Bowe, 'Boom Boom' and 'The Prince' headline Hall of Fame class
Riddick Bowe's name rarely, if ever, comes up in conversation as the greatest heavyweight who ever lived. The man known as "Big Daddy" didn't have nearly enough significant wins to be recognized that way.
But Bowe was one of the most physically gifted heavyweights to ever step in the ring and when he was at his absolute best -- which, admittedly, was for a very short window -- few were ever better.
Bowe headlines a seven-man class elected Thursday to the International Hall of Fame. Others elected include boxers Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini, "Prince" Naseem Hamed and Yoko Gushiken, referee Steve Smoger, HBO Sports play-by-play announcer Jim Lampley, manager Rafael Mendoza and writer Nigel Collins.
Many experts didn't think Bowe had enough quality wins to merit induction. At his best, few men in heavyweight history had the overall complete package that he did.
His performance against Evander Holyfield on Nov. 13, 1992, at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas seemed to signal the start of a new era in the sport. A silver medalist at super heavyweight in the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea, Bowe represented the bigger, modern heavyweight.
He was 6 feet 5, 240 pounds with big-time punching power and the agility and deftness of a man much smaller.
There were questions going into the Holyfield fight about his heart and his commitment, most of them stemming from his loss to Lennox Lewis in the Olympics, but Bowe erased any question that night.
Bowe-Holyfield I was, and remains, among the handful of greatest heavyweight fights in boxing history.
Bowe delivered a frightful beating to Holyfield, but Holyfield also delivered a tremendous amount of punishment in return. But Bowe hung on and used his boxing skills to pull out the gut-check win.
He won two of three incredible bouts with Holyfield, but he didn't have the kind of lengthy reign expected of him. As a pro, he didn't meet many of the best fighters of his era, including Lewis, Mike Tyson, Tommy Morrison, Ray Mercer, George Foreman, Michael Moorer and others.
He famously dumped his title belt in a trash can rather than face Lewis in what was a symbolic gesture, but which many interpreted as him being afraid. A Lewis-Bowe fight never happened, though it would have been epic had it occurred.
Bowe never was the same after winning a pair of foul-filled fights by disqualification over Andrew Golota. He wound up 43-1 with 33 knockouts, his only loss coming to Holyfield in their rematch in the infamous "Fan Man" bout. A man came into the ring on a hang glider and took away the momentum Bowe had been building.
His prime was short, but there are few heavyweights who could rival Bowe for all-around ability.
