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Rid**** Bowe: A Long Way Down
“And new heavyweight champion of the world...” These are words Rid**** Bowe grew up dreaming of and he would hear them on that explosive November night 22 years ago. “Big Daddy” as he was affectionately known by fans and pundits alike was then just 25 years old and for one night at least, the greatest heavyweight on the planet. The young man from Fort Washington, USA had charmed everyone with his silly Muhammad Ali impressions and friendly demeanour.
He had skills to back up his obviously TV friendly character and he showed great heart too in beating one of the most resilient champions in history, the then undisputed king, Evander Holyfield. The tenth round will live long in the memory of anyone who was lucky enough to witness it; HBO’s Jim Lampley called it “one of the greatest rounds in boxing history”. The young pretender who wanted to be king had graduated with flying colours. The world it seemed was his oyster but the dreams of youth never truly materialised.
By the time Bowe met Holyfield for a third time in 1995, the once young and charming champion had diminished, both as a boxer and a personality. There was the now infamous binning of the WBC belt, regarded by the public as ducking the then top ranked challenger Lennox Lewis and a deluge of fights against solid contenders but very few fighters of note. It seems as though Bowe had been coasting in the years since his defeat to Holyfield but the stoppage victory in what would be their final chapter changed all that. Now Bowe was back on top and at 27, still had years left to build a legacy.
Then came Andrew Golota, a hard hitting and supremely gifted heavyweight who gave Bowe all the trouble he could handle. The once undisputed champion would go onto beat Golota in two fights, each one on the back of a DQ. Watching Bowe in the post fight interview was a sorry affair, he slurred worse than most, it was obvious he was hurting and that his time was up. What’s worse is he was only 28, an age when most heavyweights are just reaching their prime. Boxing had done it again, this toughest of “sciences” had battered and bruised yet another young hopeful. Retirement followed as did chaos.
It is often the case amongst pugilists that they are at their safest between the ropes, embraced in brutal combat. Maybe it’s what makes them fighters, the fact that they can only live with conflict and when that is taken from them they become lost souls...lost boys. Bowe was no different, retirement led to alcoholism and drugs then came the worst part of his life, when he abducted his own family at the threat of violence. Fortunately nothing more sinister ever transpired but Bowe was finished now. The kid who had once idolised Muhammad Ali and gone on to replicate his hero was now at rock bottom and it seems he has never managed to pull himself back up.
There have been comebacks, most of which were successful, until his latest escapade in MMA. It was a muay thai bout held in Thailand, only feet away from a booming red light district. Bowe wouldn’t land any punches or kicks, he was battered and dropped multiple times. Those of us who had loved him as boxing’s “Big Daddy” never bothered to tune in. The fight garnered a level of attention in Thailand and some mainstream media outlets, Bowe himself made his biggest payday in a decade, $150, 000. The man who had once been big and skilled, compared favourable to fighters of the past was now just big, 300 plus pounds of fat and memories. The man himself put it best, “I should be moving up, but I'm moving backwards here”.
Rid**** Bowe, heavyweight champion of the world, conqueror of Evander Holyfield, impersonator of Muhammad Ali and a terrific pugilist in his own right is broke, so he needs to fight o, because that is the only thing he knows. He dreams of a Foreman like resurrection but in the end he may go much like his idol, battered and bruised. The days must be long for him, the nights even longer. There are rumours of ill health. As a one time fan who grew up on watching him beat Holyfield, stop Dokes and Mathis Jr I want him to retire but I know it’s hard, he needs to earn a living, he needs to vanquish his demons. Bowe has been on a steady slide into oblivion for far too long now, I hope one day he can climb back into the light. Till then I wish him all the luck in the world.
"Hey, we're going to do this again. I'll be back soon," says Bowe. "I'm not a quitter. I want to do it until I get it right."
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