BOWE’S CAREER BEGAN WITH BULLY
WHEN RIDDICK BOWE was in eighth grade, his teacher assigned the class to write an essay on Muhammad Ali.
Bowe idolized Ali, mainly for his braggadocious style. “Me being me,” said Bowe, “I fell in love with him.”
There was a bully in Bowe’s class named Darrell Lang who thought Ali was a chump. “Your mama is a chump,” the 13-year old Bowe told Lang, and the fight began.
Because he didn’t start the fight by throwing the first punch, young Riddick wasn’t expelled — but because of the way he finished the fight, his teacher sent him to the local PAL gym.
“My teacher said I was pretty good with my hands, so she called the gym for me,” remembered Bowe, “I went to the PAL that day, but they didn’t have time for me. So I’m getting on the bus to go home and I see the Bedford-Stuyvesant Boxing Association. I went in there, and a star was born. I’ve been boxing ever since.”
Fast forward to the 1985 Golden Gloves.
Bowe was in the locker room warming up to face his nemesis, Alfred Walcott, for the 178-pound novice title. Alfred had four knockouts going into the finals. So did Bowe. But Bowe was being taunted. “I’m shadow boxing,” said Bowe, “and I hear this voice from behind: ‘Come on sucker!’ “I never turned around,” said Bowe. Then the voice came again. “Come on sucker!” “Stop playing with me,” Bowe growled, before turning to his antagonizer. There stood Muhammad Ali. “It was magical,” said Bowe. “All of the anguish I felt before that moment went away.”
Bowe received a tremendous hug from “The Greatest” and some encouraging words, “You’re gonna do ok.”
Fifteen minutes later, Bowe knocked Walcott out, just 24 seconds into the first round.
Meeting Ali was Bowe’s fondest memory of the Golden Gloves. It was also a prelude to his Hall of Fame career. Bowe earned an amateur record of 104-18, winning four straight New York Golden Gloves Championships — 178 lb. novice (1985), 178 lb. open (1986), and the super heavyweight open (1987-’88).
“My last year in the Golden Gloves, I was scheduled to fight three or four times in the tournament,” recalled Bowe, “but no one would fight me, so I won by walkover.”
Bowe won the silver medal in the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
After turning professional, Bowe became a two-time world heavyweight champion, having first won the WBA, WBC and IBF titles in 1992 to become the undisputed heavyweight champion.
Bowe defeated Evander Holyfield to claim that title.
“All the hard work I’d been through finally came to a head,” said Bowe. “That was the greatest night of my life.”
His second reign as heavyweight champion came in 1995, when he won the WBO title by defeating Herbie Hide.
Last year “Big Daddy” Bowe was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Bowe said he’s “ecstatic” about being inducted into the New York Daily News Golden Gloves Hall of Fame. “It’s a blessing,” said Bowe, “Everyone wants to be known, so I’m happy about that.”