Riddick Lamont Bowe was born on August 10, 1967 in Brooklyn, New York. He was the twelfth of thirteen children, and was in the sixth grade the same time as Mike Tyson. He began competing in the Golden Gloves tournaments, and had a distinguished amateur career that ended at the Seoul Olympic games in 1988. Riddick lost to Lennox Lewis in the super-heavyweight division, when the referee stopped the contest in the second round.
He returned home and signed with veteran trainer Eddie Futch. His first professional bout took place on March 6, 1989 in Reno, Nevada on the undercard of the Mancini-Camacho fight. He stopped Butler in two, and would go on to fight twelve more times in 1989, winning all but one by knockout.
His sixth bout of 1990 was against his first name opponent, ex champion Pinklon Thomas. Riddick traveled to Washington D.C., and stopped the veteran in eight. The next month, he faced another veteran in Bert Cooper, and knocked him out in two rounds. I remember watching this one on the undercard of the Holyfield-Douglas fight, and I was more than impressed with the young Bowe.
Riddick finished the year off with one more knockout, this time of Tony Morrison, the older brother of his more accomplished sibling, Tommy. There was no doubt now that when the promising young fighters were mentioned as future champions, Riddick Bowe was on that list.
Riddick traveled east to Atlantic City, and took on two veterans in two months. He first stopped Tyrell Biggs in eight on March 2, and went the distance with Tony Tubbs on April 20 as well. I personally liked Bowe’s affable personality and chatter, since he brought fun to a sometimes depressing sport. Whatever his future was, I was sure it would be bright.
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