The Greatest Boxing Matches of the 90s: Riddick Bowe - Evander Holyfield - 1

The Greatest Boxing Matches of the 90s: Riddick Bow – Evender Holyfield – 1

Since their first meeting, the two boxers have raised the bar high

Boxing in the 1990s offered us fights that caught the eye of any sports fan. Some of them are even considered the greatest duels of all time. Matches that pit world-dominating competitors against young stars ready to take the sky and shine brightly with the clear idea of taking the champion's place.

In a similar situation, Evander Holyfield and Riddick Bowe fall, who fight more than one battle with each other, but the first one is among the most memorable in the entire history of boxing. After the knockout against Buster Douglas Holyfield became the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and managed to defend his title in matches against Burt Cooper, George Foreman and Larry Holmes. The 30-year-old boxer is doing perfectly well, but his next match is against the talented Riddick Bowe. Big, powerful and just 25 years old, Bowe is determined to dethrone Holyfield.

The match took place on October 25, 1990 at the Thomas & Max Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Bowe is the competitor with the best straight kick and the expectation going into the match is for him to control events. The first round, however, goes to Holyfield, who moves extremely well and lands the more accurate punches. From the second part develops and comes the change. Despite bomb after bomb flying at the head of the 25-year-old challenger, he is not even shaken and, although he hits less often, does more damage to the world champion.

In the fifth round, Holyfield returned to the match and his tactics began to work against a visibly tired Bowe. Only a round later, however, the world champion also slows down the pace of the match. From the seventh to the ninth round, the two exchange blow after blow, and it becomes very difficult to judge whose combinations are doing more work. Bowe's right eye is about to close, but so is Holyfield.

Part number 10 starts with a strong left hook from the challenger and two very powerful left uppercuts. 35 more accurate hits to Holyfield's head and body followed. The world champion lands blow after blow but stays on his feet. Not only that, he watches for a mistake by Bowe that is made and follows up with a powerful uppercut and a terrific right to the head of the talented boxer. With the gong comes a gruesome exchange of blows that turns Round 10 of the first fight between them into one of the most memorable in boxing history.

Realizing that he was behind, Holyfield started aggressively in the 11th round, and Bowe was clearly hurt from the end of the previous one. However, the aggression leads to errors and the first knockdown of the match after a super right hand from Bowe. The world champion is on his feet, but apparently no longer has the strength. The competitor approaches him sensibly and simply uses his height, which is 8 centimeters more, and manages to keep Holyfield at a distance.

The match ended in this way, which, although not attractive, brought a decisive victory for Riddick Bowe with a full unanimous decision of the judges.

From the very first fight between Evander Holyfield and Riddick Bowe, it was clear that their rivalry would become one of the greatest of the 1990s. Both of them do not disappoint us.

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