Riddick Bowe on SkySports Ringside: "Lewis was afraid of me" (Excellent interview)

check the facts before posting: this is the same story over and over again. the fact is, Bowe signed to fight Lewis in March 1995. But, Lewis lost the McCall fight and since it would have been without the title, it never materialised. so if Bowe ducked and was afraid of Lewis, why accept to fight him? Go get your brains checked!

I watched the amateur bout and was not really impressed with the stoppage personally. That was the amateurs anyways and both developed alot since then. I think it would have been a great bout if the fought as pros.

I agree with you. The whole WBC thing was a viscereal hatred by Bowes manager towards Suleiman, who were in the middle of a long-ongoing battle, and the belt dumping was a publicity stunt to show his contempt for Suleiman. He called a press meeting with plenty of photographers for the event. Bowe held nearly all the belts. It's hard to believe that Bowe was afraid of Lewis as the ignorant,who never knew Bowe, claim. The guy who fought 3 life-or-death wars with a really top class Holyfield, and those two torrid battles with Golota......never. That Holyfield was grades above the best Lewis at any time, and a much bigger draw. Which is why Holyfield retains so much respect even to this day. And, by the way, didn't Lewis refuse to face both John Ruiz and Chris Byrd. Byrd at that time was fighting everybody including bruisers, and generally making them look silly. Just found an old excerpt from thr Los Angeles Times that may be of interest; "Bowe is not the undisputed heavyweight champion. He refused to fight Lewis, who beat Razor Ruddock, in his first defense. Bowe and Newman knew that Jose Sulaiman, World Boxing Council president, and his ally, promoter Don King, would strip him of the WBC belt. So Bowe beat them to it, at a televised news conference, dropping his WBC belt into a trash can. Hours later, Sulaiman announced he had given Lewis the WBC's portion of the title".

People put too much into lewis beating bowe in the olympic finals or semi finals. Riddick Bowe was one of those guys that improved real fast after turning pro, and at that point Lewis was still very good, but would get cracked, and I do not think he would have been able to take those patented Bowe uppercuts. I think it would could have went either way. I agree with you. The whole WBC thing was a viscereal hatred by Bowes manager towards Suleiman, who were in the middle of a long-ongoing battle, and the belt dumping was a publicity stunt to show his contempt for Suleiman. He called a press meeting with plenty of photographers for the event. Bowe held nearly all the belts. It's hard to believe that Bowe was afraid of Lewis as the ignorant,who never knew Bowe, claim. The guy who fought 3 life-or-death wars with a really top class Holyfield, and those two torrid battles with Golota......never. That Holyfield was grades above the best Lewis at any time, and a much bigger draw. Which is why Holyfield retains so much respect even to this day. And, by the way, didn't Lewis refuse to face both John Ruiz and Chris Byrd. Byrd at that time was fighting everybody including bruisers, and generally making them look silly.

I thought that Lewis smashed him in the amateurs and instead of getting revenge in the pros, Bowe chose to relinquish his title rather that fight Lewis. Is this not the case? That is exactly the way I remember it. Bowe ducked Lewis. Maybe he is so punchy he got it backward.

I think it's far to say Riddick has taken one shot too many. I think he would have beaten Lewis as well. Shame, he did what he did and avoided it. Lewis would have demolished Bowe and Bowe knew it

bowe didnt avoid lewis, he wanted that fight more than anyone. it was his promoter that didnt have enough faith in him and wouldnt allow him to get in the ring with lennox. bowe simply pulled a pacquiao and did whatever his handlers told him regardless of what the fans wanted, but he wanted that fight. If a fighter really wants something he would make it happen. Bowe was afraid of Lewis you could see that in the argument after the Holyfield fight. Chicken Bowe didn't want none.

Nice...Bowe was my fav heavyweight of the 90s.

Bowe was wise to duck Lewis. Lewis was too big, too strong, too fast, too precise and had too much reach. On top of that, Bowe had no defense and couldn't throw a straight right. It would have been target practise for Lewis.

People put too much into lewis beating bowe in the olympic finals or semi finals. Riddick Bowe was one of those guys that improved real fast after turning pro, and at that point Lewis was still very good, but would get cracked, and I do not think he would have been able to take those patented Bowe uppercuts. I think it would could have went either way.

bowe didnt avoid lewis, he wanted that fight more than anyone. it was his promoter that didnt have enough faith in him and wouldnt allow him to get in the ring with lennox. bowe simply pulled a pacquiao and did whatever his handlers told him regardless of what the fans wanted, but he wanted that fight. No he really didn't.

bowe didnt avoid lewis, he wanted that fight more than anyone. it was his promoter that didnt have enough faith in him and wouldnt allow him to get in the ring with lennox. bowe simply pulled a pacquiao and did whatever his handlers told him regardless of what the fans wanted, but he wanted that fight.

I think it's far to say Riddick has taken one shot too many. I think he would have beaten Lewis as well. Shame, he did what he did and avoided it.

http://accidentalmommies.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Riddick-Bowe.jpg

Bowe avoided Lewis, common knowledge

I guess that means Bowe needs to STFU! :lol1: bowe avoided him for sure but it was also upon the advice of rock newman. at that point lennox was a dangerous contender who brought little money & fanfare to the fight. there was a huge risk in fighting him & bowe was the undisputed champion with 3 belts so he still had huge paydays coming in & wanted to make as much money as possible. there was a good chance he loses to lennox for less then what he could make fighting holyfield again. it was the worse thing he ever did. after he lost his titles he was never in the WBC rankings again & i don't think he ever got another title shot. it was more rock newman thinking about cashing in on riddick bowe then him being a chicken. lennox lewis is one of my favorite boxers so i'm not trying to hype bowe any. he got terrible advice & he paid for it later. he's broke & was never the same after he lost the 2nd holyfield fight.

Bowe ducked Lewis thats pretty much conmen knowledge which is a shame, Bowe is the only big name of Lewis's era who he didn't beat.

Lmao. That's why you threw your title in the trash can since Lewis was sooo "afraid" of you. :lol1:

haha sure Riddick. You keep telling yourself that son.

I guess that means Bowe needs to STFU! :lol1: