Riddick Bowe is widely considered to be one of the greatest heavyweights of his entire generation.
The New York-native had an exceptional professional boxing career, making his mark in the paid ranks after his success at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul where he claimed a super-heavyweight silver medal.
Bowe suffered just one single defeat throughout the course of his 19-year career, capturing the world heavyweight championship on two occasions along the way.
His 1992 victory over countryman Evander Holyfield saw him become the undisputed heavyweight champion, although he would suffer the first defeat of his career in their rematch one year later.
Bowe settled their rivalry in his third encounter with Holyfield in November of 1995, which he followed up with back-to-back victories over Poland’s four-time world heavyweight title challenger Andrew Golota, who was actually disqualified in both of his bouts with ‘Big Daddy’.
Speaking in a resurfaced interview after his first showdown with Golota, Bowe sensationally claimed that his Polish rival was outboxing him convincingly before being called to a halt after a number of low-blows.
“I figured I was wiser and more experienced. My mentality told me Golota was a bum. Golota embarrassed me, humiliated me.
Daddy thought he could get by without training. But he made a mistake. Don’t you try to take shortcuts. If you cheat on a test in school, the same thing will happen to you.”
After his second clash with Golota, which was also stopped after more low blows, Bowe would go on to take an eight-year hiatus from the sport, making his return to the ring in September of 2004.
‘Big Daddy’ would remain unbeaten for the rest of his professional career, racking up victories over Marcus Rhode, Billy Zumbrun and Gene Pukall before announcing his retirement shortly after.
