Reminiscing About Olympic Loss, Riddick Bowe Claps Back at Critics for Saying He Feared Facing Lennox Lewis in the Pros

There have been many rivalries in the sport of boxing, some well-known, some not so much! However, if there was one that never saw its culmination, it would be between Lennox Lewis and Riddick Bowe. Recently, ‘Big Daddy’ Bowe responded to critics who thought he feared ‘The Lion’. While they never fought one another in the professional scene, a fight between them came close to becoming a reality.

The pair first encountered each other in the 1988 Summer Olympics, where Lewis won the super heavyweight matchup in the second round. So, it always made sense for them to duke it out one more time to determine who is the better fighter. It came close in 1992 when Bowe became the unified heavyweight champion, and Lewis was the mandatory challenger. However, Bowe relinquished his WBC title, and the fight never happened. Thirty-two years later, Bowe turned to social media today to set things straight.

Riddick Bowe claims his manager asked him to share the picture

Turning to Instagram today, the 56-year-old former champion shared a picture of him and Lewis in the ring during the Summer Olympics fight. In the post, he claimed he won the first round of the fight, and Lewis won the second one. He also added that the fight should have gone to a third, but it didn’t. “My Manager asked me to Post This. I Won the 1st Round, [Lennox Lewis] Won the 2nd round, which was the Fight. I accepted it, but It was GOIN’ 3 ROUNDS without question,” wrote Bowe.

He went on to address his critics, saying, “I read that because he Won in the OLYMPICS, I was SUPPOSEDLY afraid to Box him in the Pros.” It’s worth mentioning that Bowe didn’t just relinquish the belt in 1992 – he threw it into a garbage bin during a press conference, claiming he didn’t want to be intimidated by the sanctioning body to fight Lewis. What’s more, even though Lewis had a few things to say about the fight not happening, he suggested that Bowe was never afraid to face him.

Lennox Lewis blames Bowe’s manager

According to a January 2019 report from Sporting News, Lewis put all the blame for the fight not happening on Bowe’s manager, Rock Newman. The last undisputed heavyweight champion said, “Rock Newman did not want his golden child at the time, who was creating wealth for him, to take that chance and fight the guy who beat him at the Olympics in 1988.”

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‘The Lion’ went on to claim that if it were up to Bowe himself, “I think maybe he would have chose[n] to fight me because we’re warriors and gladiators. That’s what we do.” He again blamed Bowe’s manager for trying to save his money maker, “But when your manager keeps you away from the guy that beat you, he’s speaking without using any words.” 

Decades after his rivalry with ‘The Lion,’ Lennox Lewis, began, Riddick Bowe has taken the opportunity to address critics who assert that he was afraid to face Lewis. Do you believe there is any truth to such claims, especially in light of Lewis’ statements about Bowe?

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