A retired heavyweight who defeated Evander Holyfield once revealed how he regretted drawing the curtain on his career.
Holyfield had an extremely successful campaign at heavyweight during the 1990s, where he would go on to become the undisputed heavyweight champion having already achieved this feat at cruiserweight.
‘The Real Deal’ defeated the likes of George Foreman, Larry Holmes and Mike Tyson in the space of five years, although it wasn’t entirely straight forward for the man from Alabama, who tasted defeat on 10 occasions during his career.
One fighter who had got the better of Holyfield twice was former undisputed heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe, who shared the ring with ‘The Real Deal’ on three occasions in one of boxing’s most memorable heavyweight rivalries.
In an interview with Boxing News, Bowe was asked to delve into the reasons why he cut his career short and walked away from boxing at the age of 29.
“Because I listened to my manager Rock Newman, I listened to him that’s why [my prime] was short. He made me retire, told me to retire. I listened to him when I should have told him to kiss my ass and keep it moving, I should have kept on fighting.”
‘Big Daddy’ lost on just one occasion during his career, a defeat to Holyfield which he would go on to avenge in their third and final showdown which took place in 1995.
Bowe drew the curtain on his boxing career shortly after he defeated Andrew Golota for the second time in 1996.
He did make a brief comeback to the sport, appearing three times between 2004 and 2008. His 45th and final professional outing came against Gene Pukall, outpointing the German over eight rounds.
