	Eddie Gonzales	UD	8	Apr 14, 1990
15	Win	15-0	Robert Colay	TKO	2 (6), 0:49	Apr 1, 1990
14	Win	14-0	Mike Robinson	TKO	3, 1:58	Feb 20, 1990
13	Win	13-0	Charles Woolard	TKO	2, 2:46	Dec 14, 1989
12	Win	12-0	Art Card	RTD	3 (8), 3:00	Nov 28, 1989
11	Win	11-0	Don Askew	TKO	1, 2:21	Nov 18, 1989
10	Win	10-0	Garing Lane	TKO	4 (6), 1:50	Nov 4, 1989
9	Win	9-0	Mike Acey	TKO	1 (4), 2:26	Oct 19, 1989
8	Win	8-0	Earl Lewis	TKO	1 (6), 1:26	Sep 19, 1989
7	Win	7-0	Anthony Hayes	KO	1 (6), 1:21	Sep 15, 1989
6	Win	6-0	Lee Moore	KO	1	Sep 3, 1989
5	Win	5-0	Lorenzo Canady	RTD	2 (6), 3:00	Jul 15, 1989
4	Win	4-0	Antonio Whiteside	TKO	1 (6), 1:19	Jul 2, 1989
3	Win	3-0	Garing Lane	UD	4	May 9, 1989
2	Win	2-0	Tracy Thomas	TKO	3, 1:57	Apr 14, 1989
1	Win	1-0	Lionel Butler	TKO	2 (4), 1:55	Mar 6, 1989

Kickboxing record

Kickboxing record
0 wins (0 KOs), 1 loss, 0 draws Date Result Opponent Event Location Method Round Time Record 2013-06-14 Loss Levgen Golovin WPMF Super Heavyweight Title Pattaya, Thailand TKO (right low kick) 2 0-1 Legend: Win Loss Draw/No contest Notes

Professional wrestling

In 2013, Riddick Bowe announced his intentions to start training to be a professional wrestler. He was to make his debut for the UK-based Preston City Wrestling organisation on March 1, 2014. On December 14, 2013, Preston City Wrestling announced on their Facebook Page that Bowe would no longer be appearing due to a disagreement with Bowe's new agent.

Career timeline

• 1988: Lost to Lennox Lewis for the Olympic gold medal in Seoul, South Korea.
• March 7, 1989: Debuted as a professional, beating Lionel Butler
• July 8, 1990: Beat Art Card in first nationally televised bout
• October 21, 1991: Declared winner by disqualification over Elijah Tillery who began kicking Bowe until he was grabbed around the neck and thrown outside the ring by Bowe's manager, Rock Newman. A melee ensued. It would not be the last time things went chaotic before or during a Bowe fight.
• November 13, 1992: Won the world heavyweight championship, beating Evander Holyfield. Bowe and Holyfield slugged it out for 12 rounds, with Bowe having a slight edge. A knockdown in the 11th round sealed Holyfield's fate, and Bowe would win by unanimous decision.
• Early 1993: He and his manager Rock Newman visited Pope John Paul II in the Vatican City, offering him the autographed gloves that Bowe used to beat Holyfield. The Pope accepted the gift.
• February 6, 1993 Bowe knocked out former WBA heavyweight champion Michael Dokes in the first round, in his first title defense.
• May 22, 1993 Bowe knocked out Jesse Ferguson in the second round, in what his trainer Eddie Futch called his greatest performance.
• November 6, 1993: Lost the title to Holyfield, by decision in 12.
• August 13, 1994: His fight with Buster Mathis Jr. declared a no contest after Bowe hit his opponent while Mathis Jr. lay on the canvas.
• December, 1994: In the final pre-fight conference before their fight, he threw a one-two combo at Larry Donald. He beat Donald by decision in 12.
• March 11, 1995: He won the lightly regarded WBO world heavyweight championship, knocking out Herbie Hide in six rounds.
• Summer of 1995: He and Jorge Luis Gonzalez engaged in a series of violent press conferences across the United States before their fight. Their last pre-fight conference was held behind protective glasses. Bowe won by knockout in six.
• November 4, 1995: He and Holyfield, fought the last fight of their classic trilogy. Bowe seemed to dominate the early rounds, and the ailing Holyfield was struggling in the fight, a fight that commentator George Foreman was notably concerned about, repeatedly saying the fight should be stopped. Holyfield however had a spurt of energy early in the sixth round, and knocked Bowe down. Bowe recovered from the knockdown and went on to win by knockout in round eight.
• July 11, 1996: He defeated Andrew Golota by disqualification in round seven after being repeatedly punched in the testicles. The ensuing riot became breaking news across the United States, and an infamous night in the history of boxing. Golota was hit in the head by a member of Bowe's entourage with either a large mid-90s cellphone or walkie-talkie, bloodying him.
• December 14, 1996: He defeated Golota in their rematch, again by disqualification. Golota was ahead on all three scorecards, but at the end of the ninth round, Golota landed three brutal shots to Bowe's testicles. It turned out to be Bowe's last fight until 2004. Bowe declared there would not be a rematch. For a long time after Golota was disqualified Bowe lay unmoving in the ring with his eyes closed, which prompted fears from some about his condition. His slurred speech during the post fight interview did little to alleviate those fears.
• December, 1996: Bowe announced he would leave his wife and children and large fleet of cars in Fort Washington, MD to join the United States Marine Corps. He dropped out of boot camp soon afterward.
• 1999: He kidnapped his wife and children at her parent's community in North Carolina. They were released unharmed, after an interstate drive.
• January, 2001: Bowe applied for a presidential pardon from President Bill Clinton stating, "I became the heavyweight champion of the world from hard work. I was able to provide certain necessities to my large family. Many people depended on me and still depend on me to this very day for certain necessities," Bowe wrote. "If I am not given back my livelihood, we might just lose everything."
• May 18, 2004: Bowe was released from federal prison after serving 18 months for kidnapping. He announced his intention to return to boxing and attempt to reclaim the world heavyweight championship.
• September 25, 2004: After seven and a half years away from boxing, Bowe returned with a second round knockout over Marcus Rhode. In a second comeback fight in April 2005, Bowe narrowly defeated journeyman Billy Zumbrun, in a fight in which Bowe was badly overweight and absorbed many heavy blows from Zumbrun.
• On October 17, 2005 he declared bankruptcy.
• On November 9, 2007, Riddick Bowe announced that he will enter the world of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), fighting exclusively for the promotional outfit Xcess Entertainment, with his first fight being December 12, 2007, against lanky Philadelphia journeyman David R. Stec.

In popular culture

In 1993, a video game entitled Riddick Bowe Boxing was released for various platforms. Also in 1993, Bowe appeared as himself in an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, entitled "You Bet Your Life".

[ Source: Wikipedia ]