Bowe Has Back Injury, Cancels Fight With Mathis Set for June 11

A back injury has forced former heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe to pull out of his scheduled June 11 bout against Buster Mathis Jr. at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Bowe’s second canceled fight in four months.

Bowe suffered the injury May 27, saw a chiropractor and a doctor last week and could not get out of bed Friday. He has been told to stop training for about a week.

It is unclear whether the current injury will affect his July 15 bout at Hollywood Park against Larry Donald, who knocked out Juan Antonio Diaz 1:27 into the sixth round Saturday at Reno.

“We’ve got to play it by ear,” Bowe’s manager, Rock Newman, said Saturday. “A lot of things are up in the air.”

In January, Bowe suffered a cut over his right eye in training that forced the cancellation of his Feb. 5 bout against Francois Botha, also scheduled for Caesars.

Bowe has not fought since he lost his World Boxing Assn. and International Boxing Federation titles to Evander Holyfield last November.

The three undercard fights on the Bowe-Mathis show probably will be held as scheduled on June 11, but be moved to the Forum.

Including its scheduled June 13 card, that would give the Forum two fight cards in three days.