BOXING / TIM KAWAKAMI : Bowe Hits Potholes on Road Back to Title

Not so long ago, a big man in a small gym shouted as he worked.

“I’m the best in the world at what I do,” Riddick Bowe screamed at his smaller sparring partner while jostling him around the ring. “Want to know why?”

On cue, Bowe surged forward, slamming his left jab into Garing Lane’s face and pouncing on his wobbling foe with two quick hooks, a left and a right, that sent him staggering. Bowe’s voice grew even louder.

“I am the real champion!” Bowe boomed. “Won’t be long now.”

After the workout, as the former heavyweight champion of the world strolled past a reporter, Bowe barked: “See. See? Just a matter of time before I’m champ again. Just a matter of time.”

And at that moment about a month ago, with that hard-bitten look, those blazing hands and that 255-pound body, who could argue with him?

*

Bowe was supposed to have begun his quest to regain his championship tonight at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, site of his last fight--a loss to Evander Holyfield in November.

Light-hitting Buster Mathis Jr. was not supposed to be a battle, only the first leg of the 26-year-old Bowe’s comeback journey. The second was scheduled for July 15 at Hollywood Park against Larry Donald. A third, against an opponent not yet chosen, was set for August. All would be televised by HBO. Bowe was to receive millions, keep his name in the paper and showcase the skills that led him to the title in November of 1992.

But last Saturday, the Mathis bout was canceled and the other two fights were thrown into limbo when Bowe was ordered by doctors to stop all physical activity after suffering back spasms.

What now? This setback, on the heels of his cancellation of a February bout because of a cut, came as Bowe’s hunger for redemption at last seemed to outweigh his appetite for fatty foods and sweet thoughts of a wealthy retirement.

Rock Newman, Bowe’s manager, said the only way the fighter and his people can approach this run of misfortune--the loss in November, the two scrapped fights--is accepting that what does not kill a former heavyweight champion can only make him stronger.

“A lot of good things have happened for us,” Newman said. “But now, we’re sort of hitting our share of bumps in the road. What I’ve tried to explain to Riddick is that coping with injuries is part of this business, just like learning to duck a hook.”

Bowe was scheduled to see a doctor Friday morning, and if he gets the medical OK, could return to training as soon as Monday, trainer Eddie Futch said.

Assuming a clean bill of health--and Newman said Bowe, after a lot of rest, has been feeling much better--Newman plans to keep the July 15 date but perhaps switch Mathis for Donald and move the Donald bout to August.

This is a scenario that probably is not agreeable to the Donald camp, which has been hoping to draw an uninterested, thick Bowe into the ring. Getting Bowe in his first fight since last November, instead of his second, makes their chances stronger.

There are already rumbles that this is a concocted injury, that Bowe and Newman want to avoid Donald, who won his 15th consecutive fight last week and is a tall, talented boxer.

“Riddick has been through some wars with the likes of Evander Holyfield,” Newman said. “Let me tell you: Larry Donald is not exactly the kind of guy who makes us shake in our boots. If we were ever going to do any avoiding, it would be with somebody else, not Larry Donald.”

Futch said: “Doesn’t matter to me. Mathis or Donald, if Riddick is in shape, he’ll handle either one.”

But these are all only scenarios, those around Bowe concede. With someone as prone to eating binges and slackening work habits as Bowe, the only important issue is where his mind is.

Bowe went to his Big Bear camp in early May still in a kind of gentle limbo, not quite dedicated to furious work but not quite ready to give up hopes of regaining the titles.

His wife, Judith, had just given birth to a son, Julius; he was building his dream house in the Washington suburbs, and he had millions in the bank from his championship tenure.

He weighed about 270 pounds. He was sluggish.

Then, in the span of a few days, he was angry, spitting out his fury and training the way he had trained before first winning a title.

What happened? He watched Michael Moorer barely hang on to defeat Holyfield on April 22, in a victory further dampened by the discovery that Holyfield was suffering from a congenital heart problem--and Bowe knew his size, his long left jab and his quick hands would be effective against the smaller, left-handed Moorer.

Then Bowe watched his nemesis, Lennox Lewis, retain the World Boxing Council title in an awkward knockout of journeyman Phil Jackson on May 6, and Bowe knew that the heavyweight division was crying out for him.

“I could whup Moorer and Lennox, both of those guys, in one night,” Bowe said at camp. “Oh, I miss being champion more than anything in the world. That’s why the desire is here.

“You know, I could be home with my newborn son. He was born on a Tuesday and I left on Sunday. But I’m here sacrificing and once again trying to prove to the world that I’m the best.”

Then came the cancellation.

These summer fights were designed to round Bowe into shape, both mentally and physically, for a title shot either late this year or in early 1995. Already, Moorer’s people are considering a Bowe fight for next spring.

Will a once-beaten, twice-canceled Bowe be ready to take advantage of the opportunity?

Futch, for one, said the hard moments seem to have made his fighter want the title more.

“Before he left to go home to D.C., he made a point to come and sit in my room and say, ‘We’re going to do it again just like we did it before,’ ” Futch said.

“For him to come and volunteer that attitude, that made me feel the guy is ready. And he will be ready again.

“This has become very clear to him: This is what he’s all about. Everything he is was built on him winning fights. Everything he’s got is based on him being heavyweight champion of the world.

“He realizes that now in no uncertain terms.”

Calendar

Tonight--Jorge Paez vs. Juan Gomez, lightweights; Mark Johnson vs. Jose Quirino, flyweights; Carlos Hernandez vs. Tommy Valdez, junior-lightweights; Daniel Zaragoza vs. Francisco Soto, bantamweights. Forum, 7.

Monday--David Kamau vs. Raul Hernandez, junior-welterweights; Ray Lathon vs. Jesus Castaneda, light-heavyweights. Forum, 7:30 p.m.