Evander signed to fight Riddick Bowe on Friday the 13th of November at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas. I went over my brother’s apartment to watch it on pay-per-view, and root Holyfield on. I knew going in that Bowe would be his toughest fight as a heavyweight, and would certainly be a battle.
When I saw that Evander weighed in at only 205 lbs. compared to Bowe’s 235, I was concerned. I guess his plans were to weigh in lighter and box, but not long into the bout, those plans went out the window.
In the second round, Bowe hit Evander with what the champion thought was an illegal blow, and started immediately to slug with his challenger. That pattern remained throughout the rest of the twelve round war, in which Riddick was getting the best of most of the exchanges. In the tenth, Evander sagged to the ropes and halfway on the floor, and appeared to be finished. Miraculously, he rallied to finish the round strong, and battled back in the eleventh as well.
When the twelfth round came to a close, it was obvious that Bowe had taken the title from Evander, and fought the fight of his life. In fact, if you look at his career in total, Bowe never looked as good as he did on November 13, 1992.
In the dressing room after the fight, Evander sat slumped in a chair and hinted of retirement, a result of fatigue and pain affecting his emotions. He of course returned to the ring in 1993 to begin a comeback to the championship.
As for that night, Riddick ‘Big Daddy’ Bowe did as he said he would, and became the heavyweight champion of the world.
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