Looking Back at Riddick Bowe Vs Evander Holyfield I 25 Years Later

By Faisal “’Fayz” Masood

A quarter of a century ago on November 13th 1992, the Boxing world witnessed one of its finest ever Heavyweight title battles as two undefeated boxers, Evander Holyfield and Riddick Bowe squared off in Nevada, Las Vegas for the WBA, WBC, & IBF Lineal titles.

The fight would be the best of the famous trilogy between the two heavyweight fighters and would set off a chain of events that even today would leave unanswered questions over the career of Riddick Bowe and his dustbin antics just weeks later.

Evander Holyfield may have come into the fight as the champion, but he had more than his fair share of critics. With Mike Tyson spending time in prison, many boxing fans still viewed Tyson as the world’s best heavyweight. Holyfield was simply keeping the throne warm for Tyson’s return. It didn’t help Holyfields cause that he had won the title from the man who beat Mike Tyson – James Buster Douglas, who was still clearly enjoying his upset win over Tyson eight months earlier. Douglas entered the bout weighing 15lbs heavier than he did in his fight with Tyson – and it was certainly not a lean 15lbs.

Coming in looking decidedly soft, the sluggish Douglas was no match for the “Real Deal” Holyfield who was actually weighing 38lbs lighter than Douglas. Holyfield finished the bout with ease in round three and was crowned the World Champion. Douglas on the other hand would retire and drift into obscurity before returning to the ring almost six years later.

Having beaten Douglas, Holyfield ‘cemented’ his position as Champion with three unfulfilling fights. Holyfield beat heavyweight legends George Foreman and Larry Holmes, both well past their primes and sandwiched in between was a victory over middle of the pack fighter Bert Cooper, who is probably better known for beating the bare knuckle champion in a farcical fight. To add fuel to the fire, Riddick Bowe had despatched Cooper with ease a year earlier, taking just two rounds to end the fight. Holyfield for his troubles, was dropped in round three by Cooper before coming back to win in round seven. Holyfield’s next fight would be a fight for respect, against the up and coming heavyweight, Riddick “Big Daddy” Bowe.

The 25yr old Bowe was coming into the fight with an undefeated record of 31-0. at 6’5 and 235lbs he would be the bigger man physically in the ring and would also have youth on his side. How would Holyfield handle a man who was younger and bigger? Bowe had looked impressive in earning his title shot, earning victories over former Champions Tony Tubbs and Pinklon Thomas, as well as future Champion Bruce Seldon. On top of his size, Bowe possessed a drilling jab, was a great inside fighter with surprisingly quick feet for a big man and good hand speed backed up with a solid chin. He was trained by none other than Eddie Futch, one of the sports greatest ever trainers – Evander Holyfield would have his work cut out for him on the night of the 13th if he was to retain his title….

Evander Holyfield stepped into the ring weighing 205lbs, conceding 30lbs in weight and 3in in both height and reach. It would be a disadvantage that Bowe would eventually exploit…

As the fight began it was the champion who looked the sharper of the two, Holyfield was beating Bowe to the punch and firing off his right hand. Perhaps not surprising considering Holyfield’s lighter weight but round two would show the first signs of what was to come and how the fight would develop into a heavyweight classic as the fighters engaged in brief toe to toe brawls and now Bowe looked like he was settling into his groove, rolling under shots and getting his left hook going.

As the middle rounds developed, the fight ebbed and flowed, just when Holyfield looked like he was on top, Bowe would engage and land his shots, when Bowe was looking like he was taking control, Holyfield would upset the balance of the fight and land shots of his own. But Bowe’s size advantage was beginning to make its presence felt, it was Bowe was landing the heavier of the shots and one could see Holyfield was gradually wilting and feeling the strain of Bowe’s punches.

As the last three rounds commenced, Bowe would be stepping into the unknown, having never gone past 10 rounds in any of his previous fights but this was where Champions separate themselves and the following round would go down in history as one of the finest ever rounds. Bowe rocked Holyfield with a right uppercut, sensing the end Bowe took the attack to Holyfield. Some referee’s may have even stopped the bout but Holyfield managed to cling on. Holyfield was no stranger to digging deep when he was in deep waters, having previously gone 15 rounds with Dwight Muhammad Qawi as a cruiserweight in a brutal battle in which he won the fight but lost an astonishing 15lbs of water weight with over 2000 combined punches thrown as well as urinating blood after the fight. Holyfield would dig deep again, amazingly despite being jolted and wobbled by Bowe and looking like he would drop at any moment, by the end of the round, it was Bowe who was on the defensive as Holyfield summoned up within him the energy to fight back and bring the attack to the challenger. As the round ended, Bowe tapped the champion on his waist as if to acknowledge his fighting spirit coming out on top to end the round. Round 10 would unsurprisingly win The Ring Magazines Round of the year.

The final two rounds would also be full of action, Bowe yet again rocked Holyfield in Round 11 and Round 12 ended like much of the fight, the two fighters standing in the middle of the ring, toe to toe trading blows. As the fight went to the judges the decision was unanimous, Riddick Bowe had won the fight on all three scorecards and was the new Heavyweight Champion of the World.

The careers of both fighters would go in opposite directions. Just a year later in the return bout, Holyfield would avenge his loss and win back the titles, inflicting upon Bowe the only defeat of his career. Holyfield would go onto lose for the 2nd time against Bowe in the final of their third fights in 1995 but the career of Holyfield still had many unwritten moments of greatness, most noticeably his victory over Mike Tyson which etched his name in heavyweight history as one of the finest the division has ever produced.

Riddick Bowe on the other hand, was out of the game just four years later, and just four weeks after beating Holyfield to become the World Champion, he had thrown the WBC belt into the bin, having failed to negotiate the terms for a fight with number one contender Lennox Lewis. The Boxing world would be forever deprived of a mouth watering clash between the two fighters who really signalled the start of the super heavyweights, both stood 6’5 and both weighed over 235lbs and then some. The clash would have been a repeat of the 1988 Seoul Olympic finals in which Lennox Lewis came out with the gold medal, Bowe settling for Silver.

Despite going onto win the WBO Heavyweight title in 1995 with a six round demolition of Britain’s Herbie Hide, Bowe never again reached the lofty heights of November 13th 1992. A career filled with plenty of promise and potential ended with a punch to the balls, from the hands of the giant Pole, Andrew Golota. Bowe did return for a handful of fights in 2004/05 but this was not the same Bowe. The man who should have carved himself amongst the greats of the Heavyweight division, who had all the ingredients to dominate the division failed to do justice to his talents. The Heavyweight era of the 90’s and early 2000’s is dominated by the names of three men, Lennox Lewis, Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson, but for the years of 1992 and 1993, it was “Big Daddy” Bowe who sat on top of the Heavyweight throne.

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