This is the first in my blog series ‘Great Vegas Fights’. This blog is about Riddick Bowe vs. Evander Holyfield 1.
Evander Holyfield won the heavyweight title on October 25, 1990 by knocking out Buster Douglas in 3 rounds in Las Vegas. After successful defenses against George Foreman in April of 1991, and in October of that year vs. Bert Cooper (A replacement for Mike Tyson, who was indicted for rape that July and faked a rib injury to get out of his bout with Evander), ‘The Real Deal’ signed to fight the winner of Ray Mercer and Larry Holmes on February 7. 1992. When Holmes shocked the world by thoroughly dominating Mercer, Evander agreed to fight Larry on June 19, 1992 in Las Vegas. While the public claimed Holyfield was ducking the top contenders, nothing could be further from the truth. He simply fought who was in front of him. After an easy and lackluster fight with Holmes, Evander agreed to fight Riddick ‘Big Daddy’ Bowe in November should he defeat Pierre Coetzer in July. After Bowe easily knocked Coetzer out in Las Vegas, the date with Evander was made.
Holyfield vs. Bowe was set for Friday, November 13, 1992 at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas. I went over my brother’s house with a friend of mine to watch it on pay-per-view, but it made me long for the closed-circuit days at arenas, where you could buy your program and a soda, and enjoy the action with a crowd of fellow boxing fans.
The first thing we all noticed that night was how light Evander weighed in at (205 lbs.), as opposed to Riddick’s 235 lbs. This was baffling since he had weighed as much as 212 lbs. three years earlier against Alex Stewart, and since Bowe was so big, why come in so light? Evander’s plan was to box from the outside, but as soon as Bowe hit him low after a few rounds, those ideas went out the window. It became a slugfest, and Holyfield was on the losing end most of the time. In the 10th round, Holyfield took a beating for first two minutes, but miraculously finished the round by hurting Bowe. In the 11th, Evander hit the canvas, but got up to courageously continue. After 12 rounds in the books, it was an obvious unanimous decision for Bowe, who fought the best fight of this entire life, that November night in 1992.
Evander hinted of retirement after the bout, while a thrilled Bowe had certainly brought new life into the heavyweight division. Talks of a fight with a ringside Lennox Lewis began immediately, but as for me, it was a sad night. I hated to see Evander lose, and knew for certain that it was fatigue talking, and that he couldn’t quit like this. Whenever a favorite of mine lost, I went home a little depressed, and always looking for the opportunity for redemption. In my book, Evander would go home to Atlanta and enjoy the holidays, heal up and come back in 1993. Time would only prove my ideas correct.
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