Transcription
In 1992, the boxing world was elated to hear that Evander "The Real Deal" Holyfield was finally scheduled to fight number one contender Riddick "Big Daddy" Bowe. At the time, the undefeated Holyfield had been criticized for mainly fighting over-the-hill boxers like Larry Holmes and George Foreman. It was not yet known that Foreman was still very much championship level, so there was no better fighter to prove Holyfield's legitimacy than the young, very big, and very skilled Riddick Bowe.
Holyfield had used Bowe as a sparring partner back when Holyfield was a cruiserweight and Bowe was just an amateur. This experience gave Bowe confidence that he had all the tools necessary to take the championship from Holyfield in violent fashion. If nothing else, the unique styles possessed by both men would prove to make an interesting matchup. Holyfield's strong, consistent rhythm was the backbone of his style. By staying in constant motion, he always had momentum to put into his punches. Rather than commit more weight by stepping one foot at a time, Holyfield instead moved both feet together. This way, he could execute more subtle, rapid adjustments than would otherwise have been possible. Holyfield could glide back and forth just at the edge of an opponent's range, enticing them to overreach so that he could quickly rebound right back to counter. Watching Holyfield at his best was like watching a violent ballet.
Aside from footwork, Holyfield also used high guard, Philly shell, and cross guard tactics to stay safe. These extra layers of defense allowed him to effectively wrestle and in-fight against much larger men. Often the man with the shorter reach, Holyfield's infighting put him in range for rapid-fire combinations where he could expertly use one punch to set up the next. To top it all off, Holyfield was extremely intelligent and would keep track of what he could hit you with and then build on it.
In contrast to Holyfield's high-volume in-and-out style, Bowe was the quintessential boxer-puncher. He boasted one of the best jabs in boxing and used it to control the ring and set up harder shots. A fighter who can throw disciplined, tight shots and then suddenly transition to devastating haymakers is one of the most dangerous fighters to deal with, and Bowe could do this at both long range and close range, showcasing a signature power punch for each. At long range, Bowe possessed a terrifying overhand right, which ended the night for many unfortunate opponents. At close range, Bowe employed a powerful rear uppercut, which ruined the ambitions of many smaller competitors who had hoped to win the fight on the inside.
So many focused on Bowe's punches that they failed to realize how nuanced his defense was. By slipping, ducking, and sidestepping as he punched, Bowe could continue to apply pressure and close distance even while under attack by intercepting an opponent's jab, which stifled their ability to put together combinations, destroy their rhythm, and made sure he wasn't at risk of being out-pointed.
But all of that aside, Bowe had one advantage that none of Holyfield's competitors had enjoyed before: having already sparred him as a young man, Bowe had been inspired by Holyfield's techniques and work ethic and knew exactly what to expect. What he expected was an absolute war, and as it turns out, he was right.
Holyfield looked to take the initiative early, getting Bowe's timing with a number of lightning-fast jabs and then stepping in to throw rapid-fire combinations. But Bowe managed to evade the large majority of Holyfield's punches, utilizing a highly active guard, meaning that Bowe took the time to address each punch with a different technique rather than shell up and hope for the best. As expected, it looked as if Holyfield hoped to outpace Bowe and then continuously beat him to the punch. In this spirit, Holyfield repeatedly led with his right, hoping that his cross would pose enough of a threat to intimidate Bowe and set up more punches. But Bowe was actually happy about this, as throwing across would undoubtedly put Holyfield in range for Bowe to land tight hooks and uppercuts.
Holyfield, one of the best conditioned athletes ever, seemed unperturbed and continued to pile on the pressure. The contrast in size and power was on full display when Bowe landed one of his jabs, which snapped Holyfield's head back. In fact, Bowe's jabs seemed to move Holyfield more than Holyfield's power punches moved Bowe. If "The Real Deal" hoped to win, this would need to be a battle of attrition, but all that went out the window near the end of the round when the two engaged in a display of pure hostile aggression.
However, both men were fantastic at defending punches as they threw, working slips, weaves, and rolls into their attacks. The round came to a close, and both men went back to their corners, where their coaches would no doubt encourage them to stick to the game plan.
However, in round two, after a short fill-out period, in which one of Holyfield's rights got through Bowe's guard, the two again erupted into an all-out brawl in the center of the ring. It was Bowe who initiated this time, smashing two hard hooks into Holyfield from the clinch. But when it came to fight or flight instinct, Holyfield had been born without the flight part. He followed Bowe's hook back with his own, pressed forward, and then threw a looping left. But Bowe ducked under the shorter man's punch, then returned a hard right to Holyfield's temple. The two then threw a torrent of punches, but all missed their mark.
The two seemed to be in each other's rhythm now, and every punch was blocked, ducked under, or shoulder rolled, deadlocked at mid-range. The two pressed close to infight, testing each other's strength and trading hard uppercuts and hooks. Once again, they seemed near equally matched, each man taking the other's punches in stride. Holyfield doubled up on lead hooks, and Bowe returned the favor. Then the round finished with both men throwing a simultaneous hard right, both slipping inside to avoid the other's punch.
But this actually voted worse for Holyfield, who had planned to beat Bowe's rights with his own. Holyfield may not have accounted for how well Bowe could move his head while throwing punches. If Bowe was able to stay safe while throwing his cross, then it didn't matter whose punch was straighter or faster; it only mattered who could do damage if and when the punch landed.
Round three started well for Holyfield, who added on tight hooks to his lead right, but he didn't fare near so well at close range, taking a hard lead uppercut to rear hook combination. This is a classic technique: the uppercut enticing the opponent to tighten the guard and then the hook going around it. It was clear that if Holyfield hoped to have any success bullying the much larger man up close, he would have to at least wait until the later rounds when Bowe had tired out a bit.
Meanwhile, Bowe began to successfully add hooks to his 1-2, but Holyfield adjusted to this combo with 30 seconds left in the round, moving in closer to smother Bowe's hook, then sidestepping right to create an angle for his own lead hooks. Holyfield tended to do very well against wide looping punches; he could weave underneath them to counter or get inside them with shorter, tighter shots. But Bowe seemed unfazed. It was only three rounds into the fight, and already the two competitors had each given and taken punches that would have obliterated many of their prior competitors.
In his corner, Holyfield's coach told him to stop loading up on shots and just get there first. The fourth began, and Holyfield seemed to take this advice to heart, throwing a number of crisp jabs at the start of the round. But then, inexplicably, he went back to infighting against Big Daddy Bowe. Perhaps he thought his superior speed would let him pick holes in Bowe's guard as he had with Foreman, but Bowe knew how to sidestep to create angles from up close. Although Holyfield's cross guard and Philly shell tactics absorbed much of the impact, a lot of the power from Bowe's punches was still getting through.
So mid-round, the two again slugged it out at mid-range. Neither man seemed to care so much about defense this time, and both landed good clean shots. Of course, equal exchanges like this would favor Bowe in the long run. The fourth had been fought at an insane pace for heavyweights. Well aware of Holyfield's propensity for wearing out bigger men, Bowe's corner told him to work behind his jab.
But Holyfield used Bowe's jab to get in close, then piled on the pressure, ducking under both shots to counter with tight hooks. Ironically, it was Holyfield who was utilizing the jab, even tripling up on it. This seemed to remind Bowe, who began to beat Holyfield back with his own jab, neutralized at long range. Perhaps feeling that Bowe was already starting to slow, Holyfield attempted to in-fight again. Bowe gave him a number of tight hooks and uppercuts for his troubles, but maybe Holyfield's constant wrestling was actually working, as he was finally able to counter Bowe's jab with a hard overhand near the end of the round.
But once again, Bowe's uppercut worked well to punish Holyfield's cross. Despite this, Holyfield seemed to be gaining some momentum. It was up to him to build on it. In the sixth, however, Bowe must have been pleasantly surprised to find that Holyfield did the exact opposite. This would have been the perfect time for Evander to ramp up the pressure and tire out the larger man, but it's possible Bowe's constant body shots had taken their toll and enticed Holyfield to take a break. Holyfield looked to use his cross guard and Philly shell tactics to stay safe in the meantime, but Bowe's long reach allowed him to punch around Holyfield's.
The pace slowed, and although each landed some nice shots during the brief but exciting exchanges, both men returned to their corners with nothing much to show for the sixth. From his corner, Bowe could hear the crowd chant "Let's go, Bowe!" along with the boos in response from the Holyfield fans. Nonetheless, both seemed revitalized from the chant.
In the seventh, Bowe caught Holyfield with his cleanest one-two yet. Holyfield had been taking huge shots with such nonchalance throughout the duration of the fight that Bowe didn't seem to realize he had hurt him badly. But once he did realize, Bowe piled on, throwing hook after hook as Holyfield desperately tried to find safety on the inside. But Bowe wouldn't let him, wisely stepping off angle to create space and land a thunderous uppercut. However, Holyfield's chin must have been made of adamantium, as he immediately stepped back and went into defensive mode, blocking and rolling Bowe's punches.
As mentioned before, Holyfield had no quit in him. He stayed active and picked his shots, surviving off of his jab, angled footwork, and head movement. All in all, Holyfield only took one more hard shot, a counter hook, then piled on the pressure to actually win the last minute of the round. During the break, Holyfield's corner told him to draw the jab, slip it, and counter with an overhand, then follow up with the left hook. That's a complicated thing to tell a man that just took several big shots from Big Daddy Bowe.
Holyfield would soon get his chance, as Bowe started the eighth with a tremendous jab. But rather than counter, Holyfield took the jab, his head snapping back. Though Holyfield was by no means out of the fight, he didn't seem to have fully recovered yet either. His rhythm was just a little off, and he always seemed to be just a moment behind Bowe, losing the tail end of every exchange. Bowe wasn't fading or slowing as of yet. If things continued this way, there would soon be a new heavyweight champion of the world.
But in the night, Holyfield had recovered enough to execute the strategy his corner had asked for. In the eighth, he went back to basics, moving back and forth at angles to land his jab and force Bowe to follow his rhythm. This way, Holyfield would be ready to counter Bowe's counter at his own tempo, rather than trying to intercept Bowe's right with his own—a dangerous proposition. Holyfield instead evaded, then returned fire. It was a dominant round for Holyfield, just as it seemed that he was out of the fight.
But Bowe knew that he could hurt Holyfield with just one punch. He could afford to lose a round so long as it didn't become a habit. Bowe had three more rounds to prove that he was destined to become heavyweight champion of the world. In their respective corners, both men had to have one of their eyes seen to. Holyfield's left eye had been closing over a number of rounds, and Bowe's right eye was now damaged from a punch throughout the previous round. Ironically, this meant that both men were now vulnerable to the other's best weapon. Bowe would have trouble seeing Holyfield's lead hook, and Holyfield would have trouble seeing Bowe's right.
But at the very start of the round, it was Bowe's left that caught Holyfield, snapping his head back and stunning him. Bowe's jab hit so hard that he could actually rock opponents with it. Bowe followed up with a 1-2-3, forcing Holyfield to clinch. But now Bowe used a combination that his contemporary Mike Tyson also favored: he first threw a body hook to open Holyfield's guard, then shifted back to clear space for a right uppercut that slammed into Holyfield's chin.
This time, Holyfield's iron chin cracked. He stumbled back, and Bowe gave chase. Every punch Bowe threw seemed to rock the champion, who veered unsteadily from side to side on weak legs. Holyfield stayed upright on sheer instinct, shelling up and biting down on his mouth guard, but Bowe was sure he had him and threw punch after punch after punch. Despite 42 unanswered punches, somehow Holyfield had never touched the canvas. The champion finally returned to punch, then another, then another, working his way into the clinch each time, trying to buy himself precious seconds to recover.
Bowe was now completely spent and had little choice but to let him. What's more, with a minute left in the round, Holyfield had regained his stamina while Bowe was still weary. Now, Holyfield went on the offensive, landing punch after punch on Bowe, who had been so close to victory just a minute earlier. Bowe rationalized it was better to absorb the shots and preserve his stamina rather than open up and risk taking cleaner hits. He threw enough to stay in the fight but took shot after shot until finally the bell rang.
The two went back to their corners, and no one watching had any idea what could possibly happen next. From his corner, Bowe noticed Holyfield watching him, looking to assess just how much stamina he had left. Regardless of the answer, there were only two rounds left for Holyfield. It was now or never. Holyfield went to work from the start of the 11th, unloading punch after punch on Bowe, but Bowe had recovered his endurance and intercepted Holyfield's hook with his own.
Holyfield staggered back and went to clinch, but this time Bowe was ready. Rather than flurry as he had last time, he picked his moment, landing yet another hard uppercut. He then ducked under Holyfield's attempt to clinch to angle off and land the decisive punch of the fight. Holyfield slumped to the canvas, his body finally betraying him.
Then somehow, believe it or not, Holyfield got back up. This surprised pretty much everybody but Bowe, who knew from experience that Holyfield had the biggest heart of any man in the sport. If he got knocked down, he would come back at you even harder. That's exactly what Holyfield tried to do, but this time something was different. Holyfield no longer had the strength to clinch, nor the reflexes to avoid punches. All the power seemed to have drained out of him, and this was very apparent the few times he managed to connect with a clean shot.
Holyfield's heart was willing, but his body was simply done, and this held true through the 12th and final round, where both seemed content to shrug off Holyfield's severely weakened punches and stick to jabbing and countering. At this point in the fight, I wasn't sure if Bowe was going easy on Holyfield or was simply exhausted, so I decided to ask him. "No, I wasn't exhausted," Bowe said. "The fact is, you've gotta remember he is very smart. He's watching everything. I knew I had to fight longer, but eventually if you burn yourself out, he's going to get you. So I had to be smart and take it easy on him. I knew I was ahead on points, but I didn't want to blow it by being tired or he'd even give me because he's good for that."
The bell rang, and Riddick Bowe was announced as the new heavyweight champion of the world. "I felt like that," Bowe recalled. "I could have died right then because I was the heavyweight champion. I felt like I had done everything I was supposed to."
A huge thanks to Bowe for the interview; it was very much appreciated. Make sure to subscribe to see what happened in the rematches, as well as more fights from the new segment "Boxing Wars of the '90s," featuring Bowe, Holyfield, Tyson, and many more great fighters. You can check out my books on power, defense, and footwork if you'd like to learn more of the techniques in the video linked below from the Modern Martial Artist. This has been David Christian, wishing you happy training.