BOXING - Bowe Trashes His W.B.C. Title Belt - NYTimes.com BOXING; Bowe Trashes His W.B.C. Title Belt By MICHAEL MARTINEZ Published: December 15, 1992 Riddick Bowe is no longer boxing's undisputed heavyweight champion, but he is clearly its new title-holder in theatrics. Bowe stripped himself of one of his championship belts yesterday, tossed it into a trash can during a news conference in London and then indicated he would defend his remaining two titles Feb. 6 at Madison Square Garden. The only obstacles: no opponent and no confirmation from the Garden. A spokesman for the Garden said there had been recent discussions between HBO and Milt Chwasky, Bowe's attorney, regarding a title fight but that it remained only a possibility. The Garden, once a mecca for big fights, has been the site of five heavyweight championship fights since it opened at its current location in 1968. But it hasn't staged one since 1986, when Bonecrusher Smith knocked out Tim Witherspoon for the World Boxing Assocation title.

Rock Newman, Bowe's manager, made the annoucement after Bowe, who won the heavyweight title last month from Evander Holyfield, symbolically trashed the green World Boxing Council belt and said he was relinquishing the title. Heavyweights Split The W.B.C. then crowned Lennox Lewis, who defeated Bowe in the superheavyweight division in the 1988 Seoul Olympics, as its new champion. The action split the heavyweight championship for the first time since 1987, when Mike Tyson unified the crown by stopping Tony Tucker. Bowe, who still holds the World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation belts, risked losing the W.B.C. title because he would not agree to fight Lewis, the winner of a W.B.C.-mandated elimination bout with Razor Ruddock in October in London. Instead, Bowe beat the organization to the punch by relinquishing the championship before it could be taken away. "The W.B.C. is wrong, and I will not be intimidated by them," Bowe said. "I am the heavyweight champion of the world, and today I withdraw my recognition of the W.B.C.

For as long as I am champion, I will not recognize or defend this dishonest belt." Newman said Lewis had been offered two chances to fight Bowe for the title: a guaranteed $3 million with a possible payoff of $15 million more for a first defense if he beat Bowe, or $3 million to fight an opponent of his choosing plus $9 million and a share of the promotion for a followup fight with Bowe. Lewis, after initially turning down an offer of $3 million, said he was willing to take the fight. But by then, Bowe had changed his mind. "It has been a sincere effort on our part," Newman said at the news conference. "It has been Lewis who has waited on the deplorable actions of the W.B.C. As long as Riddick is champion, he will never fight for, or recognize, that belt." Sulaiman Still Hoping But Jose Sulaiman, president of the W.B.C., said he still hoped Bowe would agree to fight Lewis. "I hope Bowe will modify his position," Sulaiman said from his office in Mexico City, "but it appears that won't happen. He doesn't seem to want to fight the man who knocked him out.

If he can erase that loss, we will still recognize him as champion. "Everybody wants to see that fight, and Lennox Lewis is willing, ready and available to fight him at any time." For now, however, it appears that a Bowe-Lewis bout will not happen until 1994 at the earliest. Bowe's first defense, if it comes at the Garden, would likely be against either Alex Garcia or Michael Dokes. Lewis vs. Tucker Lewis, meanwhile, could take on Tony Tucker, although Sulaiman would not confirm that it would be a mandated fight. Lewis is Britain's first heavyweight champion in this century. Frank Maloney, Lewis's manager, attended the news conference and had reportedly organized a picket of nine people, some dressed in chicken suits and carrying placards, before Bowe arrived. "Small people do small things," Bowe said. Newman was also upset with the man-in-a-chicken-suit stunt, carried out at Heathrow Airport. "I don't think Lennox Lewis is chicken," Newman said. "But he is a legend in his own mind. He's a household name in his own house. He brings very little to the table.

If people in the States were asked who Lennox Lewis was, they probably would say that he's the boxing promoter who doesn't wear a shirt, confusing him with Butch Lewis." Photo: Riddick Bowe dumping his World Boxing Council belt into trash can in protest of the council's demand that his next fight be against Lennox Lewis. (Associated Press) Riddick Bowe - BoxRec Riddick Bowe Hall of Fame bio: [1] Name: Riddick Bowe Birth Name: Riddick Lamont Bowe Born: 1968-08-10 Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York, USA Hometown: Fort Washington, Maryland, USA Stance: Orthodox Bowe and Lennox Lewis on the medal podium at the 1988 Seoul Olympics Amateur Record: 104-18 Worked as a sparring partner for Tyrell Biggs and Evander Holyfield . 1983 United States Junior Championships: Stopped in two rounds by Adolpho Washington in middleweight competition. 1985 New York Golden Gloves Light Heavyweight Champion (Novice Division) 1985 Light Heavyweight Champion of Junior World Championships in Bucharest, Romania.

Results: Defeated Mikhail Sadovski (Soviet Union) RSC 1 Defeated Damian Vasile (Romania) RSC 1 Defeated Peter Hart (Hungary) RSC 1 1986 New York Golden Gloves Light Heavyweight Champion (Open Division) 1987 New York Golden Gloves Super Heavyweight Champion (Open Division) 1987 Heavyweight Bronze Medalist at the Pan-American Games in Indianapolis, Indiana. Lost to Jorge Luis Gonzalez on points (2-3) 1988 New York Golden Gloves Super Heavyweight Champion (Open Division) 1988 Super Heavyweight Silver Medalist at the Seoul Olympic Games.

Results: Defeated Peter Hrivnak (Czechoslovakia) RSCH 1 Defeated Alex Miroshnichenko (Soviet Union) on points (5-0) Lost to Lennox Lewis (Canada) RSC by 2 Professional Highlights Cover of the April 1993 issue of The Ring World Titles: Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion (1992) WBC Heavyweight Champion (1992) WBA / IBF Heavyweight Champion (1992-1993) WBO Heavyweight Champion (1995-1996) Named the 23rd greatest heavyweight of all-time by The Ring in 1998 Record: 5-1 (4 KOs) in World Title fights. 7-1 (5 KOs) against former or current world titlists. Bowe vs. Evander Holyfield in 1992 Bowe vs. Evander Holyfield in 1993 Bowe vs. Evander Holyfield in 1995 Bowe was trained as a professional by Eddie Futch , whom Bowe affectionately called Papa Smurf .

Bowe defeated Evander Holyfield to win the Undisputed World Heavyweight Championship on November 13, 1992. Before the fight, Bowe signed an agreement with the WBC to make his first title defense—if he should defeat Holyfield—against the winner of the October 31 title eliminator between No. 1-ranked Razor Ruddock and No. 2-ranked Lennox Lewis , which Lewis won by a second-round knockout. [2] The WBC gave Bowe and Lewis until December 13 to reach an agreement or the fight would go to a purse bid. If Bowe refused to meet Lewis, the WBC title would be awarded to Lewis. [3] Rock Newman , Bowe's manager, made two offers to Lewis. The first would have guaranteed Lewis $3 million, while giving Bowe 90% of the purse and Lewis 10%. The second offer was for Lewis to refuse the WBC title, have an interim fight in the United States for $2.5 million, and then fight Bowe for $9 million or a percentage to be negotiated.

Frank Maloney , the manager of Lewis, rejected both offers and countered with his own proposal: a 75-25 percent split of the purse. Newman turned it down. Maloney later had a change of heart and agreed to the first offer, but Newman told him he was too late. Newman said a deal for Bowe to defend the title against an opponent other than Lewis was imminent. [4] [ [5] On December 14, 1992, Bowe held a news conference and dumped his WBC title into a garbage can. "If Lewis wants the belt, he has to get it out of the garbage," Bowe said. The WBC then declared Lennox Lewis the new WBC heavyweight champion. [6] Bowe and Evander Holyfield fought for the third time on November 4, 1995. Bowe was the WBO heavyweight champion, but Holyfield was not interested in fighting for the WBO title. He thought to do so would hurt his chances of getting a shot at the WBA, WBC and IBF titles.

Bowe agreed to relinquish the WBO crown as a concession to Holyfield, but he changed his mind when rival promoters expressed an interest in the title. "When I saw how fervently Duva and Arum were jockeying for position to get one of their fighters the WBO title, I asked the WBO if there was some way Riddick could be accommodated in his wish to fight Evander, and when it was over, remain the WBO champion," Bowe's manager, Rock Newman, said before the bout. The WBO reinstated Bowe as champion, and the Holyfield fight, which Bowe won by an eighth-round knockout, was a non-title bout. [7] On January 11, 1996, Bowe was stripped of the WBO title for signing to fight Andrew Golota instead of the No. 1-ranked WBO contender, Alexander Zolkin . [8] After defeating Andrew Golota twice by disqualification in 1996, Bowe retired from boxing and joined the United States Marine Corps. After just three days of basic training, Bowe decided to quit and told his drill instructor and battalion commander that he wasn't cut out to be a Marine.

The Marine Corps allows a recruit to leave voluntarily or through dismissal—called a "level-entry" separation—if he or she demonstrates an inability to adjust to the rigors and regimentation of the Corps. [9] Bowe kidnapped his estranged wife, Judy Bowe, and their five children in February 1998. "I was in fear for my life the whole time," Judy Bowe said. "He showed me the knife and the other stuff, and he said he came ready. He said if I didn't do what he said, he'd use the knife and the things that he had. All the way on the drive he kept saying that we'd go back and be a happy family and things would be normal. I kept thinking, how can anything be normal if he is kidnapping us to take us back home with him? That never dawned on him." Judy Bowe, using a cell phone in the bathroom of a restaurant, called her cousin, who alerted the police. The incident was soon defused, and Bowe was taken to the psychiatric ward of a hospital and later arrested. A Federal grand jury indicted Bowe on charges of interstate domestic violence, and he pleaded guilty in June 1998.

His defense argued that he had brain damage from years of fighting, and the judge subsequently sentenced him to 30 days. That sentence was later overturned, and Bowe was sentenced to 18 months in prison. [10] Bowe sued Rock Newman for $55 million, money he claimed his former manager had stolen money from him. Bowe dropped the suit in 2004 and apologized to Newman. "I was lied to and misled by a former adviser into thinking that you had stolen money from me," Bowe wrote to Newman. "You have now provided every detail about how my finances were handled. I understand now that I was wrong to claim you took money from me and that it was unfair of me to bring the action against you." [11] Bowe made his Muay Thai debut in Thailand on June 14, 2013. The 45-year-old Bowe, weighing 300 pounds, was stopped in two rounds by Levgen Golovin of Russia. Bowe was dropped multiple times with kicks to the shins. [12] On August 25, 2013, Bowe announced on Twitter that he wanted to become a professional wrestler.

[13] On January 14, 2014, Bowe announced on Twitter that he was going to return to boxing and regain the World Heavyweight Championship. [14] According to Rock Newman, Bowe grossed more than $60 million in the ring. However, Bowe's net worth is now listed as $30,000. [15] Preceded by: Riddick Bowe | Boxing Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Place of birth: Brooklyn , New York , USA Personal Statistics Weight: {{convert/numdisp/fracExpression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "[". Heavyweight |Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "[".|Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "[".| Heavyweight }}Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "[".Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "[". (Script error kg) Reach: 81 in (2.06 m) Boxing career information Riddick Lamont Bowe (born August 10, 1967, Brooklyn , New York City ) is an American professional boxer .

He is a former two-time World heavyweight champion, first winning the WBA , WBC and IBF titles in 1992, becoming undisputed heavyweight champion. Bowe's second reign as heavyweight champion was in 1995 when he won the WBO title. Bowe retired in 1996 but made a return to the ring in 2004. He has currently been inactive since 2008. Riddick Bowe became the first fighter to defeat Evander Holyfield when he beat him in 1992 for the world heavyweight title. He then became the first fighter to knock Holyfield out, when he beat him in their rubber match in 1995. Bowe's professional boxing record stands at 43-1-0 (1 NC) with 33 KO's. He has defeated every opponent he has fought except Buster Mathis, Jr. (their bout ended as a no-contest). Bowe was ranked as the 21st greatest heavyweight of all time by Boxing Scene. [2] Contents Edit Bowe was born on August 10, 1967, the twelfth of his mother Dorothy Bowe's thirteen children.

[3] He was born and raised in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn , which at the time was one of New York City 's most infamous slums. His brother Henry died of AIDS [4] and in 1988 his sister Brenda was stabbed to death by a drug addict during an attempted robbery. [5] Amateur boxing career Edit As an amateur, Bowe won the prestigious New York Golden Gloves Championship among other tournaments, (in 1984 at the age of 17 he knocked out opponent James Smith in just 4 seconds) and in the 1985 National Golden Gloves championship he lost to Ft. Worth Lt. Hvy. wt. Donald Stephens, and he also won the silver medal in the 1988 Seoul Olympics , stopped in 2 rounds by Lennox Lewis . Amateur highlights Amateur Record: 104-18 1983 at United States Junior Championships, as a middleweight , lost to Adolpho Washington by 2nd 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 Defeated Alex Miroshnichenko (Soviet Union) points Lost to Lennox Lewis (Canada) TKO by 2 New York Golden Gloves Champion Riddick 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 Edit Bowe turned pro 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 Riddick had more potential than any boxer he had ever trained. Turning professional in March 1989, he knocked out novice (but future #1 contender) Lionel Butler . His 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 he made his first step up in class, fighting faded ex-champ Pinklon Thomas , who he dominated until Thomas was pulled out after 8 rounds. The following month he knocked out Bert Cooper in two rounds, which added to his reputation and high ranking. By the end of 1990 he had fought 8 times. In March 1991 he overcame some rocky opening rounds to knock out the 1984 Olympic Super-Heavyweight Gold medallist Tyrell Biggs . However his image suffered when in his next fight, slick boxing ex-champ Tony Tubbs , whose own career had suffered with drugs and weight issues, appeared to outbox and outsmart Bowe, only to have the judges award Bowe with a unanimous decision that was jeered loudly by the crowd. In August 1991 he knocked out future champ Bruce Seldon in one round, and in July 1992 fought Pierre Coetzer in an eliminator, knocking out the durable South African in 7 rounds. Fights against Elijah Tillery Edit Bowe fought a duo of interesting bouts against journeyman Elijah Tillery in 1991.

Their first fight is known 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 Tillery lay on the ropes. Bowe's trainer, Rock Newman , then grabbed Tillery and pulled him over the ropes as Bowe continued to throw punches. Tillery somersaulted over the ropes and was quickly detained by security. [6] After order was restored and the fighters returned to the ring, Tillery and Bowe continued a war of words and there continued to be minor incidents as the ring was cleared. Tillery was controversially disqualified for the kicking with Bowe getting the win, much to the surprise of the television announcers. The fighters rematched two months later, with Bowe dominating and stopping Tillery - his first TKO loss. World heavyweight champion Main article: Evander Holyfield vs. Riddick Bowe 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, even flooring Holyfield in the 11th. However, it was the 10th round that most boxing fans will remember. The epic and 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!" Only a couple of weeks earlier in London, Bowe's old Olympic rival Lennox Lewis knocked out Canadian Donovan "Razor" Ruddock in 2 rounds, establishing himself as the WBC's #1 contender. The Bowe/Holyfield and Lewis/Ruddock fights were part of a mini-tournament where all four fighters agreed that the two winners would meet each other for the championship. Bowe's manager Rock Newman made a proposal that the $32 million purse HBO were offering be split 90-10 in Bowe's favor, an "absurd" offer which Lewis rejected. [7] Lewis's manager Frank Maloney rejected another offer of $2 million for Lewis to fight on a Bowe undercard, citing his distrust of the Bowe camp after the aforementioned negotiations.

So in a move that would hurt Bowe's image he held a press conference in which he dumped the WBC belt in a trash can rather than fight Lewis. [8] 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. , he 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. [9] Bowe and Holyfield exchanged hard punches, but 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 7th round. After title loss Edit In 1994 two comeback fights were not overly impressive, in August he faced the much smaller Buster Mathis Jr and, after struggling to connect with his bobbing and weaving target, hit him illegally while he was down, knocking him out yet escaping with a 'No Contest' verdict thanks to referee Arthur Mercante, Sr. In December 1994, he punched Larry Donald at a pre-fight press conference, later beating him by points and giving the 16-0 Donald his first loss. WBO title and Holyfield rubbermatch Main article: Riddick Bowe vs. Evander Holyfield 3 In March 1995 Bowe picked up the less-regarded WBO belt by knocking down England's Herbie Hide six times en route to a 6th round KO. In June 1995, after a heated build up, he defended the title against his arch rival in the amateurs, Jorge Luis Gonzales in Las Vegas. The build-up contained bizarre trash-talk, that included Gonzalez declaring a desire to eat Bowe's heart and likening himself to a lion to Bowe's hyena .

[10] Bowe won by sixth-round knockout. He vacated the WBO championship soon after. After the Gonzales fight, Bowe had his highly anticipated rubbermatch against Evander Holyfield. Holyfield knocked Bowe down during the fight but Bowe managed to maintain his composure, and persevered in order to prevail and to score and eighth-round knock-out victory. After the fight however, it was revealed that Holyfield had contracted Hepatitis A before the fight. Bowe vs. Golota Edit After getting the better of Holyfield over the course of their trilogy, Bowe was matched up against the undefeated heavyweight contender Andrew Golota at the Madison Square Garden , on an HBO Boxing event. Bowe's weight problem again resurfaced, as the favorite entered the ring at a career high of 252 lbs. [11] Though ahead on points, Golota was disqualified in the seventh round after Bowe went down from repeated shots to the testicles.

[12] Seconds after Golota was disqualified, Bowe's entourage rushed the ring, attacked Golota with a 2-way radio (Golota traded punches with one of them and later required 11 stitches to close the wound caused by the radio) and assaulted Golota's 74-year-old trainer Lou Duva (the latter was taken out 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. 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 and 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 repeatedly punching Bowe in the testicles. [12] Despite not having another riot, this fight also proved to be controversial with a protest filed by Golota's camp to try to overturn the fight's result. The two Bowe fights earned Golota the derisive nickname Foul Pole.

This fight was featured on HBO 's documentary Legendary Nights: The Tale of Bowe-Golota. Joining the Marine Corps Edit 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. [13] 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 . The Marine Corps has been criticized for compromising their traditional recruiting measures and accommodating Bowe's request. [14] Legal troubles Edit Following Bowe's failure to become a Marine, his life was marred with legal incidents. Three months after leaving Marine Boot Camp he was accused of battering his sister. Three months after that, in August 1997, Bowe was charged with assault and battery on his wife. [15] Bowe was convicted of the February, 1998, kidnapping of his estranged wife, Judy, and their five children.

[16] Thinking it would reconcile his marriage, Bowe went to his wife's Charlotte, 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. [16] Police captured Bowe in South Hill, Virginia, freeing his family. [16] Bowe was charged with kidnapping, but agreed to a plea bargain of guilty to 'interstate domestic violence', and sentenced to 18-24 months in prison. [16] Despite the agreed sentence, on February 29, 2000, the judge sentenced Bowe to only 30 days, due to brain damage as claimed by Bowe's defense. [17] [18] Tapes of Bowe talking before and after his brutal fights with Golota showed a man with very slurred speech. This sentence, counter to the plea agreement, was later overturned and Bowe served 17 months in federal prison.

[19] On February 8, 2001, Bowe was arrested in Long Island after a domestic dispute with his new wife. [16] Bowe allegedly dragged his wife and left her with cuts on her knees and elbows. [18] Return to boxing File:Riddick Bowe.jpg 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, Bowe narrowly defeated journeyman Billy Zumbrun, in a fight in which Bowe was badly overweight and absorbed many heavy blows from Zumbrun. Bowe declared bankruptcy in 2005. [20] He has since received assistance from Ring 10, a non profit organization that helps impoverished fighters, so that he can become self-supporting. [21] In July 2008, Boxrec reported that Bowe might return to the ring after three years on September 12, 2008 in Győr , Hungary against Hungarian journeyman Zoltán Petrányi . But he didn't show up for the fight.

[22] With the help of manager Bob Bain, on December 13, 2008, the-then 41-year old Bowe returned to the ring for the first time in over three and a half years on the undercard of the Wladimir Klitschko - Hasim Rahman heavyweight title bout in Mannheim , Germany to fight Gene Pukall in a fight that was scheduled for 8 rounds. He defeated Pukall by unanimous decision. His current boxing record stands at 43-1 with 33 wins by way of knock-out. “No matter what, God is on my side,” Bowe said. “I’m not perfect, but I’m not the worst, either. God brought me this far. He’s not done with me yet.” [23] In early 2010 he said “I want to get back in the ring as soon as I can and Gomez would be a good fight for me.” [24] However, after he defeated Pukall in December 2008, he hasn't fought since and hasn't addressed the boxing fans and observers that about his plans to continue fighting.

In March 2013 however, Bowe did announce that he would make his Muay Thai fighting debut, having trained under Kru Airr Phan­thip and Kru Chan in Las Vegas. [25] He was initially set to face Levgen Golovin at the Muaythai Superfight in Thailand , on May 13, 2013 [26] [27] but the date was moved back to June 14, 2013. [28] [29] Professional boxing record Boxing's Best Heavyweigh​t Champions | Bleacher Report Boxing's Best Heavyweigh​t Champions Colin Linneweber Senior Writer IDecember 30, 2016 Nearly 47 years ago, Muhammad Ali defeated the menacing Sonny Liston by a 7th round TKO to capture the WBA and WBC heavyweight titles.

Ali (56-5, 37 KOs), who then still went by the name Cassius Clay, proclaimed after the fight to the press, “I shook up the world!” In tribute to “The Greatest,” I decided to rank the five most accomplished heavyweight pugilists of the past quarter century. I want to emphasize that I am nominating the most accomplished fighters, and not the most skilled. Without further adieu, below are my rankings. No.1 Lennox Lewis (41-2-1, 32 wins by KO)- Lewis, 43, became the WBC heavyweight champion by default in 1993 after Riddick Bowe cowered and refused to scrap the mammoth Brit. Bowe’s pink decision made Lewis the first and only world heavyweight titleholder to hail from Britain in the 20th century. In September, 1994 in London, Lewis lost to a journeyman crackhead named Oliver McCall via TKO in the second round. In April, 2001 in South Africa, Lewis was defeated by Baltimore bruiser Hasim Rahman via knockout in the fifth round.

The only two losses that Lewis suffered in his professional career stemmed from two flailing bombs that miraculously landed directly on the Brit's kisser. Lewis avenged both of his losses and retired as champion in 2003. The United Kingdom’s resident badass is one of four boxers in history to have won the heavyweight championship on three separate occasions. 2) Evander Holyfield (42-10-2, 27 wins by KO)- Holyfield, 46, began his professional career as a cruiserweight. However, after having had great success in that division, the Atlanta native purposely gained weight and set his sights on the heavyweight division. In October 1990, “The Real Deal” countered a looping uppercut and cracked James “Buster” Douglas squarely on the jaw. The portly pugilist was unable to get off the canvas and Holyfield became the new undefeated, undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. Holyfield’s crowning moment in the ring came when he bullied Mike Tyson and TKO’d the notorious villain in the 11th round to capture the WBA Heavyweight Championship in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Seven months later, Holyfield was scheduled to fight Tyson in a rematch for the WBA Championship. In the rematch, Holyfield incited the menacing Tyson when he connected an inadvertent head butt that opened a deep laceration over the former champion’s eye. Tyson subsequently went insane and ferociously chomped pieces of Holyfield’s ears off with two illegal bites. Holyfield has somewhat tarnished his legacy because he has insisted on continuing to fight despite the fact that he is more washed-up than a 65-year-old prostitute. Nevertheless, Holyfield is the only boxer to ever win the heavyweight title four times and he deserves to be recognized one of the absolute greatest pugilists of the past quarter century. 3) Mike Tyson (50-6, 44 wins by knockout)- Tyson, 43, had one of the most ferocious and intimidating presences in the annals of professional sports. Before he receded into a cannibalistic, convicted rapist, Tyson was also one of the most skilled prizefighters the sport of boxing had ever seen. “Kid Dynamite” became the youngest heavyweight champion in history when he demolished Trevor Berbick for the WBC heavyweight championship in November 1986.

Tyson steamrolled the competition for years before his personal demons derailed his seemingly inevitable path to immortality. Tyson can be considered something of a Shakespearean tragedy. However, the Brooklyn brawler also needs to be recognized as one of the most talented fighters in the illustrious history of boxing. 4) Riddick Bowe (43-1, 33 wins by knockout)- Bowe, 42, was a genuine superstar in the ring for a relatively brief period of time. In November 1992, Bowe upset undefeated Evander Holyfield to become the World Heavyweight Champion. Bowe and Holyfield engaged in a memorable and savage slugfest that will forever be seared into the minds of boxing fans all over the world. Bowe eventually fought a psychotic Polack called Andrew Golota. Golota, a barbaric and tough animal, landed so many low blows on Bowe that it is somewhat shocking the Brooklyn product doesn’t currently speak like Little Richard. Bowe was named the victor in both of the wars he waged with Golota via disqualification. Unfortunately, the two fights exhibited that Bowe could no longer compete on a high level in the sport.

Bowe ultimately lost his marbles and became little more than tabloid fodder. In 1996, Bowe announced that he would leave his wife and children to join the United States Marine Corps. Due to his anemic work ethic, “Big Daddy” dropped out of boot camp in the midst of basic training. In 1999, the punch-drunk fighter kidnapped his wife and children at her parents' community in North Carolina. Thankfully, all victims were released unharmed. Bowe did sadly become a laughingstock. Still, for five years, he was a legitimate tactician in the ring and a fighter that does not deserve to be overlooked despite his litany of issues. 5) Wladimir Klitschko (53-3, 47 wins by knockout)- Klitschko, 33, outmanned WBO Heavyweight Champion Sultan Ibragimov at Madison Square Garden in New York City in February 2008 to unify the IBF and WBO heavyweight titles. With his demolition of Ibragimov, “Dr. Steel Hammer” became the first unified champion since Lennox Lewis was in 1999.

Klitschko has shown that he is a worthy fighter, and his recent matches have indicated that he is only going to continue to improve his craft. The heavyweight division is sadly devoid of talent and it seems realistic to predict that Klitschko will continue to be a true force in its ranks for the foreseeable future. Needless to say, this publication is an opinion piece. I genuinely would like to hear the thoughts of my loyal Boston readers. Lennox Lewis - Biography - IMDb Lennox Lewis Jump to: Overview (3) | Mini Bio (1) | Spouse (1) | Trivia (8) | Personal Quotes (6) Overview (3) 6' 5" (1.96 m) Mini Bio (1) After a long amateur career that included a gold medal winning performance in the 1988 Seoul Olympics that came in the form of a KO of 'Riddick Bowe' (who also went on to win the world heavyweight crown), former undisputed world heavyweight boxing champion Lennox Lewis turned professional in 1989. His 2 round win over Canadian boxer Donnovan Ruddock in Oct of 1992 gained him recognition as a threat among the tough heavyweight ranks.

Lewis, a citizen of England and Canada, was slated for a shot at the winner of Evander Holyfield vs Riddick Bowe. Bowe, a victim of a brutal knockout suffered at the hands of Lewis in the amateur ranks, refused to live up to his end of the bargain by not giving Lewis a well-deserved title shot and infamously tossed the WBC title in a garbage bin. This act prompted the WBC commission to strip Bowe and crown Lewis as the new WBC champion. Lennox Lewis went on to defend the crown for several fights until he was defeated by Oliver McCall in 2 rounds in Sept of 1994. Lewis, with the help of new trainer Emanuel Steward , came back and began tearing his way through the ranks of the heavyweight division. Lewis was again denied a title shot when champion Mike Tyson relinquished his WBC title to fight Evander Holyfield rather than risk his titles against Lewis. Lewis recaptured the vacant WBC title by beating his conquerer Oliver McCall in a rematch. Lewis, after defeating every top contender thrown his way, was given his shot at Evander Holyfield in a championship unification fight on March 13, 1999.

Lewis dominated the fight but due to controversial judging, the bout was declared a draw. Lewis defeated Evander Holyfield in a rematch on Nov 13, 1999 to become undisputed world champion. Due to promoter Don King 's underhanded tactics, the WBA belt was stripped from Lewis in court. Lewis went on to beat every mandatory challenger while keeping his crown. While avidly issuing challenges to reluctant contender Mike Tyson , Lewis went to Johannesburg in South Africa at the invitation of Nelson Mandela . Lewis would defend his titles against supposed low-risk opponent Hasim Rahman. Due to Lewis' failure to prepare for the fight by dropping excessive weight rapidly, arriving in Johannesburg 2 weeks before the fight which, according to expert opinion, was too late to acclimatize to the thin air since Johannesburg was 5,000 feet above sea level, Lewis suffered one of the biggest upsets in boxing history. However, Lewis has had his rematch with Hashim Rahman and won the title back, and he also fought Mike Tyson and beaten him 'easily' in 8 rounds. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Kevin Buchan<buchan_kevin@hotmail.com Spouse (1)

Question: Who became Heavyweight world boxing champion after Riddick Bowe refused to fight him in 1992?
Answer: Lennox Lewis