30 long years ago today they settled their savage, hugely entertaining three-fight rivalry: Riddick Bowe and Evander Holyfield, two warriors who met in the same month, November, in 1992, in 1993, and again, for the final time, on this day in 1995. And all three fights were wars, slugfests – super fights. Right up there in the opinion of plenty of fight fans with Ali-Frazier, Ali-Norton, Patterson-Johansson, and, more recently, Fury-Wilder, the Bowe-Holyfield rivalry was super-special. In fact, some fans and experts go as far as to say that for sheer, undiluted action, the three battles Bowe and Holyfield gave us rank as better action fights than Ali and Frazier’s three fights; their second bout being something of a dud. Maybe this is going too far, but, hey, it’s down to opinion.
It is undeniable that Bowe and Holyfield thrilled the world with each of their three encounters. Fight-one, which might have been the best of the three, was won on points by naturally bigger man Bowe. Holyfield, the former cruiserweight king, got his revenge a year later, winning a close decision; this in a fight that was temporarily halted due to the wholly unexpected arrival of the infamous “Fan Man.” Both fights had sent the fans home happy, and the rubber-match was eagerly awaited. This time, with no world title on the line, a somewhat fleshy and not ideally conditioned Bowe became the first man to halt the always supremely conditioned Holyfield, this after the two had again traded with passion.
The Third Fight: When Both Refused to Back Down
Younger man Bowe was installed as a 3/1 favourite, and once again the two warriors rumbled in Las Vegas, the site of all three of their fights. Notably, the fight came a year-and-a-half after Holyfield’s heart attack, the one he suffered in his losing fight with Michael Moorer in April of 1994. Holyfield had returned to defeat the granite-chinned, extremely dangerous Ray Mercer, but was he 100 percent fit to fight? There was concern, let’s put it that way.
After a good start, Holyfield was being belted by Bowe, the 33 year old being hurt in round five. George Foreman, doing commentary for HBO, all but freaked out live and on the air, imploring the referee to stop the fight, or else “this guy’s going to end up in a pine box.” Viewers were understandably shocked by Foreman’s concern for Holyfield, and again, that heart attack was still very fresh in the memory of all viewers.
But Holyfield, a fighting man who never knew when he was beaten, sensationally turned the fight around in round six. Decking Bowe with a cracking left hook to the jaw, Holyfield seemed to have pulled out his most dramatic win. But Bowe, showing the kind of heart his critics claimed he never had, this when he was an up-and-comer, got up. His feet rooted to the spot, Bowe’s head eventually cleared and he fought back. Holyfield’s chance had gone.
The End of a Brutal, Beautiful Era
Holyfield did tag Bowe again in the eighth, but he was then slammed to the mat in violent fashion as he came at Bowe, looking for the finish. This was a crisis Holyfield could not survive and, for the first time in his career, he was stopped in a fight. Only one other man managed to stop Holyfield, this being James Toney, who beat up an ageing “Real Deal” in 2003.
Their intense rivalry concluded, Bowe and Holyfield had given us 32 sizzling rounds of heavyweight action that rank amongst the very best in boxing history. But while 28 year old Bowe was all but done after winning the series – taking sickening amounts of punishment in his two X-rated fights with Andrew Golota and then retiring – Holyfield would go on to twice beat Mike Tyson, with Holyfield also avenging his aforementioned loss to Moorer.
Together, Bowe and Holyfield delivered genuine magic. Maybe, just maybe, the best, most dramatic, non-stop magic the heavyweight division has ever seen across three fights.
