COLORADO SPRINGS, Lap. (Mars 9, 2020) – By any standards, US-. Olympian and former unified World heavyweight champion Riddick “Big Daddy” Bowe is inarguably one of the all-time greatest boxers, amatør og profesjonell.

Born and raised in the infamous Brownsville section of Brooklyn, New York, which also produced fellow World heavyweight championsMike Tyson ogShannon Briggs, Bowe started boxing at 13 in the Bedford-Stuyvesant Boxing Association Gym.

“I wanted to do everythingMuhammad Ali did,” Bowe explained why he got into boxing. “He was my idol. I wanted to join the Marines, but I fell in love with boxing and stayed with it. I forgot about the Marines.”

Bowe developed his craft and became an outstanding boxer, sammenstille en 104-18 amatør rekord, highlighted by his controversial silver-medal winning performance at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Sør-Korea.

A four-time New York Golden Gloves champion, Bowe also captured top honors at the 1986 Junior World Championships, along with a bronze medal at the 1987 Pan American Games, despite fighting in his final match with a fractured hand he hid from his coaches.

Bowe had a rivalry withRobert Salters, with whom he split four matches, but he defeated Salters, 3-2, i US-. Box-Offs to qualify for the 1988 USA Boxing Olympic Team. His Olympic teammates includedRoy Jones, Jr., Ray Mercer, Kennedy McKinney ogAndrew Maynard.

Controversary surrounded his Olympic championship fight against future World heavyweight champion, Canadian super heavyweight Lennox Lewis, who returned home with the Olympic gold medal. During his fight with Lewis, Bowe was deducted a point for a “ghost” head butt that never happened, and the referee gave Bowe a pair of disputed standing-eight counts, the last of which resulted in the stoppage of the fight in Lewis’ favor.

“That fight never should have been stopped,” Bowe commented. “I’m still happy about winning a silver medal. I still have it. And then I turned pro. My mother had 13 kids and I wanted to make my mother happy. I wanted to buy her a house. That’s what inspired me to box.”

“Bowe’s success as an amateur and professional has made him a household name amongst USA Boxing Alumni,"SaChris Cugliari, USA Boxing Alumni Association Director. “His combination of power and skill, along with his legendary battles with other USA Boxing Alumni at the pro ranks, establishes him as one of the greatest fighters that USA Boxing has ever produced.”

USA Boxing Alumni Association

Laget for å forkjempe livslangt, gjensidig fordelaktige forhold mellom USA Boxing og dets alumni, –boksere, tjenestemenn, trenere og boksefans — Alumniforeningen knytter generasjoner av mestere sammen, inspirerende og gi tilbake til USA Boxings fremtidige boksemestere, inn og ut av ringen.

USA Boxing Alumni Association er åpen for alle som elsker boksing og ønsker å holde kontakten med amatørboksing. Medlemmer får tilgang til en rekke spesielle arrangementer arrangert av Alumni Association, inkludert den årlige USA Boxing Alumni Association Hall of Fame mottakelse.

For å bli medlem av Alumniforeningen, bare registrere deg påalumni@usaboxing.org for en $40.00 medlemskontingent per år. Nye medlemmer får en t-skjorte, nøkkelring og e-lommebok.

With legendary trainerEddie Futch i hans hjørne, Bowe became the first truly unified World heavyweight champion, winning the title belt for all four recognized major sanctioning bodies: WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO.

Bowe retired with an amazing 43-1 (33 KOs) pro record. He had a 5-1 (4 KOs) mark in world title fights, 7-1 (5 KOs) versus past world heavyweight champions such asEvander Holyfield (to ganger), Pinklon Thomas, Tony Tubbs, Bruce Seldon, Michael Dokes ogHerbie Hyde.

Bowe later avenged his lone pro loss to Holyfield, winning two of three fights with the “Real Deal.”

“I’m very happy with my pro career,” Bowe added. “I beat Holyfield two times and I think it should have been three. I’m not a sore loser, but I was the World heavyweight champion. How did he win that fight? The challenger needs to take the belt from the champion, and he didn’t do that. I thought I won by a point, at worst, maybe it should have been a draw, but I shouldn’t have lost the fight. I did become the first to ever knockout Holyfield. My pro career wasn’t too bad. I kept working hard and became two-time World heavyweight champion.”

Nå 51 and living in Maryland, Bowe has some advice for the American boxers trying to qualify for the 2020 Team USA Boxing Olympic Team.

“Just don’t think about it,” stressed Bowe, sounding like a Nike commercial. “Just do it! It worked for me. I showed up and didn’t think about it. And always finish strong.”

Riddick “Big Daddy” Bowe, who was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2015, left his mark in amateur and pro boxing. Nobody can ever take that away from the big guy from Brownsville.

INFORMASJON:

www.usaboxing.orgi

Twitter: @USABoxing, @USABoxingAlumni

Instagram: @USABoxing

Facebook: /USABoxing

OM USA-BOKSING:  Oppdraget til USA Boxing skal være å gjøre det mulig for USAs idrettsutøvere og trenere å oppnå vedvarende konkurransedyktighet, utvikle karakter, støtte boksesporten, og fremme og utvikle boksing i olympisk stil i USA. Ansvaret til USA Boxing er ikke bare å produsere OL-gull, men også overvåke og styre alle aspekter av amatørboksing i USA.