By: Sean Crose
The list of fighters wanting to return to the ring is growing and growing since Mike Tyson’s highly successful exhibition bout against Roy Jones late last fall. For now, another former heavyweight king is planning to come back to the sport. Riddick Bowe, the early 90s heavyweight champ and classic foil of Evander Holyfield, is set to box again in October. Yes, at 53 years of age, the fighter known as “Big Daddy” will be facing a yet to be named opponent. According to TMZ, Bowe has signed on with an organization called “Celebrity Boxing” for the bout.
Bowe was 31-0 with 27 knockouts when he first met Holyfield for the undisputed heavyweight championship in 1992. The fight was a classic, which Bowe ended up winning by unanimous decision. Bowe threw away the WBC heavyweight title when it was demanded he fight Lennox Lewis, then went on to split a pair of rematches with Holyfield during the following years. Afterwards, Bowe won two wildly controversial fights against Andrew Golota after the eccentric Golota was disqualified on both occasions. Although he fought and won three times in the 21st century, Bowe was never again a major force at heavyweight.
Now that he’s coming back – reportedly for an exhibition bout – Bowe wants to square off against some notable names. In a social media post, announcing the fight, Bowe brought up names like Holyfield’s and Mike Tyson’s. The truth, though, is that the man in the video doesn’t look like he belongs inside a boxing ring lest he’s training others. Bowe’s already been declared to have suffered brain damage and there’s really no good reason for the man to have to go through any more ring related punishment. Still, the sport acts like a siren song to those who once found glory in it.
What’s more, with novelty fights being all the rage right now, it’s only natural for some to want to regain past glory – and perhaps a former source of income. Someone, however, could get hurt in one of these events, whether it’s an over the hill legend or a kid from social media trying to make a buck and get some attention. As has been said many times before “you don’t play boxing.” Still, as long as people are willing to pay, the more of these types of fights we’ll probably be seeing in at least the near future.