Question regarding rid**** bowe...

[TintaBoricua]

Listening to Legendary Nights as I'm working on important stuff here on my computer and heard that Bowe tossed the WBC belt in the trash bin as a symbollic gesture of something.

Anyway, I had heard about this several times before, but had never gotten around to asking: What exactly happened there?

I've been watching boxing for four years now and would certainly consider myself a genuine fan of the sport (have watched several documentaries, read books, etc.) but some people are walking encyclopedias when it comes to these things.

I'd appreciate it if anybody could answer my question.

Lewis said something about Bowe ducking him, but really...why did Bowe call a press conference to do that?

[Check_hooks]

I wanna know the answer to this also. The video of that press conference is hard to find even on youtube.

[BattlingNelson]

Lewis was Bowes mandatory and Bowe elected to ditch the belt rather than face him.

[Sugarj]

Sonnyboyx2 is the best person to answer this. However, the quick answer is that Lewis was next in line to face champion Bowe, from what I gather Lewis priced himself out of the fight (despite being challenger) and also wanted options on several of Bowe's follow up fights.

The WBC sided with Lewis and rather than face him under these requirements Bowe decided to relinquish the belt, thus placing it in the rubbish bin.

Lewis fans say that Bowe ran scared as Lewis was already a holder of a second round stoppage victory over Bowe in the Olympics a few years earlier.

Bowe fans say that Lewis's purse demands and the WBC's siding with the challenger were the reason that Bowe pulled out.

[sonnyboyx2]

Lewis was Bowes mandatory and Bowe elected to ditch the belt rather than face him.

i don't think that was the case, more like Bowe had 3 mandatory's with Lewis being just the WBC No1.. Bowe was the "Undisputed Heavyweight Champ" and had won the title by beating Holyfield with Bowe claiming Holyfield was a fool for letting Bowe slip through the back door and get a title fight on 75/25 terms as Bowe had been the WBA No1 mandatory for Holyfield's crown after hammering Pierre Coetzer in a final eliminator. Bowe offered the WBC No1 Lennox Lewis a fight on 75/25 terms the same as he had gotten from Holyfield but Lewis turned down the offer and wanted a 50/50 split including options on Bowe should Bowe win.. The WBC put a time limit on Bowe of 60 days to make a deal to defend his title against Lewis otherwise they would strip Bowe of their version of the Title. Lewis and his camp knew that if they dragged their feet that they could get a world title without fighting Rid**** Bowe and at that time in late 1992 Lewis was not a big attraction in the U.S. so a fight between him and Bowe was only a $6 million fight compared to a Bowe v Holyfield rematch which was a $30 million fight.

Here is Bowe telling it like it happened:

[BattlingNelson]

i don't think that was the case, more like Bowe had 3 mandatory's with Lewis being just the WBC No1.. Bowe was the "Undisputed Heavyweight Champ" and had won the title by beating Holyfield with Bowe claiming Holyfield was a fool for letting Bowe slip through the back door and get a title fight on 75/25 terms as Bowe had been the WBA No1 mandatory for Holyfield's crown after hammering Pierre Coetzer in a final eliminator. Bowe offered the WBC No1 Lennox Lewis a fight on 75/25 terms the same as he had gotten from Holyfield but Lewis turned down the offer and wanted a 50/50 split including options on Bowe should Bowe win.. The WBC put a time limit on Bowe of 60 days to make a deal to defend his title against Lewis otherwise they would strip Bowe of their version of the Title. Lewis and his camp knew that if they dragged their feet that they could get a world title without fighting Rid**** Bowe and at that time in late 1992 Lewis was not a big attraction in the U.S. so a fight between him and Bowe was only a $6 million fight compared to a Bowe v Holyfield rematch which was a $30 million fight.

Here is Bowe telling it like it happened:

I'm quite sure that Rock Newman sent Lewis an offer with an utterly ridiculous split as I remember it. Something like 90/10 or 80/20. Of course that wouldn't have been the split had the fight gone to purseoffer and rather than having to face Lummox, Bowe opted for trashing the WBC belt.

[BattlingNelson]

Here's a piece that pretty much covers the question posed by the TS:

Rock Newman's plan was to make his fighter the most money while taking the least risk. He was well aware that Lewis was an extreme threat to Bowe.

Even though Bowe was technically contracted to defend the title against Lewis, Newman opted to let Bowe get stripped of the WBC belt. The logic was that Bowe would still be considered by most to be the "real" champion because he actually won the Undisputed title from Holyfield. "He beat the man who beat the man who beat the man" hence making BOWE the man. Newman further reasoned that Bowe would still have 2 out of the 3 major belts. He also rationalized that Lewis's title would be "cheapened" by having the belt "given" to him.

It was then that Rock Newman staged the famous "Bowe dropping the WBC belt in the garbage can press conference" Newman and Bowe then exclaimed "They didn't strip us, We stripped THEM"!

Newman's plan seemed to be working at first. Bowe's face was EVERYWHERE from Arsenio Hall to Leno to Letterman.
He even UPSTAGED SANTA CLAUSE at the traditional Macy's Thanksgiving day parade!
Bowe was also endorsing everything. Big Daddy's " Big Daddy" was proudly displayed and packaged in white brief Fruit of the Loom ads for all the world to see.
From November 92 to November 93 he even outgrossed Michael Jordan in Endorsements

In his 2 successful title defences he made a ton of money at very little risk fighting 2 worn opponents in Michael Dokes and Jesse Ferguson. He won those fights spectacuarly and his reputation grew even larger.
Everything seemed to be going according to plan!

What Newman Didn't plan on was that EVANDER HOLYFIELD was going to be a smarter more determined fighter than ever in the rematch!

That fight ENDED Newman and Bowe's money making ride!

[sonnyboyx2]

Here's a piece that pretty much covers the question posed by the TS:

yes that is true enough yet i don't think it was Holyfield who beat Bowe it was the "para-glider" who landed in the ring causing a 30 minute delay midway through the 7th round. Holyfield won the closest decision in heavyweight history.

[Kid McCoy]

I'm quite sure that Rock Newman sent Lewis an offer with an utterly ridiculous split as I remember it. Something like 90/10 or 80/20. Of course that wouldn't have been the split had the fight gone to purseoffer and rather than having to face Lummox, Bowe opted for trashing the WBC belt.

That's pretty much it. There was an agreement with HBO that the winner of Bowe-Holyfield would fight the winner of Lewis-Ruddock next, which all four parties agreed to, and Bowe reneged. Bowe's team paid lip service to the fight by making offers which they knew Lewis wouldn't accept, but in reality they were looking for low-risk fights. It's pretty revealing that Bowe's first two defences were against Dokes and Ferguson, and that he missed nearly all the top 90s heavyweights.

[Wild Blue Yonda]

yes that is true enough yet i don't think it was Holyfield who beat Bowe it was the "para-glider" who landed in the ring causing a 30 minute delay midway through the 7th round. Holyfield won the closest decision in heavyweight history.

I have scored that fight five times since it happened, & only once did Holyfield come out a winner on my card (three for Bowe, once even). Still, it was a fair decision --- could justifiably have gone either way, even though I thought it would've made a great case for a narrow decision going the Champions' way, as is supposed to be the old Boxing maxim.

As much as the first fight between them, this fight told me Bowe was the better man head-to-head. Even significantly out of condition, he still arguably defeated a stronger, smarter Holyfield than he'd fought the first time around. Holyfield improved & Bowe regressed, yet I still thought Bowe edged him out.