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67-414: Riddick Lamont Bowe (born August 10, 1967) is an American former professional boxer and professional kickboxer who competed between 1989 and 2008 in boxing, and from 2013 to 2016 in kickboxing ( Muay Thai ). He held the undisputed world heavyweight championship in 1992, and won the super heavyweight silver medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics . After turning professional in 1989, Bowe went on to become

134-424: A business administration study. His friends called him " Don King " because of his hairstyle. Bowe said he was emulating Mark Breland , "I got a majority of my experience with Mark, I'm inspired by what he's accomplished. It makes it possible for me to do the same," said Bowe in an interview. Bowe won four New York Golden Gloves Championships. He won two bouts as a 178-pounder in 1984 before failing to show for

201-582: A "golden age" of popularity for professional boxing in the 1920s. They were also responsible for the first live radio broadcast of a title fight (Dempsey v. Georges Carpentier , in 1921). In the United Kingdom, Jack Solomons ' success as a fight promoter helped re-establish professional boxing after the Second World War and made the UK a popular place for title fights in the 1950s and 1960s. In

268-507: A clear advantage over the other, regardless of how minute the advantage. Modern boxing rules were initially derived from the Marquess of Queensberry rules which mainly outlined core aspects of the sport, such as the establishment of rounds and their duration, as well as the determination of proper attire in the ring such as gloves and wraps . These rules did not, however, provide unified guidelines for scoring fights and instead left this in

335-544: 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, he knocked out South African Pierre Coetzer in the seventh round of a world title eliminator. Bowe fought two interesting bouts against Elijah Tillery in 1991. Their first fight, at the Washington Convention Center , drew attention for its bizarre conclusion. Bowe dominated

402-571: A desire to eat Bowe's heart and likening himself to a lion while 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 rubber match 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. On January 11, 1996 Bowe

469-476: A fight against Ray Mancini . Studies following the fight have concluded that his brain had become more susceptible to damage after the 12th round. Exactly three months after the fatal fight, the WBC reduced the number of their championship fights to 12 three-minute rounds with 1 minute in between, making the total bout 47 minutes long. If the bout "goes the distance", meaning that the scheduled time has fully elapsed,

536-507: 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. Professional boxer In contrast with amateur boxing , professional bouts are typically much longer and can last up to twelve rounds, though less significant fights can be as short as four rounds. Protective headgear

603-1546: A point for a third headbutt, although replay clearly showed there was no headbutt. Commentator Ferdie Pacheco disagreed with the deduction, saying they did not hit heads. In the second round, Lewis landed several hard punches. The referee gave Bowe two standing eight counts and waved the fight off after the second one, even though Bowe seemed able to continue. Pacheco disagreed with the stoppage, calling it "very strange," but Marv Albert said Bowe took "a pounding." United States Junior Championships (middleweight), 1983: New York Golden Gloves (light heavyweight), New York City , February 1984: [REDACTED] New York Golden Gloves (light heavyweight), Elks Club, Queens, New York , and Madison Square Garden , New York City , February 1985: [REDACTED] New York State Golden Gloves, novice division (light heavyweight), Madison Square Garden , New York City , March 1985: National Golden Gloves (light heavyweight), Little Rock, Arkansas , March 1985: Junior World box-offs (light heavyweight), El Paso Civic Center , El Paso, Texas , August 1985: [REDACTED] Junior World Championships (light heavyweight), Bucharest, Romania , September 1985: World Cup (light heavyweight), Seoul, South Korea , November 1985: U.S. Olympic Festival Eastern Qualifier (super heavyweight), Lake Placid, New York , May 1987: [REDACTED] U.S. Olympic Festival (super heavyweight), Raleigh, North Carolina , July 1987: Pan Am Box-offs (super heavyweight), International Center of

670-485: A record of 104 wins, 18 losses. 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 —

737-788: A rival body, the World Boxing Council (WBC) was formed. In 1983, the International Boxing Federation (IBF) was formed. In 1988, another world sanctioning body, the World Boxing Organization (WBO) was formed. In the 2010s a boxer had to be recognised by these four bodies to be the undisputed world champion; minor bodies like the International Boxing Organization (IBO) and World Boxing Union (WBU) are disregarded. Regional sanctioning bodies such as

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804-582: A third bout. He won the 1985 178 lb Novice Championship, 1986 178 lb Open Championship and the 1987 and 1988 Super Heavyweight Open Championship. Already in 1985 Bowe was ranked #1 light heavyweight in the United States. He was a light heavyweight runner-up for the 1986 World Championships and 1986 Goodwill Games but for some reason didn't qualify. Meanwhile, during the year-and-a-half hiatus he gained well above thirty pounds and jumped from light heavyweight to super heavyweight, coming back for

871-641: A two-time world heavyweight champion. In 1992 he became the undisputed heavyweight champion by winning the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Council (WBC) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) titles by defeating then-unbeaten former undisputed cruiserweight champion Evander Holyfield . That same year, Bowe was named Fighter of the Year by The Ring magazine and the Boxing Writers' Association of America . Bowe vacated

938-421: Is declared if at least two judges score the bout in favour of the same boxer. The result is either a (win by) “unanimous decision”, by “majority decision” (if the third judge scores a draw), or by “split decision” (if the third judge scores the bout in favour of the other boxer). Otherwise, the result is a draw: a “unanimous draw” (if all three judges scored the bout a draw), a “majority draw” (if two judges scored

1005-532: Is not permitted, and boxers are generally allowed to take substantial punishment before a fight is halted. Professional boxing has enjoyed a much higher profile than amateur boxing throughout the 20th century and beyond. In 1891, the National Sporting Club (N.S.C), a private club in London, began to promote professional glove fights at its own premises, and created nine of its own rules to augment

1072-839: The North American Boxing Federation (NABF), the North American Boxing Council (NABC) and the United States Boxing Association (USBA) also awarded championships. The Ring magazine also continued listing the world champion of each weight division, and its rankings continue to be appreciated by fans. 1986 World Amateur Boxing Championships The Men's 1986 World Amateur Boxing Championships were held in Reno , United States from May 8 to 18. The fourth edition of this competition, held two years before

1139-495: The Queensberry Rules . These rules specified more accurately, the role of the officials, and produced a system of scoring that enabled the referee to decide the result of a fight. The British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) was first formed in 1919 with close links to the N.S.C., and was re-formed in 1929 after the N.S.C. closed. In 1909, the first of twenty-two belts were presented by the fifth Earl of Lonsdale to

1206-583: The World Boxing Organization (WBO) title. In doing so, Bowe became the first boxer in history to win the titles of all four major sanctioning bodies: the WBA, WBC, IBF, and WBO. Later that year, Bowe vacated the WBO title in order to fight Holyfield for a third time, and won decisively by being the first boxer to defeat Holyfield by knockout . 1996 saw Bowe engage in two brutal slugfests with Andrew Golota , both of which ended controversially when Golota repeatedly hit him with low blows . Bowe retired from boxing after

1273-648: The 16-0 heavyweight contender Donald his first loss. 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 archrival in the amateurs, Jorge Luis González , At the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The prefight hype contained bizarre trash talk, which included Gonzalez declaring

1340-611: The 1987 United States Olympic Festival. Prior to 1987 Pan American Games, Bowe said he had suffered a hairline fracture in his right hand during one of his two fights at the Olympic Festival in July 1987. The injury, he said, was revealed in X-rays he had taken at home. Roosevelt Sanders, the head coach, said he was aware that Bowe's hand was being treated, but had not known it was broken. Bowe said he kept those injuries secret from

1407-533: The 1988 AAU National finals, where Salters floored Bowe twice before ref stopped the fight, became a real nemesis for Bowe during his amateur career, as they fought each other to nearly a draw in the 1988 Olympic Box-offs at Caesars Palace , after Bowe lost to Salters in the Olympic Trials (Bowe came in at 231 lbs, Salters at 247.). "He was talking' trash about me, and that helped me mentally," Salters said. Bowe had been boxing reportedly with ligament damage on

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1474-494: The Bantamweight title in 1892, Canada's George Dixon became the first ever black athlete to win a World Championship in any sport; he was also the first Canadian-born boxing champion. On May 12, 1902, lightweight Joe Gans became the first black American to be boxing champion. Despite the public's enthusiasm, this was an era of far-reaching regulation of the sport, often with the stated goal of outright prohibition. In 1900,

1541-720: The Broadmoor , Colorado Springs, Colorado , July 1987: [REDACTED] Pan American Games (super heavyweight), Indianapolis, Indiana , August 1987: USSR−USA Duals (super heavyweight), Moscow, Soviet Union , 1988: United States National Championships (heavyweight), Colorado Springs, Colorado , March–April 1988: Olympic Trials (super heavyweight), Concord Pavilion , Concord, California , July 1988: Olympic Box-offs (super heavyweight), Caesars Palace , Las Vegas, Nevada , July 1988: [REDACTED] Summer Olympics (super heavyweight), Seoul, South Korea , September–October 1988: Bowe finished his amateur career with

1608-556: The Golota fights, making low-key comebacks in 2004 and 2008. In a 2010 article by Boxing Scene, Bowe was ranked the 21st greatest heavyweight of all time. In 2015, he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame . As of 2023, Bowe remains the last undisputed world heavyweight champion from the United States. Bowe was born on August 10, 1967, the twelfth of his mother Dorothy Bowe's thirteen children. Bowe

1675-533: The State of New York enacted the Lewis Law, banned prizefights except for those held in private athletic clubs between members. Thus, when introducing the fighters, the announcer frequently added the phrase "Both members of this club", as George Wesley Bellows titled one of his paintings. The western region of the United States tended to be more tolerant of prizefights in this era, although the private club arrangement

1742-491: The U.S. team coaching staff for fear of being kept out of the tournament. At first, Bowe was dismissed from the Olympic-year training camp, because U.S. Olympic boxing Coach Ken Adams didn't like him. U.S. Army superheavyweight Robert Salters, a Brooklyn-born 25-year-old artilleryman of Fort Bragg, NC , who took up boxing in 1986, and had less than twenty amateur fights in his 16-months-long record before they first met at

1809-587: The United States became the centre for professional boxing. It was generally accepted that the "world champions" were those listed by the Police Gazette . After 1920, the National Boxing Association (NBA) began to sanction "title fights". Also during that time, The Ring was founded, and it listed champions and awarded championship belts. The NBA was renamed in 1962 and became the World Boxing Association (WBA). The following year,

1876-418: The WBC title later that year in protest, instead of defending the title against their number one contender, Lennox Lewis . This left the undisputed championship fragmented until 1999. In a rematch with Holyfield in 1993, Bowe narrowly lost the WBA and IBF titles in what would be his only professional defeat. Bowe later regained a portion of the world heavyweight championship in 1995, defeating Herbie Hide for

1943-599: 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, Kellie Maloney (known as Frank Maloney at

2010-473: 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. In November 1992 he fought reigning champ Evander Holyfield for the undisputed heavyweight title. Bowe won a unanimous decision in an entertaining fight, flooring Holyfield in the 11th round. However, it

2077-494: The bout a draw, regardless of the result reached by the third judge), or a “split draw” (if each boxer was the winner on one scorecard, and the third judge scored a draw). The 10-point system was first introduced in 1968 by the World Boxing Council (WBC) as a rational way of scoring fights. It was viewed as such because it allowed judges to reward knockdowns and distinguish between close rounds, as well as rounds where one fighter clearly dominated their opponent. Furthermore,

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2144-564: The early twentieth century, most professional bouts took place in the United States and Britain, and champions were recognised by popular consensus as expressed in the newspapers of the day. Among the great champions of the era were the peerless heavyweight Jim Jeffries and Bob Fitzsimmons , who weighed more than 190 pounds (86 kilograms), but won world titles at middleweight (1892), light heavyweight (1903), and heavyweight (1897). Other famous champions included light heavyweight Philadelphia Jack O'Brien and middleweight Tommy Ryan . After winning

2211-436: The end of each round, judges must hand in their scores to the referee who then hands them to the clerk who records and totals the final scores. Judges are to award 10 points (less any point deductions) to the victor of the round and a lesser score (less any point deductions) to the loser. The losing contestant's score can vary depending on different factors. The "10-point must" system is the most widely used scoring system since

2278-407: The event the winner of a bout cannot be determined by a knockout , technical knockout , or disqualification , the final decision rests in the hands of three ringside judges approved by the commission. The three judges are usually seated along the edge of the boxing ring , separated from each other. The judges are forbidden from sharing their scores with each other or consulting with one another. At

2345-600: The fight payoff. 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 February 1993, Bowe met Pope John Paul II during the pope's general audience at the Vatican , a day after Bowe completed a goodwill mission to Somalia . In Bowe's next fight, May 22, 1993, at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., Bowe knocked out Jesse Ferguson in

2412-401: The fighter knocked down, resulting in a 10–8 score if there is one knockdown or a 10–7 score if there are two knockdowns. If the referee instructs the judges to deduct a point for a foul, this deduction is applied after the preliminary computation. So, if a fighter wins a round, but is penalised for a foul, the score changes from 10–9 to 9–9. If that same fighter scored a knockdown in the round,

2479-428: 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

2546-403: The hands of individual sanctioning organizations. This meant that fights would be scored differently depending on the rules established by the governing body overseeing the fight. It is from this environment that the 10-point system evolved. The adoption of this system, both nationally and internationally, established the foundation for greater judging consistency in professional boxing. In

2613-439: The late teens into the early twenties. Championship level prizefighters in this period were the premier sports celebrities, TO IF WE, and a title bout generated intense public interest. Long before bars became popular venues in which to watch sporting events on television, enterprising saloon keepers were known to set up ticker machines and announce the progress of an important bout, blow by blow. Local kids often hung about outside

2680-430: The mid-20th century. It is so named because a judge "must" award 10 points to at least one fighter each round (before deductions for fouls). A scoring of 10–9 is commonly seen, with 10 points for the fighter who won the round, and 9 points for the fighter the judge believes lost the round. If a round is judged to be even, it is scored 10–10. For each knockdown in a round, the judge typically deducts an additional point from

2747-469: The middle knuckle of his right hand, which he got the day before the Box-offs, and with a damaged right ankle, eventually managed to win, for the judges had to pick up a winner despite the even 58–58 score. The fifth unidentified judge, who scored the bout 58–58, gave it to Bowe on unidentified subjective grounds. Despite giving Bowe a hard time on four occasions in a row, Salters never turned pro. Bowe won

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2814-513: 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 , whom 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, Bowe 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

2881-525: 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

2948-419: The other participant is awarded a technical knockout win. For this reason, fighters often employ cutmen , whose job is to treat cuts between rounds so that the boxer is able to continue despite the cut. Other scoring systems have also been used in various locations, including the five-point must system (in which the winning fighter is awarded five points, the loser four or fewer), the one-point system (in which

3015-451: The outcome is determined by decision. In the early days of boxing, the referee decided the outcome by raising the winner's arm at the end of the bout, a practice that is still used for some professional bouts in the United Kingdom. In the early twentieth century, it became the practice for the referee or judge to score bouts by the number of rounds won by each boxer. To improve the reliability of scoring, two ringside judges were added besides

3082-409: The referee, and the winner was decided by majority decision. Since the late twentieth century, it has become common practice for the judges to be three ringside observers who award a score to each boxer for each round, with the referee having the authority to deduct points for certain violations. At the conclusion of the bout, each of the three judges tallies the points awarded to each boxer. A winner

3149-404: The result of an unintentional foul, the fight goes to the scorecards only if a specified number of rounds (usually three, sometimes four) have been completed. Whoever is ahead on the scorecards wins by a technical decision. If the required number of rounds has not been completed, the fight is declared a technical draw or a no contest. If a fight is stopped due to a cut resulting from a legal punch,

3216-488: 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

3283-420: The saloon doors, hoping for news of the fight. Harpo Marx , then fifteen, recounted vicariously experiencing the 1904 Jeffries-Munroe championship fight in this way. Professional bouts are limited to a maximum of twelve rounds, where each round last 3 minutes for men, 2 minutes for women. Most are fought over four to ten rounds depending upon the experience of the boxers. Through the early twentieth century, it

3350-425: The score would change from 10–8 in his favour to 9–8. While uncommon, if a fighter completely dominates a round but does not score a knockdown, a judge can still score that round 10–8. Judges do not have the ability to disregard an official knockdown; if the referee declares a fighter going down to be a knockdown, the judges must score it as such. If a fight is stopped due to an injury that the referee has ruled to be

3417-405: 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

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3484-496: The second round, and being dropped himself later, was leading on the scorecards, only to be disqualified in the ninth round, once again for deliberately punching Bowe repeatedly in the testes. 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 . On September 25, 2004, after seven and

3551-413: The silver medal in the 1988 Seoul Olympics , outpointing Soviet Alex Miroshnichenko in the semifinals, and losing a controversial match in the finals to future world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis . Bowe had a dominant first round, landing 33 of 94 punches thrown (34%) while Lewis landed 14 of 67 (21%). In the first round the referee from East Germany gave Bowe two cautions for headbutts and deducted

3618-455: The sport, as did boxers' managers. The best promoters and managers have been instrumental in bringing boxing to new audiences and provoking media and public interest. The most famous of all three-way partnership (fighter-manager-promoter) was that of Jack Dempsey (heavyweight champion 1919–1926), his manager Jack Kearns , and the promoter Tex Rickard . Together they grossed US$ 8.4 million in only five fights between 1921 and 1927 and ushered in

3685-408: The subsequent adoption of this system, both nationally and internationally, allowed for greater judging consistency, which was something that was sorely needed at the time. There are many factors that inform the judge's decision but the most important of these are: clean punching, effective aggressiveness, ring generalship and defense. Judges use these metrics as a means of discerning which fighter has

3752-411: The testes, and was finally disqualified in the seventh round after a combination 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

3819-407: The time), 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 and relinquished it in order to protest the actions of the WBC and WBC President José Sulaimán concerning

3886-473: The winner of a British title fight held at the N.S.C. In 1929, the BBBofC continued to award Lonsdale Belts to any British boxer who won three title fights in the same weight division. The "title fight" has always been the focal point in professional boxing. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, however, there were title fights at each weight. Promoters who could stage profitable title fights became influential in

3953-407: The winning fighter is awarded one or more points, and the losing fighter is awarded zero), and the rounds system which simply awards the round to the winning fighter. In the rounds system, the bout is won by the fighter determined to have won more rounds. This system often used a supplemental points system (generally the 10-point must) in the case of even rounds. In the first part of the 20th century,

4020-421: 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. In August 1994, Bowe fought two comeback fights. He faced

4087-534: Was born and raised in the East New York section of Brooklyn , New York City . His brother Henry died of AIDS , and his sister Brenda was stabbed to death by a drug addict during an attempted robbery. Bowe was in the same elementary school sixth-grade class with Mike Tyson . "We went to school together in the sixth grade in P.S. 396 (in Brownsville .) I really didn't know him," Bowe recalled. Bowe

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4154-399: Was common for fights to have unlimited rounds, ending only when one fighter quit or the fight was stopped by police. In the 1910s and 1920s, a fifteen-round limit gradually became the norm, benefiting high-energy fighters like Jack Dempsey . For decades, boxing matches went on for 15 rounds, but that was all changed on November 13, 1982, following the death of Korean boxer Kim Duk-koo in

4221-492: Was officially no longer the WBO champion. 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 to

4288-571: Was standard practice here as well, the San Francisco Athletic Club being a prominent example. On December 26, 1908, heavyweight Jack Johnson became the first black heavyweight champion and a highly controversial figure in that racially charged era. Prizefights often had unlimited rounds, and could easily become endurance tests, favouring patient tacticians like Johnson. At lighter weights, ten round fights were common, and lightweight Benny Leonard dominated his division from

4355-448: 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

4422-421: 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

4489-697: Was training at the Bedford-Stuyvesant Boxing Association Gym or the "Bed-Stuy BA" for short. 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. Apart from boxing he attended Kingsborough Community College , where he studied drama — in hopes of an acting career after boxing — also he took up

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