Bowe Avoids the Past, Takes On the Future

Promoter Dan Goossen had his newest fighter, former two-time heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe, right where he wanted him, in the center of a ring of media members, cameras running, tape recorders operating, notebooks filling up.

Yet Goossen, momentarily forgetting the boxing adage that all publicity is good publicity, suddenly leaped into the mix, trying to protect his fighter from the barrage of questions coming at Bowe from all sides:

Why did you abduct your former wife and five children?

What makes you think you can make a comeback at 37?

Are you mentally competent to step back in the ring, considering lawyers representing you once claimed the contrary in court?

What was that brief lark with the U.S. Marines all about?

What happened between you and your old promoter, Rock Newman?

“No questions about the past,” Goossen admonished the media, gathered at a recent luncheon for Bowe in a Sherman Oaks restaurant. “We’re here to talk about the future.”

But the future for Bowe, which begins with tonight’s 10-round main event in the Pechanga Resort and Casino at Temecula against little-known Billy Zumbrun (18-5-1, 10 knockouts) of Utah, doesn’t appear to be anywhere near as interesting as Bowe’s checkered past.

A fighter falling from grace is hardly news. But perhaps never has a fighter fallen from such heights in such a bizarre manner.

Blessed with height (6 feet 4 1/2 ), strength and mobility, Bowe, winner of the silver medal in the super-heavyweight division at the 1988 Olympics, was considered by many as the next great heavyweight and the savior of the division after he won a decision over Evander Holyfield to unify the title in 1992. Bowe’s good-natured personality also was a welcome relief from the surly Mike Tyson, whose heavyweight reign had been interrupted by Buster Douglas.

But a year later, Bowe was gone, beaten by Holyfield in a fight that will be best remembered for a surreal, 21-minute interruption in the seventh round when a man in a parachute landed in the outdoor ring at Las Vegas’ Caesars Palace.

It was only the first of many strange moments in Bowe’s plummeting career, and life.

There were his two 1996 fights against Andrew Golota, both of which were won by Bowe via disqualification because of low blows by Golota. The first of those fights caused a near riot at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

There was the kidnapping of Bowe’s first wife, Judy, and their five children in 1998, which resulted in 17 months in federal prison for Bowe. His attorneys, including Johnnie Cochran Jr., maintained Bowe wasn’t responsible for his actions because of brain damage suffered in the ring.

Bowe already had raised some eyebrows over his behavior when he abruptly joined the Marines in 1996, but lasted only 11 days.

So what has brought Bowe back to the ring?

“I’m kind of bored,” he said. “I look at the heavyweights today and these guys don’t know what they are doing. I’ve forgotten more than they know.”

Bowe ended an absence of nearly eight years from boxing when he beat Marcus Rhode in September at Shawnee, Okla., on a second-round technical knockout to improve his record to 41-1 with 33 knockouts.

Bowe still speaks of that one loss, in the “Fan Man” fight, in conspiratorial tones, speaks about the fact that he thought the Holyfield corner was prepared for the unprecedented arrival of an airborne gate-crasher, that somehow it was arranged to upset Bowe’s concentration.

Being a conspiracy theorist doesn’t signal brain damage, and Bowe satisfied the members of the California State Athletic Commission that he is mentally competent by passing a series of neurological tests before being granted a license.

He now maintains the claims of mental incompetence were a legal ploy to ease his sentence.

There is no noticeable slur in Bowe’s speech, no evident anger in his manner. The old, playful Bowe was on display at the Sherman Oaks news conference.

Asked if he had noticed any slurring, Goossen said, “I’m not training him to do Othello. I just want him to beat people up.”

Bowe calls his prison time “a learning experience,” laughs about his brief service in the Marines, says he won’t talk about Newman, with whom he had a financial dispute, and insists he’s serious about this comeback. Having ballooned to well over 300 pounds, Bowe says he’ll come in tonight at about 270 and hopes to eventually fight at 245 to 250 pounds.

“When I retired, I needed to rest,” he said. “Well, I’ve had eight years’ rest. Now I’m in it for the long haul.”

And will he get frustrated if his comeback proves difficult or is ultimately a failure?

“I can’t afford to,” he said. “When I get frustrated, I wind up in jail.”

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Tonight’s card features three Olympic medal winners. In the semi-main event, 2004 gold-medal winner Andrew Ward (2-0, 1) faces Roy Ashworth (3-1) in a six-round middleweight bout. In a 10-round match, heavyweight Vassiliy Jirov (33-3, 29) a former cruiserweight champion and 1996 Olympic gold medalist, goes against Forrest Neal (16-5, 12).

*--* Fight Card * Who: Riddick Bowe (41-1, 33 KOs) vs. Billy Zumbrun (18-5-1, 10 KOs). * What: 10-round heavyweight bout. * When: Today, 5 p.m. (FSNW2). * Where: Pechanga Resort, Temecula.

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