All You Need to Know About Riddick Bowe

Explore the essential facts surrounding All You Need to Know About Riddick Bowe in this special report.

Riddick Bowe turned professional in 1989 and went on to win two world heavyweight championships. Bowe defeated Evander Holyfield, the unbeaten former undisputed heavyweight champion, to win the WBA, WBC, and IBF crowns in 1992. That same year, The Ring and the Boxing Writers Association of America honored him Fighter of the Year.

Later that year, rather than defending his WBC championship against number one opponent Lennox Lewis, he renounced it in protest. This left the title fractured until 1999. Bowe met Holyfield in a rematch in 1993 and barely lost the WBA and IBF belts, his sole professional defeat.

Bowe reclaimed a piece of the world heavyweight championship in 1995, defeating Herbie Hide for the WBO title. He was the first fighter in history to win all four major boxing titles: the WBA, WBO, WBC, and IBF.

Later that year, he renounced the WBO belt to face Holyfield for the third time, this time winning handily by knockout, Holyfield’s first defeat. Bowe fought Andrew Golota twice in 1996, but both bouts ended in controversy when Golota delivered low shots. Bowe retired following these fights but made a low-key comeback in 2004 and 2008.

In 2010, Boxing Scene listed Bowe as the 21st greatest heavyweight of all time. In 2015, Riddick Bowe was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Riddick Bowe’s boxing career earned him $80 million in fighting purses, PPV bonuses, and endorsements. Riddick claims that when he first retired in the late 1990s, he had $15 million in cash in the bank.