The WBC heavyweight championship was defended less than two weeks ago at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in front of thousands of fans. But 30 years ago today, that same title clattered as it fell into the bottom of a dustbin. A lot can change in three decades, but the sound of gold and leather hitting cheap plastic has reverberated through boxing ever since.
The man holding the bin and the belt was WBC champion Riddick Bowe. He had fought hard to get the famous green strap. The championship had been one of three prizes ‘Big Daddy’ had torn from Evander Holyfield’s grasp in one of the great heavyweight battles in November 1992.
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So, after contesting a violent war to win the undisputed heavyweight title from ‘The Real Deal’, why was Bowe now discarding part of it? The answer can be boiled down to two words: Lennox Lewis.
Bowe was not even supposed to challenge Holyfield. At least not as far as the WBC was concerned. Holyfield had been ordered to face the winner of Lennox Lewis vs Donovan ‘Razor’ Ruddock in a final eliminator. Bowe was only awarded the Holyfield on the proviso he would fight the WBC’s number one contender if he won.
Lewis would hammer Ruddock, taking apart the former Mike Tyson opponent in two rounds. Bowe held up his end in the savage war with Holyfield, setting the heavyweight course squarely on a Lewis-Bowe collision. Tyson was in prison, Holyfield had been dethroned. Bowe and Lewis felt like a fight that would define the division for years to come. The pair had met as amateurs, with Lewis victorious. This felt like yet another intriguing storyline to this megafight. But perhaps, in reality, it is what prevented it.
It should have been exactly that, but Bowe’s management had other plans. His notorious manager, Rock Newman, demanded a 90/10 purse split in favour of his man. Lewis understandably balked at the derisory offer. Another would not be forthcoming. It soon became clear the Bowe camp had no interest in engaging ‘The Lion’.
Bowe headed to London to stage a press conference. The location caused much speculation that the heavyweight champion of the world was there to announce the Lewis defence. Instead, he was there to commit an egregious act that would follow him around for the rest of his career.
Instead of facing mandatory Lennox Lewis, Riddick Bowe infamously trashed his WBC belt before he could be stripped.
He chose to face Michael Dokes & the fight with Lewis never happened
Was this the most famous duck in history?
#Boxing
Bowe told the assembled throng of journalists “I am the heavyweight champion of the world and today I withdraw my recognition of the WBC. I am stripping them. If Lewis wants the belt, he has got to get it out of the garbage. Then we will call him ‘garbage picker.” With that, Bowe went from a three-belt champion to a two, throwing the famous green and gold into the garbage as promised.
The WBC acted quickly in awarding their title to Lewis. The ‘garbage picker’ jibe would not be solved as quickly. Rather than organise a bout for the vacant title, the sanctioning body had handed the title to their mandatory challenger. The fact Lewis didn’t win the belt in the ring harmed perceptions of him, with many quick to label him a ‘paper champion’.
Effectively, Bowe’s trick had worked. In the short term, few took Lewis seriously. The Brit wouldn’t get the recognition he deserved during his first reign. Tony Tucker, Frank Bruno and Phil Jackson before losing the title to ‘Atomic Bull’ Oliver McCall in 1994.
Meanwhile, Bowe initially went from strength to strength. Viewed as the rightful heavyweight king, and with the WBA and IBF belts in tow, he knocked out Michael Dokes and Jesse Ferguson in a combined three rounds. Another fight with Holyfield ended in defeat, but was another classic encounter that enhanced Bowe’s standing more than it harmed it.
But this dynamic between the two almost-opponents wouldn’t last forever. Bowe picked up the WBO strap for a spell, and won a non-title third fight with Holyfield. But he retired unexpectedly after a pair of disqualification wins over Andrew Golota which he had been losing at the time of the stoppage. ‘Big Daddy’ made a brief comeback in the mid-2000s, but he never boxed at world level again.
Lewis would win back the WBC championship, stopping McCall in a rematch in 1997. He would defend the belt nine times, unifying it with the WBA and IBF championships to become the most-recent undisputed heavyweight king boxing has had. A shock loss against Hasim Rahman could have derailed him, but an emphatic knockout win in the rematch made Lewis a three-time world champion. He retired in 2004 after defeating Vitali Klitschko by doctor stoppage.
Bowe had intended to avoid Lewis while discrediting him in the process. In the short-term, it worked like a charm. But Lewis wouldn’t give up. Bowe’s prime burnt spectacularly but quickly. Lewis had a longer road to acceptance. But when the history of boxing is written, Lewis’ name is likely to appear above that of his rival when the rankings are made. ‘Big Daddy’ was brilliant, but ‘The Lion’ will live forever.
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