SHAWNEE, Okla. -- Riddick Bowe wants to return to boxing. He
doesn't plan to end up like Mike Tyson.
Bowe announced Thursday that he planned to begin a 15-fight
comeback tour with his sights set on contending for the heavyweight
crown within 18 months. But Bowe says he isn't doing it for the
money; he's doing it out of desire.
Bowe says he's financially sound. He simply sees a weak
heavyweight division, following the retirement of Lennox Lewis, as
an opportunity ripe for the taking.
"I'm just sitting and being bored, and I could be champion
again," Bowe said at the news conference announcing the fight.
Bowe's first fight in seven years will be Sept. 25 against
low-ranked heavyweight veteran Jeff Lally (23-23-1, 10 KOs) at Fire
Lake Casino, about 40 miles east of Oklahoma City.
Bowe (40-1, 32 KOs), who turned 37 on Aug. 10, has not fought
since December 1996, when he beat Andrew Golota by disqualification
for the second time.
"I truly believe that I'm the best fighter out there,
especially when I get in good shape," Bowe said. "The division is
wide open, so why not?"
Bowe said he thinks he can contend with the top heavyweight
boxers -- including the Klitschko brothers and Chris Byrd -- but
wants to take time to regain his timing and range.
"He's in pretty good shape for where he's at," Bowe's manager,
Jimmy Adams, said. "He don't abuse his body. He's not into, he
never has been into drugs. He don't drink, don't party. The only
thing was when he'd eat something, and that weight's coming off him
now."
"He's had 7½ years off from being in the ring. It's all about
getting his swagger back, getting his timing back and just getting
the dust off."
Even in his prime, Bowe struggled with his weight, but he hopes
to change that. While spending 17 months in federal prison for
kidnapping his estranged wife and their five children, Bowe ran 3
miles every day and shed 70 pounds to get down to 255 pounds.
"My weakness is food, but we're going to put the food on the
shelf for a little while," Bowe said.
Bowe plans to keep the weight off in part by staying active. He
plans to fight 15 times in the next 18 months as he attempts to
move up the heavyweight rankings. He said that when he began
boxing, he would frequently fight every month or multiple times a
month.
"Doing it that way, I don't lose focus," Bowe said. "I don't
have time to get in trouble or go do other things. My weight stays
down. I get sharper. At one point, I used to think I got prettier,
but that's not the case."
Adams said Bowe would begin with low-ranked boxers and work his
way up to serious title contenders.
"We're not interested in doing what Mike Tyson did: just come
back and go fight Danny Williams," Adams said. "Even though
nobody knew Danny Williams, still his record was 31 wins and 26
knockouts. Automatically, that tells you that Danny Williams is a
puncher. And you ought to know Tyson gets knocked out.
"We're not interested in going that route starting out."
Bowe and Adams both said they know very little about Lally, who
is from Louisville, Ky. Lally, whose losses include a technical
knockout loss to David Tua, hasn't won a bout since 1999.
"His claim to glory would be beating Riddick Bowe," Adams
said.
Bowe's ascent to the heavyweight title was untarnished. He won
his first 31 fights, 29 by knockout, to earn a fight Nov. 13, 1992,
against Evander Holyfield for the title. Bowe won by decision.
He lost the WBC title outside the ring when he didn't fight
Lewis -- the same man who beat him to win the gold medal in the 1988
Olympics -- then lost the WBA and IBF titles by majority decision to
Holyfield on Nov. 6, 1993. It was his only career loss.
Bowe fought 10 more times, but only flashed dominance in a
sixth-round knockout of Jorge Luis Gonzalez in June 1995. Later
that year, he was knocked down before stopping Holyfield in the
eighth round of a non-title fight.
In 1996, Bowe was losing both bouts against Golota before
disqualifications gave him victories. Golota was called for low
blows in both fights.
Bowe announced his retirement in April 1997 and his
outside-the-ring troubles soon began.
In May 1997, Bowe and his sister, Velma Melton, were involved in
a spat in which both reportedly got split lips. Bowe quickly
announced a reconciliation.
The next year, he was arrested for abducting his first wife and
their five children. He eventually pleaded guilty to interstate
domestic violence and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. He was
released in May.
In April, a judge dismissed a lawsuit filed against Bowe and his
former manager, Rock Newman, by a Sports Illustrated photographer
who says he was hurt eight years ago during mayhem after one of the
boxer's bouts at Madison Square Garden.
In June, Bowe was acquitted of assault charges after his current
wife, Terri, and three other alleged victims failed to appear in
court.