Bowe: Was Futch right?
Eddie Futch said "Riddick Bowe has the potential, the be the greatest HW he had ever seen"
Nobody had such a meteoric rise and fall as Riddick Bowe. His demise, unlike Tyson's, was a result of his unrestrained pursuit of pork chop. Bowe- a relentless food bag even had a kitchen installed in his bedroom.
But there was a period there when he bested Holyfield in 92 and went on to top him in there trilogy that Bowe was definitely up there with any premiere HW. Only 1 year after his last fight with Holyfield, we witnessed his 2 beatdowns by Golota. Obviously this represented such wasted talent. Bowe clearly did not have the mentality of a champion anymore.
His public ducking of Lennox Lewis is probably the most shameful act of all time in HW boxing. Why did he do it? Was he really that afraid of Lennox? Was it that he could not stand to lose to someone he hated so passionately? Or did Rock Newman desperately not want to risk his cash cow until he had milked him for what he was worth first?
If Riddick had tempered his eating habits and remained focussed on his training and not chickened out against Lewis... Could he have beaten him? He was big enough. He had skills, not as sharp as Lewis on the outside but clearly a better inside game. And he had a better chin.
We know he could beat Holyfield, but what about Tyson?
Could he compete with Vitali Klitschko, or Wladimir?
Clearly Riddick robbed us of atleast 1 superfight with Lewis and could have had highly electrifying ones with these others had he the will to succeed.
"Enough with the games mate! Your messing with the Grand Master!"
Lennox Lewis
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