Riddick "Big Daddy" Bowe
In 1988 Riddick Bowe won an Olympic Silver medal and the following year he turned professional. Earlier in his professional career Bowe was kept insanely busy and between March 1989 and October 1991 he had advanced his record 26-0 (23) with wins over the likes of Pinklon Thomas and controversially Tony Tucker. In his 27th bout he faced Elijah Tillery who had massed himself a record of 23-4 (15) in a career that dated back to 1980. This bout was supposed to be a stepping stone for Bowe who was meant to look fantastic, pick up a regional WBC title and take a step towards a world title, instead it turned into a farce that quickly escalated into a brawl.

Towards the end of the opening round Tillery was dropped and although he got up the bell appeared to be very late in being rung. When the referee finally told the men to go to their corners Bowe landed a cheap shot and Tillery retaliated with a series of kicks, which as you can see in the view sparked a full blown brawl between the two men. The brawl was ended when Tillery was “helped” out of the ring by Bowe's manager Rock Newman who literally dragged backwards over the top rope.

The two men would rematch a few months later with Bowe scoring a 4th round TKO victory in less controversial circumstances. Bowe would eventually become a multi-time world champion and record an impressive ledger of 43-1-0-1 (33) with victories over the likes of Evander Holyfield, Andrew Golota, Herbie Hide, Larry Donald, and Michael Dokes (amongst others) though was better remembered for the controversies that followed him through out his career.

For Tillery this bout was the beginning of the end and he retired for good in 1993 with a record of 23-7 (15) losing his final bout by by 7th round TKO to former world champion James “Bone Crusher” Smith.

Enjoy the bout and the brawl thanks to jaguar6633

 


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