It’s almost a quarter of a century since the unforgettable scenes inside Madison Square Garden in New York unfolded. It was on July 11th in 1996 when Riddick Bowe met “Foul Pole” Andrew Golota for the first time.
For a while now, there have been murmurings of a possible Riddick Bowe come back. Now, in speaking with UK tabloid, The Sun, the former world heavyweight champ who gave us those three great fights with Evander Holyfield has made it official.
By any standards, U.S. Olympian and former unified World heavyweight champion Riddick “Big Daddy” Bowe is inarguably one of the all-time greatest boxers, amateur and professional.
25 years ago this week (August 13) a heavyweight fight took place that is probably nothing more than a footnote in boxing history now.
Fans may recall how, at the official weigh-in ahead of the great December 1st battle between Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury, ex-champs Riddick Bowe and Lennox Lewis crossed paths – and almost came to blows.
In just a few hours from now we will see a clash of unbeaten heavyweight champions that many said would not actually happen: Deontay Wilder, the WBC king, versus Tyson Fury, the reigning lineal champ.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNx3Zy81x94
When heavyweight greats Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier fought, the world stopped. When Joe Louis and Max Schmeling fought, the world REALLY stopped (for fight-two anyway), and when Mike Tyson actually lost (for the first time), the entire world was in shock.
https://youtu.be/4XGSDUoEcDo?t=10s
Former heavyweight king Riddick Bowe celebrated his 50th birthday yesterday and it is to be hoped “Big Daddy,” who has endured his share of tough times quite recently – cash problems, the threat of jail time and slurred speech that indicates Bowe stuck around longer than he should have done in the ring – enjoyed himself.
Muhammad Ali (56-5, 37 KOs) is widely viewed as the greatest heavyweight of all time. During his long and illustrious career, Ali has the unique distinction of being the only three time lineal heavyweight champion in the rich history of professional boxing.
25 years ago today, a great, great heavyweight trilogy began, as reigning and undefeated heavyweight king Evander Holyfield met unbeaten challenger Riddick Bowe in Las Vegas; the venue for all three epic rumbles “The Real Deal” and “Big Daddy” would engage in.