I left Philadelphia early on Saturday, June 17, 1995 and arrived in Las Vegas eager for an exciting weekend. On the way to my hotel room, things got off to a rocky start after I told the cab driver the purpose of my visit. He proceeded to tell me how great he thought Jorge Luis Gonzales was, and how he had handled Bowe easily as an amateur. Rather than argue with the idiot, I kept my mouth shut, and was never so glad to arrive at Bally’s, and get out of his cab.
After checking into my room, I grabbed a quick lunch, and made my way across the street to Caesar’s Palace sportsbook to place my wager. Upon arriving, I placed $30,000 on a straight Bowe win at 3-1 odds. A win would bring me a profit of just under $10,000, my biggest since I had started 3 and half months earlier.
After a weight workout at the Bally’s gym, I enjoyed a buffet dinner, and strolled down to the MGM Grand with my $400 ticket in hand. I usually played a few slot machines to deal with my nerves, but in this case, there weren’t many. When I placed my bet at Caesar’s, a guy asked me as I strolled past him for my prediction. I told him boldly “Gonzales is going out on his back by the sixth!”, and walked away. I was extremely confident for this one, and as I made my way to my seat at the Grand Garden Arena, I couldn’t wait for round one to begin.
Riddick swarmed Gonzalez from the start, forcing him on the ropes, and pummeling him almost at will. After a few rounds, George Foreman commented “Gonzalez fights like an amateur. He needs a trainer to help him.” The only scare came at the end of the fourth, when Riddick landed hard shots after the bell rang, but fortunately none hurt Gonzalez, and referee Mills Lane didn’t deduct any points.
After a clean fifth round of inflicting more punishment on his opponent, the end seemed in sight. At 1:40 of the sixth, a long overhand right put Jorge flat on his back, and out. I leapt from my seat with excitement, and ran from the arena to the food court to enjoy a celebratory meal. It was the highlight of my nearly four month long journey, and my confidence that I would reach my goal was soaring.
When I sent to collect my nearly $40,000, I noticed that odds were posted for the following week’s Roy Jones vs. Vinny Pazienza bout in Atlantic City. My plan was to lay $36,000 on Roy to bring me an easy $3,000 payday at 12-1 odds. That easy win would leave me with only $24,000 to go to reach my goal. With Mike Tyson already set to fight on August 19 against some chump named Peter McNeely, my plan was to put huge money on Mike on the under. After that easy win, only a few more safe bets would have me debt free by fall.
Unfortunately something happened, and my big ego ruined those plans.
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