I was the world’s best heavyweight when Mike Tyson was in prison after I recovered from Lennox Lewis defeat to conquer Evander Holyfield

Riddick Bowe had already lost to Lennox Lewis in the final of the 1988 Olympics Games in Seoul when their proposed fight as professionals became among the most sought-after of the memorable 1990s heavyweight era.

They were on course for their ‘rematch’ when Bowe was preparing for the first of his three fights with Evander Holyfield, in November 1992, and Lewis an eliminator for the WBC title against Donovan ‘Razor’ Ruddock that October.

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Bowe shared a legendary trilogy with HolyfieldCredit: Getty Images – Getty

When Bowe and Holyfield then contested the undisputed heavyweight title – the IBF, WBA and WBC titles, in the era before the WBO’s was widely recognised – Bowe, via knockout, then proceeded to record perhaps the finest of his 43 wins. 

It remains his misfortune that his decision to toss his WBC title into a bin at a press conference held in London in December 1992 continues to be widely perceived as him being intimidated by the prospect of fighting Lewis.

Years later it was said that the idea had been that of his manager Rock Newman; it was regardless a move designed to challenge the politics of the sport and the demands of the WBC, who in turn responded by elevating Lewis to the status of champion.

“The WBC is wrong, and I will not be intimidated by them,” Bowe had said. “I am the heavyweight champion of the world and today I withdraw my recognition of the WBC. I am stripping them.

“If Lewis wants the belt, he has to get it out of the garbage. Then we will call him ‘garbage picker’.”

With his victory over Holyfield, and with Mike Tyson in prison in Indianapolis having been convicted of rape, Bowe had come to be seen as the world’s leading heavyweight.

In his following fight he stopped inside a round Michael Dokes; after a further victory, over Jesse Ferguson, in November 1993 he fought Holyfield again.

Holyfield, this time guided by the great Emanuel Steward – on the occasion of a fight widely remembered by the farcical arrival of the ‘fan man’, who caused a 17-minute delay in the seventh round – via majority decision inflicted the only defeat of Bowe’s 44-fight career. 

Two years later – when Lewis was rebuilding in the aftermath of so unexpectedly being stopped by Oliver McCall and shortly after Tyson’s release from prison – in November 1995 Bowe and Holyfield fought for the third and final time.

Holyfield, in the eighth round, was stopped for the first time – he and Bowe that evening both suffered the first knockdowns of their careers – delivering to Bowe supremacy of the only heavyweight trilogy to rival that between Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali. 

Bowe binned his WBC belt, under the advice of controversial manager Rock Newman

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Bowe binned his WBC belt, under the advice of controversial manager Rock Newman
Bowe and Holyfield shared the ring three times, with the former coming out on top twice

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Bowe and Holyfield shared the ring three times, with the former coming out on top twiceCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Their second meeting was bizarrely interrupted by the 'Fan Man'

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Their second meeting was bizarrely interrupted by the ‘Fan Man’Credit: Getty Images – Getty

“I love you, man, I love you,” Bowe told Holyfield immediately afterwards.

When Holyfield recovered enough to speak, he said of his inability to finish Bowe in the sixth, when Bowe was hurt: “I was bone tired. I couldn’t get in. I couldn’t get in close and use everything I had because Bowe’s jab kept me out.”

The perceived decline of Holyfield contributed to the first fight between Holyfield and Tyson finally being signed in 1996.

More relevantly, in the context of the career of Bowe, one of the most dramatic of all declines began.

Considered the finest heavyweight in an era in which Tyson, Lewis and Holyfield remained prominent – Lewis and Holyfield were still to contest the undisputed title – Bowe, in July 1996, agreed to fight Poland’s dangerous, undefeated Andrew Golota.

In three of seven rounds at New York’s Madison Square Garden that night Golota was deducted a point for repeated blows, and another later in the seventh led to his disqualification by the referee, and chaos, in the form of a brawl between their entourages, breaking out in the ring. In total, a reported 22 people were injured, and 16 arrests were made.

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Inevitably, that December, they had a rematch, when another brutal fight unfolded until the ninth round. Bowe had been knocked down in the second and fifth, and hurt on several other occasions; whether it was what he gave of himself in the ring with Holyfield or elsewhere, he had, without question, dangerously declined. 

Golota had one point deducted in the second round for an intentional head-butt. Another was taken in the fourth, when he again hit Bowe below the belt. He was disqualified again in the ninth following another low blow.

Bowe slurred badly throughout his post-fight interview. He was persuaded to retire or risk a fate similar to his struggling idol, Ali.

“It’s all kinda sad,” said Holyfield. “He was slurring his words and his demeanour was quite different. You kind of wonder what happened with a guy as young as him.”

Bowe’s first move in retirement was to join the US Marine Corps – perhaps an admission that he required the structure boxing had given him – but after eight days he quit. Police were called after a later physical altercation between Bowe and his sister Thelma.

On 25 February 1998, Bowe, then 30, abducted his estranged wife Judy and their five children at knifepoint.

He had driven to her home armed with a knife, pepper spray, handcuffs and masking tape, forced them into his car, and then drove 200 miles to a McDonald’s, where Judy was able to get word to the authorities, who apprehended a former heavyweight champion standing 6ft 5ins and weighing 20st.

Big Daddy’s next move was to check himself into a hospital for psychiatric evaluation. He was released with the advice to undergo therapy for anger management. 

He was later sentenced to 18 months in prison for his crimes.

He also had three ill-advised fights – against Marcus Rhode, Billy Zumbrun and Gene Pukall, and won all three, from 2004 to 2008 – after his release.

Usyk vs Fury 2 LIVE on talkSPORT

The highly anticipated rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury will be live on talkSPORT on 21 December.

The first fight saw the Ukrainian win via split decision and become the first undisputed heavyweight champion since 1999. He will now put his WBA, WBO and WBC belts on the line in Riyadh.

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