Bowe Honing Skills for Fight of His Life

In the clear mountain air of central Oregon, Riddick Bowe hones his skills for the fight of his life.

The Sunriver resort along the scenic Deschutes River is a long way from the tough Brownsville section of Brooklyn, where Bowe grew up amid poverty, drugs and despair.

At age 25, Bowe is about to fight Evander Holyfield for the world heavyweight title. Include Riddick Bowe among those who think he’ll win.

“I predict in round seven I’ll be declared the heavyweight champion of the world,” he said. “I think anytime you match a good big man and a good little man, the good big man wins.”

And, at 6-foot-5, Bowe is a big man.

At Sunriver, he’s been shedding the pounds with the help of his nutritionist, comedian Dick Gregory, who began by feeding his pupil up to 250 vitamins per day.

Eddie Futch, the 81-year-old trainer whose past fighters include Joe Frazier and Ken Norton, says Bowe has lost about 30 pounds. He wants his fighter to be at about 235 pounds, 25 pounds heavier than Holyfield, when the two meet Nov. 13 in Las Vegas.

The fight could be the best heavyweight bout in recent years, Futch said.

“You’ve got Holyfield boxing a legitimate heavyweight and a man who is young enough and has enough skills to present a problem for him,” he said.

When betting began on the fight, Bowe became the first heavyweight challenger in 30 years to open at even money.

When asked his strengths, Bowe doesn’t hesitate.

“My size, my punching ability, my youth and Eddie Futch. I’ve got the best in my corner,” he said.

Futch said Bowe has the potential to be the best fighter he’s ever had. And the old trainer almost turned down a chance to work with him.

Bowe had just lost to Lennox Lewis in the gold medal match at the 1988 Olympics. Many questioned his desire. Futch didn’t want anything to do with a fighter who didn’t want to be totally dedicated.

Finally, Bowe’s manager Rock Newman talked Futch into talking to Bowe, who was just 20 at the time.

“First of all, I said, ‘Here’s a kid who has character,”’ Futch said. “He had lived in a building in Brooklyn that had six drug dealers, one on each floor. He had never drank, never smoked, never did drugs. He used to walk his mother to work at night and go and get her in the morning.”

Thirty-one straight victories and 27 knockouts later, Bowe is line for an estimated $10 million check for his title fight. But he is careful not to forget his humble beginnings, when he was the 12th of 13 children in a single-parent family.

“I don’t take one breath of air for granted,” he said. “I feel with my newfound fame, I want to help people.

“I know a lot of guys are selfish. Once they get to where they want to be, they forget about where they come from, how hard they had to work to get where they are.”

Gregory loves the thought of Bowe as champion.

“The world is fixing to get a treat,” he said.

Bowe, Futch said, would make a popular title holder.

“He talks a lot, which doesn’t hurt,” Futch said. “The public, they go for a little spice. He has it, and he’ll get better as he goes along.”

After growing up in the same tough neighborhood that gave the world Mike Tyson, Bowe says he wants to do something for others once he wins the crown.

“I would like to start a drug awareness program and do something about world hunger,” he said, “just be a people’s champion.”

Still, there are critics. Some say Bowe hasn’t fought many tough competitors. Futch counters that his list of opponents is every bit as impressive as that of Holyfield or any other of the top contenders.

And there’s that loss to Lewis four years ago.

“It’ll hang on until he has a chance to avenge it against the same guy,” Futch said.

Bowe wanted to train at a high elevation. After plans for a camp in Reno fell through, Newman called an old acquaintance, Paul Brown of Portland, Brown suggested Sunriver.

The resort town 170 miles southeast of Portland had never seen anything quite like it.

“We weren’t too sure what we were getting into,” Sunriver special events coordinator Sarah Tripp said. “It happened so quickly. We had 48 hours notice to put it together, but it’s worked out really well.”

Bowe is up at 6:30 a.m. for four miles of road work. He returns to his apartment for a nap and a meal. At 3 p.m., he goes to the ring for seven or eight rounds of sparring, followed by bag work.

Although Newman and Futch praise the location of the camp, Bowe says he misses his wife, Judy, and his three children, ages 2 to 6.

He’ll break camp next Tuesday and is to appear on the the “Tonight” show Wednesday night. From there, it’s off to Las Vegas and a week of extreme hype.

Meanwhile, the locals are enjoying the show. On Thursday afternoon, about 200 people watched and applauded politely as Bowe sparred. He drew some oohs when he sent one partner staggering with a vicious right.

Glen Hord of Sunriver was taking in the spectacle for the second time and offered a succinct and accurate impression of the man who might be the next heavyweight champ.