Riddick Lamont Bowe (born August 10, 1967) is an American former professional boxer and professional kickboxer who competed between 1989 and 2008 in boxing, and from 2013 to 2016 in kickboxing (Muay Thai). He held the undisputed world heavyweight championship in 1992, and won the super heavyweight silver medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics.
After turning professional in 1989, Bowe went on to become a two-time world heavyweight champion. In 1992 he became the unified heavyweight champion by winning the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Council (WBC) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) titles by defeating then-unbeaten former undisputed cruiserweight champion Evander Holyfield. That same year, Bowe was named Fighter of the Year by The Ring magazine and the Boxing Writers' Association of America. Bowe vacated the WBC title later that year in protest, instead of defending the title against their number one contender, Lennox Lewis. This left the championship fragmented until 1999. In a rematch with Holyfield in 1993, Bowe narrowly lost the WBA and IBF titles in what would be his only professional defeat.
Bowe later regained a portion of the world heavyweight championship in 1995, defeating Herbie Hide for the World Boxing Organization (WBO) title. In doing so, Bowe became the first boxer in history to win the titles of all four major sanctioning bodies: the WBA, WBC, IBF, and WBO. Later that year, Bowe vacated the WBO title in order to fight Holyfield for a third time, and won decisively by being the first boxer to defeat Holyfield by knockout. 1996 saw Bowe engage in two brutal slugfests with Andrew Golota, both of which ended controversially when Golota repeatedly hit him with low blows.
Bowe retired from boxing after the Golota fights, making low-key comebacks in 2004 and 2008. In a 2010 article by Boxing Scene, Bowe was ranked the 21st greatest heavyweight of all time. In 2015, he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. As of 2026, Bowe remains the last American undisputed world heavyweight champion.
Early life Bowe was born on August 10, 1967, the twelfth of his mother Dorothy Bowe's thirteen children. Bowe was born and raised in the East New York section of Brooklyn, New York City. His brother Henry died of AIDS, and his sister Brenda was stabbed to death by a drug addict during an attempted robbery.
Bowe was in the same elementary school sixth-grade class with Mike Tyson.The man who was 'King', by Bill Gallo, Daily News from New York, August 7, 1988, p. 71.Seoul now just little bit closer by Joe Zedalis, Asbury Park Press, August 6, 1988, p. 29. "We went to school together in the sixth grade in P.S. 396 (in Brownsville.) I really didn't know him," Bowe recalled.Sports People by Dave Roos, The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Kentucky, April 1, 1988, E-2.
Amateur boxing career Bowe was training at the Bedford-Stuyvesant Boxing Association Gym or the "Bed-Stuy BA" for short. As an amateur, Bowe won the prestigious New York Golden Gloves Championship and other tournaments. In 1984, age 17, he knocked out opponent James Smith in just 4 seconds. In 1985, at the National Golden Gloves championships, he lost to Fort Worth heavyweight Donald Stephens. Apart from boxing he attended Kingsborough Community College, where he studied drama — in hopes of an acting career after boxing — and also studied business administration.Bowe mixture of three’ greats, Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph, July 31, 1987, p. 26.
His friends called him "Don King" because of his hairstyle. Bowe said he was emulating Mark Breland. "I got a majority of my experience with Mark, I'm inspired by what he's accomplished. It makes it possible for me to do the same," said Bowe in an interview.Mark Breland by Tommy Hanrahan, Daily News from New York, February 10, 1985, p. 226.
New York Golden Gloves Championships Bowe won four New York Golden Gloves Championships. He won two bouts as a 178-pounder in 1984 before failing to show for a third bout.Big night at Felt Forum by Bill Travers, Daily News from New York, July 22, 1988, p. 94. He won the 1985 178 lb Novice Championship, 1986 178 lb Open Championship and the 1987 and 1988 Super Heavyweight Open Championship. By 1985 Bowe was ranked the #1 light heavyweight in the United States.Atlas can't shrug off 'poor' quality of many trainers by Tommy Hanrahan, Daily News from New York, December 2, 1985, p. 57.
1986 Goodwill Games Bowe was a light heavyweight runner-up for the 1986 World Championships and 1986 Goodwill Games but did not qualify.Bent, Garcia score upsets. BEAUMONT, Texas (UPI), Defiance Crescent News , April 7, 1986. During a year-and-a-half hiatus he gained over thirty pounds and jumped from light heavyweight to super heavyweight, then returned to the ring for the 1987 United States Olympic Festival.
1987 Pan Am Prior to 1987 Pan American Games, Bowe said he had suffered a hairline fracture in his right hand during one of his two fights at the Olympic Festival in July 1987. The injury, he said, was revealed in X-rays he had taken at home. Roosevelt Sanders, the head coach, said he was aware that Bowe's hand was being treated, but had not known it was broken. Bowe said he kept those injuries secret from the U.S. team coaching staff for fear of being kept out of the tournament.Moran, Malcolm. Mixed Results for U.S. Boxers, The New York Times, August 20, 1987, p. 24.
Olympic qualifiers At first, Bowe was dismissed from the Olympic-year training camp, because U.S. Olympic boxing Coach Ken Adams didn't like him.Riddick Bowe Is Back, and He's a Heavy Favorite by Earl Gustkey, The Los Angeles Times, March 30, 1988, p. 8. U.S. Army superheavyweight Robert Salters, a Brooklyn-born 25-year-old artilleryman of Fort Bragg, NC, who took up boxing in 1986 and had fewer than twenty amateur fights in his 16-months-long record before first meeting Bowe at the 1988 AAU National finals, floored Bowe twice before the referee stopped the fight.High School Junior, Soldier Pull Major Upsets by Earl Gustkey, The Los Angeles Times, April 1, 1988, p. 34. Salters became a real nemesis for Bowe during his amateur career, as they fought each other to nearly a draw in the 1988 Olympic Box-offs at Caesars Palace, after Bowe lost to Salters in the Olympic Trials (Bowe came in at 231 lbs, Salters at 247.Cole and Salters Allow Army's Four Horsemen to Ride Again by Earl Gustkey, The Los Angeles Times, July 11, 1988, p. 29.Army fighters laying down the boom by Tim Dahlberg, Associated Press Sports Writer.). "He was talking' trash about me, and that helped me mentally," Salters said. Bowe had been boxing reportedly with ligament damage on the middle knuckle of his right hand, which he got the day before the Box-offs, and with a damaged right ankle, eventually managed to win, for the judges had to pick up a winner despite the even 58–58 score.Bowe defeats Salters to earn spot on boxing team by Ed Schuyler Jr. (Associated Press), The Register, July 18, 1988, p. 58.Maynard, Bowe, Banks Make It the Hard Way by Earl Gustkey, The Los Angeles Times, July 18, 1988, p. 7. The fifth unidentified judge, who scored the bout 58–58, gave it to Bowe on unidentified subjective grounds.Brooklyn's Bowe's gonna go! by Michael Katz, Daily News from New York, July 18, 1988, p. 59. Despite giving Bowe a hard time on four occasions in a row, Salters never turned pro.
1988 Olympics Bowe won the silver medal in the 1988 Seoul Olympics, outpointing Soviet Alex Miroshnichenko in the semifinals,Sports of The Times; Green to Gold, Now Green Again, The New York Times. and losing a controversial match in the finals to future world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis. Bowe had a dominant first round, landing 33 of 94 punches thrown (34%) while Lewis landed 14 of 67 (21%). In the first round the referee from East Germany gave Bowe two cautions for headbutts and deducted a point for a third headbutt, although replay clearly showed there was no headbutt. Commentator Ferdie Pacheco disagreed with the deduction, saying they did not hit heads. In the second round, Lewis landed several hard punches. The referee gave Bowe two standing eight counts and waved the fight off after the second one, even though Bowe seemed able to continue. Pacheco disagreed with the stoppage, calling it "very strange," but Marv Albert said Bowe took "a pounding."Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine:
Highlights
United States Junior Championships (middleweight), 1983: Lost to Adolpho Washington RSC 2 New York Golden Gloves (light heavyweight), New York City, February 1984: 1/16: Defeated Richard Newton RSC 1 1/8: Defeated Hezekiah Salone 1/4: Lost to ? by walkover New York Golden Gloves (light heavyweight), Elks Club, Queens, New York, and Madison Square Garden, New York City, February 1985: 1/4: Defeated Alonzo Knowles KO 1 1/2: Defeated Jose Guzman KO 3 Finals: Defeated Alfred Walcott KO 1 New York State Golden Gloves, novice division (light heavyweight), Madison Square Garden, New York City, March 1985: 1/2: Defeated Gil Walden KO 1 Finals: Defeated n/a National Golden Gloves (light heavyweight), Little Rock, Arkansas, March 1985: 1/16: Defeated Keith Sudduth KO 1/8: Defeated Odell Jones by decision 1/4: Defeated Cornell Harris RSC 1 1/2: Defeated Gregory Everett RSC 3 Finals: Lost to Donald Stephens by split decision, 2–3 Junior World box-offs (light heavyweight), El Paso Civic Center, El Paso, Texas, August 1985: Defeated Razz Chapin KO 1 Junior World Championships (light heavyweight), Bucharest, Romania, September 1985: 1/4: Defeated Mikhail Sadovsky (Soviet Union) RSC 1 1/2: Defeated Damian Vasile (Romania) RSC 1 Finals: Defeated Péter Hart (Hungary) RSC 1 World Cup (light heavyweight), Seoul, South Korea, November 1985: 1/4: Lost to Nurmagomed Shanavazov (Soviet Union) by unanimous decision, 0–5 U.S. Olympic Festival Eastern Qualifier (super heavyweight), Lake Placid, New York, May 1987: 1/4: Defeated Bryant Farris RSCH 1 1/2: Defeated Mark Anthony by walkover Finals: Defeated George Kilbert Pierce by unanimous decision, 5–0
U.S. Olympic Festival (super heavyweight), Raleigh, North Carolina, July 1987: 1/2: Defeated Nathaniel Fitch RSC 2 Finals: Defeated Kevin Ford RSC 3 Pan Am Box-offs (super heavyweight), International Center of the Broadmoor, Colorado Springs, Colorado, July 1987: Defeated Carlton Hollis Pan American Games (super heavyweight), Indianapolis, Indiana, August 1987: 1/2: Lost to Jorge Luis González (Cuba) by split decision, 2–3 USSR−USA Duals (super heavyweight), Moscow, Soviet Union, 1988: Lost to Alex Miroshnichenko (Soviet Union) by decision United States National Championships (heavyweight), Colorado Springs, Colorado, March–April 1988: 1/16: Defeated James Ernst RSCH 1 1/8: Defeated Tevin George RSCH 2 1/4: Defeated Kevin Ford 1/2: Lost to Robert Salters RSCH 2 Olympic Trials (super heavyweight), Concord Pavilion, Concord, California, July 1988: 1/4: Defeated Nathaniel Fitch by unanimous decision, 5–0 1/2: Defeated Louis Savarese DQ 2 Finals: Lost to Robert Salters by majority decision, 1–4 Olympic Box-offs (super heavyweight), Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada, July 1988: Day 1: Defeated Robert Salters by split decision, 3–2 Day 2: Defeated Robert Salters by split decision, 3–2 Summer Olympics (super heavyweight), Seoul, South Korea, September–October 1988: 1/8: Defeated Biko Botowamungu (Austria) KO 2 1/4: Defeated Peter Hrivnák (Czechoslovakia) RSCH 1 1/2: Defeated Alex Miroshnichenko (Soviet Union) by unanimous decision, 5–0 Finals: Lost to Lennox Lewis (Canada) RSC 2
Bowe finished his amateur career with a record of 104 wins, 18 losses.
Professional boxing career Bowe turned professional after his Olympic loss. Highly regarded trainer Eddie Futch took on the job of developing Bowe, as he saw the talent. Eddie would say that Bowe had more potential than any boxer he had ever trained.