Bowe Beats Cooper to Stay Unbeaten

Olympic silver medalist Riddick Bowe remained undefeated Thursday night by stopping Bert Cooper at the end of the second round of their scheduled 10-round heavyweight fight.

Bowe knocked Cooper down late in the second round, then again as the bell sounded, prompting referee Richard Steele to move in and stop the fight at 3:09 of the second round.

The fight was the featured bout on the undercard of the undisputed heavyweight championship fight between James “Buster” Douglas and Evander Holyfield at the Mirage Hotel and Casino.

Bowe, winning his 20th straight fight as a pro and 18th by knockout, started slowly but began finding the range with right hands in the second round.

With about 20 seconds left in the round, Bowe landed a big overhand right that buckled Cooper’s legs, then followed with another right that put him down.

Cooper was up at the count of five, but Bowe, 230 of Brooklyn, N.Y., was on top of him quickly and landed a series of blows that put him down for the second time as the bell sounded to end the second round.

Steele counted to five before waving the fight to a close.

Cooper, 208 of Philadelphia, fell to 22-7.

It was Cooper’s second straight loss to a member of the 1988 Olympic team. In August, he dropped a 12-round decision to heavyweight gold medalist Ray Mercer. Bowe fought in Seoul as a super-heavyweight.

Another Olympic teammate, light-heavyweight Andrew Maynard, also won Thursday night, scoring a unanimous eight-round decision over Keith McMurray of Las Vegas.