Boxing, an industry with no true governing body, feels compelled to probe the anatomy, anyway. Now that doubts about Riddick Bowe’s heart have ceased, his stomach is up for examination.
Perhaps this is understandable. At 246 pounds, Bowe seems hefty enough to join the Philadelphia Phillies. While preparing for Saturday night’s defense of his heavyweight title here, the champion encountered Cuba’s Jorge Luis Gonzalez, a former opponent.
“Boy or girl?” Gonzalez asked.
“Judy doesn’t know,” Bowe replied, referring to his wife, who is due soon.
“No, I mean you,” Gonzalez counterpunched. “You look pregnant.”
More words were exchanged and almost blows, too. Bowe wisely harnessed his rage and expressed it in public. This is good business, because a few tickets for the real bout against challenger Evander Holyfield remain. It’s been almost a year since the former dethroned the latter in a battle of the ages, so a few brushfires on the side can’t hurt demand for the rematch.
Oddly enough, last November Bowe was deemed too lean to be sufficiently mean. He barely dusted the scales at 235 pounds, down from his pre-training weight of 281, give or take a cheese omelet. The crash diet was conceived by entertainer/nutritionist Dick Gregory, who served Bowe “maggot juice,” a concoction of rabbit food on top of 300 vitamin pills daily. Nothing was safe from Gregory’s blender. Manager Rock Newman was afraid to lay his hat on the kitchen counter of Bowe’s hotel suite.
“Riddick then would have had beets and celery with a headband for dinner,” Newman reasoned. “No way to last 12 rounds against Holyfield.”
But Bowe did, and he won, thereby replacing the piano on his back with a couple of crowns for his head. In the 1988 Olympics at Seoul, Bowe emerged from a defeat to Lennox Lewis with the rap of being a quitter. They still haven’t gotten together like men to settle their differences. Lewis is king of the World Boxing Council. Bowe vs. Holyfield falls under the jurisdiction two other loose-fitting outfits, the World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation.
It wasn’t that complicated when they entered the ring 51 weeks ago. Holyfield, supposedly the stylist, forayed into the trenches against a pounder and never quite escaped. But what a gallant trip. After nine rounds, Holyfield’s right eye was going and Bowe’s was gone. Yet, the 10th round will be remembered among the best ever, anywhere. Bowe fired 40 shots inside the first minute. Holyfield, defying the laws of gravity, went up and in instead of down and stunned Bowe.
In the 11th round, Holyfield was dropped to his knees. Referee Joe Cortez asked all the right questions. Holyfield had all the right answers, and on they went. Unofficially, Bowe threw 711 punches to Holyfield’s 357 and landed 475 to Holyfield’s 242. Appropriately, both were still launching leather at the final bell. Fight of the year. When Holyfield called to congratulate at noon the next day, Bowe admitted he’d been too sore to sleep a wink.
Holyfield has fought only once since unretiring. He beat Alex Stewart in a yawner. Bowe has enhanced his record to 34-0 with two defenses, lasting fewer than three rounds total, against Michael Dokes and Jesse Ferguson. Bowe hears that he’s living off stiffs, much as Holyfield did during his reign. Mike Tyson is in jail, yet it’s as though his successors to the throne are under indictment.
Fact is, before his incarceration, a bored Tyson lost the title to James “Buster” Douglas, who lost to Holyfield, who lost to Bowe. That’s all fair and square. Bowe doesn’t sound as though he’s gone soft, too. He says he plans a quick dismissal of Holyfield, who’s also heavier but still gives away 29 pounds. Eddie Futch, Bowe’s esteemed trainer, is a reliable deterrent against overconfidence and overeating. His man is a 9-2 favorite with good reason.
Make it Bowe by a knockout in the eighth. He’s growing into his role.
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