"Lennox Lewis vs. Donovan Ruddock Lennox Lewis vs. Donovan Ruddock, billed as ""The Fight for the Right"" was a professional boxing match contested on October 31, 1992. The fight was a WBC heavyweight title ""eliminator"", with the winner scheduled to challenge the winner of the Evander Holyfield–Riddick Bowe championship bout held two weeks later. In addition, Lewis' Commonwealth heavyweight title was also on the line. In 1991, the number one and two ranked heavyweights, Mike Tyson and Donovan ""Razor"" Ruddock had two matches in order to determine who would next face Evander Holyfield for the Undisputed Heavyweight Championship. The first"
"Riddick Bowe Riddick Lamont Bowe (born August 10, 1967) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 1996 and from 2004 to 2008. He reigned as the undisputed world heavyweight champion in 1992, and as an amateur he won a silver medal in the super heavyweight division at the 1988 Summer Olympics. After turning professional in 1989, Bowe went on to become a two-time world heavyweight champion. In 1992 he won the undisputed WBA, WBC, and IBF titles by defeating then-unbeaten former undisputed cruiserweight champion Evander Holyfield. That same year, Bowe was named Fighter of the Year"
"world heavyweight. He defeated former WBA heavyweight champion Mike Weaver, 1984 Olympic Gold medalist Tyrell Biggs, former world cruiserweight title holders Glenn McCrory and Osvaldo Ocasio, and journeymen Levi Billups and Mike Dixon. On 31 October 1992, Lewis knocked out Canadian Donovan ""Razor"" Ruddock in two rounds for the number one contender's position in the WBC rankings. It was Lewis' most impressive win to date, and established him as one of the world's best heavyweights. Sportscaster Larry Merchant declared, ""We have a great new heavyweight."" The win over Ruddock made Lewis the number one contender for Riddick Bowe's heavyweight championship."
"championship bout when the WBC awarded him their title in 1992. This was due to Riddick Bowe relinquishing the title after failing to agree to defend the title against Lewis, who had become the mandatory challenger by defeating Donovan Ruddock a few weeks earlier. In 2001, Lewis became the fourth boxer (after Muhammad Ali, Evander Holyfield and Michael Moorer) to have held the world heavyweight championship on three separate occasions. BoxRec ranks Lewis as the twelfth-greatest heavyweight of all time, as well as the third-greatest British fighter. In 2018, Boxing News ranked Lewis as the third greatest heavyweight of all-time,"
"broke down after the two sides could not reach an agreement on a 90–10 split of the fights planned $32 million purse. Lewis was then offered $2.5 million to take an interim fight against an opponent of his choosing and then fight Bowe for $9 million, but that deal was also rejected. On December 14, 1992, Bowe officially vacated his WBC title at a press conference in which he tossed the belt into the trash and Lewis was named the new WBC Heavyweight champion that same day. Lewis responded to Bowe's refusal to fight him by giving him the derogatory"
"was also refused. Because a deal could not be made, Bowe instead chose to vacate his WBC title and proceeded to make the first defense of his remaining titles against Michael Dokes. Based on the strength of his victory over Ruddock, the WBC decided to name Lewis the new WBC Heavyweight champion. Though George Foreman had been brought up by Lewis as a possible opponent, he ultimately agreed to face the WBC's number one contender Tony Tucker in his first defense. Tucker briefly held the IBF Heavyweight title in 1987 but lost it in his first defense against Mike Tyson"
"Riddick Bowe vs. Jorge Luis González Riddick Bowe vs. Jorge Luis González, billed as ""Mortal Enemies"", was a professional boxing match contested on June 17, 1995 for the WBO Heavyweight Championship. Having been seemingly blacklisted by the WBA, WBC and IBF, former Undisputed Heavyweight Champion Riddick Bowe was left with little choice other than to compete for the then lightly regarded WBO version of the heavyweight title. In the championship match, Bowe battered the much smaller champion, Britain's Herbie Hide, gaining seven knockdowns through the course of six rounds en route to a knockout victory that made him the new"
"Bowe held a press conference to dump his WBC title into a trash can and relinquished it to avoid a mandatory defence against Lewis. On 14 December 1992, the WBC declared Lewis its champion, making him the first world heavyweight titleholder from Britain in the 20th century. Lewis defended the belt three times, defeating Tony Tucker, whom he knocked down for the first time in Tucker's career, and Frank Bruno and Phil Jackson by knockout. The Lennox Lewis vs. Frank Bruno fight was the first time two British-born boxers fought for a version of the world heavyweight title in the"
"Riddick Bowe vs. Michael Dokes Riddick Bowe vs. Michael Dokes, billed as ""The Homecoming"", was a professional boxing match contested on February 6, 1993 for the WBA, IBF and ""Lineal"" heavyweight world championships. This was Bowe's first defense of the titles he had won from Evander Holyfield, while Dokes was trying to join Floyd Patterson, Muhammad Ali, and Tim Witherspoon as the only fighters to regain a piece of the heavyweight title after having lost it. The fight took place at Madison Square Garden and was broadcast by HBO. On November 13, 1992, Bowe defeated Holyfield to become the unified"
"Heavyweight fight of the 1980s."" In 1993, after having beaten a string of mostly fringe contenders, he received a shot at recovering the WBA title, (and gain the IBF world title on the process), but he was stopped in the first round by Riddick Bowe, at Madison Square Garden, in New York City. In the interview immediately following the bout, Dokes protested the stoppage as being premature, and demanded a return match with Bowe. Dokes subsequently had run-ins with the law, and would ultimately succumb to liver cancer in August 2012, dying the day after his 54th birthday. Michael Dokes"
"Riddick Bowe vs. Jesse Ferguson Riddick Bowe vs. Jesse Ferguson, billed as ""The Heavyweight Debate"", was a professional boxing match contested on May 22, 1993, for the WBA and ""Lineal"" Heavyweight championships. The fight took place in RFK Stadium in Washington, DC, was Bowe's second defense of the title he had won from Evander Holyfield in November 1992, and was the main event of a card that included a fight between Roy Jones, Jr. and Bernard Hopkins for the vacant IBF middleweight championship, which Jones won. Only three months prior, Riddick Bowe had made the first successful defense of his"
"heavyweight title in March 1994 at Millwall Football Stadium, Millwall, London. The inexperienced Bentt had previously won the title by knocking out the heavily favoured Tommy Morrison in one round. The Hide vs Bentt fight made headlines after the two boxers scuffled and threw punches at a pre-fight meeting; whilst in the bout itself, Hide out-boxed and knocked out Bentt in 7 rounds. Bentt was subsequently hospitalised, and never fought again. A year later, Hide defended his WBO heavyweight title against former undisputed champion Riddick Bowe. Hide used his speed to out-box Bowe early on, and managed to hurt Bowe"
"Riddick Bowe vs. Evander Holyfield II Riddick Bowe vs. Evander Holyfield II, billed as ""Repeat or Revenge"", was a professional boxing match that took place on November 6, 1993 for the WBA, IBF and ""Lineal"" Heavyweight championships. The two fighters had previously met a little less than a year before on November 13, 1992. In what would become one of the greatest heavyweight fights of all time, Bowe would defeat Holyfield by unanimous decision to become the Undisputed Heavyweight Champion. Bowe's reign as Undisputed Champion would not last long, as his victory over Holyfield now meant he would have to"
"was knocked out in the second. On November 21, 1989, Tubbs out-pointed top contender Orlin Norris, winning the North American Boxing Federation title. However, Tubbs tested positive for cocaine. Tubbs was stripped of the title and the victory was changed to a ""no contest"". On April 20, 1991, a 34-year-old Tubbs lost a controversial ten-round decision to future Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion, Riddick Bowe. The general consensus in the media was that Tubbs had easily outboxed Bowe. On August 8, 1992, Tubbs was upset by Lionel Butler in a first-round knockout. Tubbs came back to out-point future WBA Heavyweight Champion"
"Following the unification series, there were ongoing calls for Tyson and Spinks to fight, to erase any doubt about the identity of the ""true"" champion. In June 1988, the two champions faced off, and Tyson knocked out Spinks in 91 seconds. Tyson held on to his titles until February 1990, when he was knocked out by Buster Douglas. The titles remained unified until December 1992, when undisputed champion Riddick Bowe relinquished his WBC title. Heavyweight unification series The heavyweight unification series, also known as the Heavyweight World Series, was a sequence of professional boxing matches held in 1986 and 1987"
"trying to avoid trading punches with Holyfield. Ultimately, neither man was able gain a knockdown throughout the relatively uneventful fight. In what was surely not intended as a reflection on the evening's proceedings, Holmes vomited as the final bell rang. Holyfield would next face arguably his toughest opponent, the undefeated Riddick Bowe. In what was named ""The Ring"" magazine's Fight of the Year, Riddick Bowe was able to defeat Holyfield by a close unanimous decision to become the new Undisputed Heavyweight Champion. Though it was not known if Holmes would continue to fight after his loss to Holyfield, he ultimately"
"Bowe would pick up the victory by 8th round technical knockout. Riddick Bowe vs. Evander Holyfield II Riddick Bowe vs. Evander Holyfield II, billed as ""Repeat or Revenge"", was a professional boxing match that took place on November 6, 1993 for the WBA, IBF and ""Lineal"" Heavyweight championships. The two fighters had previously met a little less than a year before on November 13, 1992. In what would become one of the greatest heavyweight fights of all time, Bowe would defeat Holyfield by unanimous decision to become the Undisputed Heavyweight Champion. Bowe's reign as Undisputed Champion would not last long,"
"defeated via pinfall at SuperBrawl II. On August 2, 1992 at a house show in Baltimore, Maryland, a scheduled title match between Sting and WCW World Heavyweight Champion Big Van Vader was canceled after Jake Roberts (kayfabe) injured Sting. WCW President Bill Watts responded by holding a raffle to determine the number one contender. Simmons won the raffle and defeated Vader with a snap scoop powerslam to win the championship. By defeating Vader, Simmons became the first recognized African American WCW World Heavyweight Champion and the second African American wrestler to win a World Heavyweight title. Simmons held the title"
"his first 21 fights, he defeated Donovan Ruddock in 1992 to take over the number one position in the WBC rankings. He was declared WBC heavyweight champion later that year after Riddick Bowe gave up the title to avoid defending it against Lewis. He defended the title three times before an upset knockout loss to Oliver McCall in 1994. Lewis avenged the loss in a 1997 rematch to win back the vacant WBC title. Lewis won the lineal title by defeating Shannon Briggs in 1998. Two fights against Evander Holyfield in 1999 (the first of which ended in a controversial"
"of Sports Athlete of the Year for 1993. His next fight, April 1994, he met former WBO Light Heavyweight Michael Moorer, who was attempting to become the first southpaw to become the universally recognised world heavyweight champion. He dropped Moorer in round two, but lost a twelve-round majority decision. When he went to the hospital to have his shoulder checked, he was diagnosed with a heart condition and had to announce his retirement from boxing. It later surfaced that the chairman of the medical advisory board for the Nevada State Athletic Commission believed his condition to be consistent with HGH"
"Futch, lamented that upon his return, Bowe failed to ever achieve the same physical condition for his subsequent fights. Yet, as late as 1995 and past his peak, Bowe was good enough to become the first man to stop Evander Holyfield, outclass former amateur standout and undefeated pro, Jorge Luis González and bludgeon over-matched Herbie Hide to win the then lightly-regarded WBO version of the world heavyweight championship. In 2017, ""The Ring"" magazine ranked Bowe as the 19th best heavyweight of all time in a poll of a panel of 30 trainers, matchmakers and members of the boxing media. The"
"split for the fight's $32 million purse. He would keep his WBA and IBF Heavyweight titles, however, and would successfully defend them in easy victories against Michael Dokes and Jesse Ferguson. After much anticipation, Bowe and Holyfield would meet in a rematch on November 6, 1993 for Bowe's Heavyweight championship. The duo again went 12 rounds with Holyfield earning the victory via majority decision. Evander Holyfield vs. Riddick Bowe Evander Holyfield vs. Riddick Bowe was a professional boxing match that took place on November 13, 1992 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The fight was contested for the undisputed world heavyweight championship,"
"The fight was immediately stopped and Bentt was named the winner by technical knockout at 1:33 of the first round, becoming the new WBO Heavyweight Champion. Morrison's loss not only cost him the WBO title, but also his planned $8 million WBC title fight with Lennox Lewis. Morrison would go undefeated in his next eight fights, which concluded with a knockout of former number one contender Donovan ""Razor"" Ruddock that got him back into contention. After a WBO heavyweight title match with Riddick Bowe fell through, he finally met Lewis in a non-title bout on October 7, 1995, ultimately losing"
"HBO studios. Although the IBF immediately recognized Douglas as its champion, the WBA and WBC initially refused due to Tyson's protest. However, Tyson withdrew his protest four days later amid worldwide public outcry and demands from boxing commissions around the world, and Douglas was officially recognized as undisputed heavyweight champion. While still champion, Douglas appeared on the February 23, 1990 episode of the World Wrestling Federation's ""The Main Event"", as special guest referee for a rematch between Hulk Hogan and ""Macho Man"" Randy Savage. Originally, Tyson was scheduled to be the guest referee, but following the upset, the WWF scrambled"
"major sanctioning bodies—the WBA, WBC, IBF, and WBO—and remains the only heavyweight to do so. 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 stop Holyfield. 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 the sport after the Golota fights, making a low-key return in 2004, but has been inactive since 2008. In a 2010 article by BoxingScene, Bowe was ranked the 21st greatest"
"United Kingdom tied USA for most wins in WBO Heavyweight title fights with 8. WBO struggled with receiving credibility at first, but by the beginning of the 2000s, the WBA was giving the same recognition to WBO champions as it did to WBC and IBF champions. WBO, WBC, IBF and WBA are all recognized as major boxing organizations by each other and the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Riddick Bowe remains the only heavyweight boxer to win all four world titles (WBA, WBC and IBF in 1992–93 and WBO in 1995), while Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko are the only brothers"
"Holyfield retired shortly after the loss, citing a heart ailment that Holyfield later claimed was misdiagnosed. He returned to the ring in 1995 and defeated former contender Ray Mercer in his comeback fight. Bowe, meanwhile, had fought four times since losing his title. In the first, against Buster Mathis, Jr., Bowe was handed a no-contest decision despite knocking Mathis down and then hitting him while he was down, which is normally grounds for a disqualification. After defeating Larry Donald, Bowe won the WBO Heavyweight Championship by knocking out Herbie Hide. After a successful defense of his title against Jorge Luis"
"to an abrupt halt after a knockout loss to Oliver McCall in 2001. Lennox Lewis vs. Henry Akinwande Lennox Lewis vs. Henry Akinwande was a professional boxing match contested on July 12, 1997, for the WBC Heavyweight Championship. On February 7, 1997, Lennox Lewis and Oliver McCall had a rematch to determine who would become the next WBC Heavyweight Champion, as the title had been vacated by previous champion Mike Tyson after Tyson chose not to face Lewis, who was the mandatory challenger. In one of the strangest fights in boxing history, McCall refused to fight in rounds 4 and"
"Herbie Hide vs. Riddick Bowe Herbie Hide vs. Riddick Bowe was a professional boxing match contested on March 11, 1995 for the World Boxing Organization Heavyweight Championship. The bout took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, Nevada, USA, and was televised by HBO. Hide was making the first defense of the title he had won from Michael Bentt in a fight that resulted in Bentt suffering career ending injuries while Bowe was trying to find his way back into the world championship picture sixteen months after he lost his place as champion to Evander Holyfield. After losing"
"it against future world champion Oliver McCall, winning another 12-round decision. He finished 1992 with a 6th-round TKO of Frankie Swindell and set himself up for another world title shot. By 1993, Tucker had run his record up to 48–1 and in May of that year he challenged Lennox Lewis for the WBC world heavyweight title. Lewis won a 12-round unanimous decision, knocking down Tucker twice. It was the first time in 34-year-old Tucker's career that he had been off his feet. In 1995, George Foreman refused to defend his WBA world heavyweight title against Tucker, choosing to fight German"
"was stripped of his WBA Heavyweight title for refusing to fight number one contender Tony Tucker, the WBA organized a fight between Tucker and little–known Bruce Seldon to determine who would become WBA Heavyweight champion. Seldon was able to defeat the aging Tucker by referee technical decision after the fight was stopped in the seventh round due to Tucker's eye being completely swollen shut. He would then successfully defend the title against Joe Hipp, who became the first Native American to challenge for a major heavyweight title, on the undercard of the Tyson–McNeeley fight on September 7, 1995. Since being"
"was finally announced. Evander Holyfield vs. Michael Moorer II Evander Holyfield vs. Michael Moorer II was a professional boxing match contested November 8, 1997 for the WBA and IBF Heavyweight championships. After Riddick Bowe vacated the WBC Heavyweight title in 1992 followed by George Foreman being stripped of both the WBA and IBF Heavyweight titles in 1995, the heavyweight boxing division was in limbo as three different men laid claim to each of the three major heavyweight championships in 1997. Evander Holyfield and Michael Moorer held the WBA and IBF Heavyweight titles respectively, while Lennox Lewis held the WBC version"
"September 1992. Savage briefly addressed the divorce in an issue of ""WWF Magazine"", but it was otherwise not mentioned in kayfabe. Shawn Michaels began receiving his first major push as a main-event singles competitor, as he would challenge Randy Savage for the World Heavyweight Title in Europe, while challenging Bret Hart for the Intercontinental title in the United States, while occasionally teaming with Ric Flair in tag team matches against Hart and Savage. Michaels eventually won the WWF Intercontinental Championship from The British Bulldog (who had won the title from Hart at the SummerSlam event in London, England in August)"