Over the years “retired” boxers have come back more times than Frank Sinatra and Sarah Bernhardt combined, the number of those trying to stuff the toothpaste back into the tube extending far out to sea, well beyond the 12-mile limit. Most come back for the money. Some, like “Sugar” Ray Leonard, come back simply because they miss the roar of the crowd, if not necessarily the smell of the greasepaint. And, of course, there’s George Foreman, who, even today, with tongue not far removed from cheek, continues to hint at a comeback, even at the advanced age of 55, just to keep his name in the news and, not incidentally, sell more grills--or whatever else he is pushing at the time.
Now comes word that one-time heavyweight champ Riddick Bowe is making a comeback after an eight-year absence from the ring. When asked “why,” Bowe sounded like a little boy minimizing a bad school report, saying he was “persuaded” to retire and now is “bored.”
When last seen in the ring some eight years ago, Bowe, whose record stands at 40-1 with 32 KOs, was barely standing. Instead, he was bent over looking like a contortionist trying to come into his own, with powers barely those of respiration, courtesy of several Andrew Golota south-of-the-border blows.
Picking up his dented cup and rearranged nether appendages along with his millions, Bowe retired from the ring and went home to tend to his gardens and his family. However, boredom did appear to get the better of him and after first trying to enlist in the Marines--a one-week sojourn that ended almost before it started--he next was heard of abducting his wife and five children for which he received a 17-month prison term.
Along with his sentence came the sentencing judge’s notation that the boxer was “suffering from slurred speech and brain damage,” a charge Bowe denies, saying it was merely his lawyer’s ruse to get him a reduced sentence. However, it has become common currency amongst the broken beak fraternity that Riddick was, in the vernacular of the trade, “walking on his heels.”
Now out after serving 17 months in prison, the “bored” Bowe is making a comeback. But rather than making that comeback in one of the capitals of boxing, Bowe is making it in Oklahoma, hardly the “hotbed “of boxing. Well, not really in Oklahoma, but at the Citizen Potawatomi Nation’s Fire Lake Casino. And because he is fighting on tribal land, Bowe does not need a license from the Oklahoma Professional Boxing Commission. Nor a pre-fight testing.
(Here, let it be known that Bowe is so certain of victory over the deservedly underrated and ability-challenged Jeff Lally that he already has applied for a license with the Oklahoma commission for a second fight in the state. Nevertheless, his fight at the casino bears the strictest investigation and raises the question of when tribal boxing commissions will align their safety practices with those of the state boxing commissions for the protection of boxers and the betterment of the sport.)
During a recent “Cold Pizza” interview, the marketing director of the casino, in responding to a question about what safety precautions the casino had taken for the protection of the fighters, instead dwelled on the assets of the casino, even mentioning that it had a “grocery store.” Great, Riddick Bowe is fighting for a “grocery store!”
Without putting too fine a point on it, it should be pointed out that many’s the comeback that has ended badly. For references witness Greg Page’s, which ended with Greg in a coma and now partially paralyzed. And further, it should be pointed out that only eight heavyweight champions--including the recently-retired Lennox Lewis--ended their careers with a “W” after their last fight.
No, Riddick Bowe’s “lounge act” in Oklahoma does not appear destined to lead him down the path to another shot at the heavyweight championship. Instead, in all probability it will lead him down another path: that of making the once-poster boy for the sport the poster boy for its abolition.
Bert Randolph Sugar, CMXsports’ Sr. Analyst At-Large, called “ The Guru of Boxing,” has a new book Bert Sugar On Boxing,” (or “The Best of Bert Sugar, The Worst of Bert Sugar, What the Hell’s the Difference?”), published by The Lyon Press and currently available at Border’s, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com.
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By Bert Randolph Sugar, CMXsports (August 27, 2004)
