Strange things tend to happen when Riddick Bowe is in the ring. The latest incident was the ugliest and most dangerous.
Bowe was being thrashed by heavy underdog Andrew Golota of Poland on Thursday night when Golota landed at least the fifth low blow of the fight. Already penalized a point three times for such shots, Golota was disqualified, and a riot ensued.Members of Bowe's entourage stormed into the ring, with one going after Golota with a walkie-talkie, cutting the fighter on the top and the back of the head. Golota's trainer, Lou Duva, was carried out of Madison Square Garden on a stretcher, with an oxygen mask helping him breathe.
In the stands, fights broke out everywhere. It was more than a half hour later before calm was restored and the building was evacuated.
This was the weirdest of several bizarre occurrences during Bowe's fights.
In 1991, in Washington against Elijah Tillery, Bowe scored a first-round knockdown. After the bell, Tillery taunted Bowe, who swung lightly in return. So Tillery kicked Bowe in the backside and in the shin as Bowe moved in to retaliate.
When Bowe punched and pushed Tillery to the ropes, Bowe's manager, Rock Newman, wrapped Tillery around the neck and yanked him over the ropes. Tillery landed on Jeffrey Gildenhorn, chairman of the D.C. boxing commmission.
As Tillery attempted to climb back into the ring, referee Karl Milligan signaled his disqualification for "flagrantly kicking" Bowe after the bell. Meanwhile, a series of scuffles broke out in the suddenly full ring.
The District of Columbia Boxing Commission fined Bowe $500 and Newman $2,500. Tillery was fined $2,000 and given a one-year suspension.
Two years later, his second fight with Evander Holyfield was interrupted when James Miller, identifying himself as "Fan Man," crashed his motorized paraglider into the ring ropes in front of a pair of stunned fighters and a crowd of 14,242 at Las Vegas.
For 21 minutes, the heavyweight championship of the world was brought to a standstill as pandemonium erupted just outside Bowe's corner.
Bowe's pregnant wife fainted in the commotion and was tended to by the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who himself was brushed by the glider's ropes as it swooped in. Bowe's aide, Bernard Brooks Sr., was cut on the head by the glider's cage and needed stitches.
Holyfield went on to win a decision.
Nine months later, at Atlantic City, Buster Mathis Jr. was moments away from his first loss when he fell to one knee under a barrage of punches from Bowe. But Bowe said he didn't know his opponent was on one knee, so he delivered a crushing right to Mathis' head, flattening him at 2:11 of the fourth round.
Referee Arthur Mercante called the punch an intentional foul, and the New Jersey Athletic Control Board ruled the scheduled 10-round bout a no-contest. Many people thought Bowe should have been disqualified.