Futch

It seems to be an occupational hazard of fighters that they start telling you how good they are about the time they learn to put the protective cup on without assistance. Riddick Bowe was like that.The heavyweight champ once explained away a loss in the amateurs for the reason his mind wasn't on the match because of something that happened a month before, a parking ticket or something.Riddick always seemed to be only about 40 percent of what he professed right up until a year ago when he won the championship in as unrelenting and action-packed a heavyweight slugfest as you're apt to see. It was against Evander Holyfield, however, and, well, there are still legions of fans who regard the ex-champ as no more than a blown-upcruiserweight.

LAS VEGAS -- In the early 1950s, when Richie Giachetti was growing up in Uniontown, Pa., near Pittsburgh, he found heaven when Barnum and Bailey's circus set up the big tent in a park a few blocks from his home."

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- It's not easy being introduced as "the best individual in the history of boxing," but Eddie Futch didn't squirm."It hasn't been hard to do the things I've done," said the sweetest scientist Thursday. "I just harkened back to Hamlet: 'Above all, to thine own self be true and it next follows as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to anyone.' "Not too many boxing people harken back to Hamlet. Fewer believe being truthful is one of the sport's 10 commandments.

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- It was several weeks after his controversial victory over Andrew Golota at Madison Square Garden in July, and Riddick Bowe was feeling sorry for himself.Bowe, who had ballooned to 280 pounds, paid a visit to his mother, Dorothy, looking for a little sympathy and a large dose of soul food. Instead, he got a tongue-lashing."My momma told me Golota had kicked my butt and that I embarrassed our whole family," said the former heavyweight champion. "That was when I knew I had to get back in shape and fight Golota again."

The morning after Riddick Bowe's exhilarating victory over then-heavyweight champ Evander Holyfield in Las Vegas last November, Bowe's trainer, Eddie Futch, dissected the fight and suggested the new champion had much room for improvement."

LAS VEGAS -- The boos over how Riddick Bowe's last fight ended barely had subsided when the first blows were struck in his next."He's too slow, too easy to hit," said George Benton, Evander Holyfield's trainer, shaking his head after Bowe's seventh-round TKO over Pierre Coetzer, a South African version of George Chuvalo, at the Mirage on Saturday night.It was a rousing bout, but many in the crowd of 4,000 were unhappy because another low blow by Bowe, who had a point deducted in the sixth round, set up the winning barrage that forced referee Mills Lane to stop the bout at 2:59 of the seventh.

LAS VEGAS -- He has been fighting professionally less than five years, and has reigned as heavyweight champion exactly 12 months. But Riddick Bowe's manager already is comparing him to boxing legends Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali.On the eve of Bowe's title rematch with Evander Holyfield at Caesars Palace, Rock Newman was turning up the heat."

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- It had to be sorely tempting for Riddick Bowe.Two huge cakes with generous icing -- one with 83 candles for his beloved trainer, Eddie Futch, and the other holding 27 candles in celebration of Bowe's birthday, were wheeled to the dais where the former heavyweight champ had been talking to Buster Mathis Jr., his opponent at the Convention Center tomorrow night.The Bowe who ballooned to as much as 285 pounds before losing his title in a rematch with Evander Holyfield last November might not have even waited for a fork while enjoying his piece of cake.

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- It was several weeks after his controversial victory over Andrew Golota at Madison Square Garden in July, and Riddick Bowe was feeling sorry for himself.Bowe, who had ballooned to 280 pounds, paid a visit to his mother, Dorothy, looking for a little sympathy and a large dose of soul food. Instead, he got a tongue-lashing."My momma told me Golota had kicked my butt and that I embarrassed our whole family," said the former heavyweight champion. "That was when I knew I had to get back in shape and fight Golota again."

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Middleweight Mike McCallum is called "The Body Snatcher." But his trainer, Eddie Futch, says the nickname does not do him justice."

LAS VEGAS -- Heart and guts always have been synonymous with Evander Holyfield, who battles Riddick Bowe at Caesars Palace tonight in the rubber match of their compelling ring trilogy."

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- It had to be sorely tempting for Riddick Bowe.Two huge cakes with generous icing -- one with 83 candles for his beloved trainer, Eddie Futch, and the other holding 27 candles in celebration of Bowe's birthday, were wheeled to the dais where the former heavyweight champ had been talking to Buster Mathis Jr., his opponent at the Convention Center tomorrow night.The Bowe who ballooned to as much as 285 pounds before losing his title in a rematch with Evander Holyfield last November might not have even waited for a fork while enjoying his piece of cake.

LAS VEGAS -- He has been fighting professionally less than five years, and has reigned as heavyweight champion exactly 12 months. But Riddick Bowe's manager already is comparing him to boxing legends Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali.On the eve of Bowe's title rematch with Evander Holyfield at Caesars Palace, Rock Newman was turning up the heat."

It seems to be an occupational hazard of fighters that they start telling you how good they are about the time they learn to put the protective cup on without assistance. Riddick Bowe was like that.The heavyweight champ once explained away a loss in the amateurs for the reason his mind wasn't on the match because of something that happened a month before, a parking ticket or something.Riddick always seemed to be only about 40 percent of what he professed right up until a year ago when he won the championship in as unrelenting and action-packed a heavyweight slugfest as you're apt to see. It was against Evander Holyfield, however, and, well, there are still legions of fans who regard the ex-champ as no more than a blown-upcruiserweight.

The morning after Riddick Bowe's exhilarating victory over then-heavyweight champ Evander Holyfield in Las Vegas last November, Bowe's trainer, Eddie Futch, dissected the fight and suggested the new champion had much room for improvement."

LAS VEGAS -- The boos over how Riddick Bowe's last fight ended barely had subsided when the first blows were struck in his next."He's too slow, too easy to hit," said George Benton, Evander Holyfield's trainer, shaking his head after Bowe's seventh-round TKO over Pierre Coetzer, a South African version of George Chuvalo, at the Mirage on Saturday night.It was a rousing bout, but many in the crowd of 4,000 were unhappy because another low blow by Bowe, who had a point deducted in the sixth round, set up the winning barrage that forced referee Mills Lane to stop the bout at 2:59 of the seventh.

LAS VEGAS -- In the early 1950s, when Richie Giachetti was growing up in Uniontown, Pa., near Pittsburgh, he found heaven when Barnum and Bailey's circus set up the big tent in a park a few blocks from his home."

LAS VEGAS -- Heart and guts always have been synonymous with Evander Holyfield, who battles Riddick Bowe at Caesars Palace tonight in the rubber match of their compelling ring trilogy."

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Middleweight Mike McCallum is called "The Body Snatcher." But his trainer, Eddie Futch, says the nickname does not do him justice."

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- It's not easy being introduced as "the best individual in the history of boxing," but Eddie Futch didn't squirm."It hasn't been hard to do the things I've done," said the sweetest scientist Thursday. "I just harkened back to Hamlet: 'Above all, to thine own self be true and it next follows as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to anyone.' "Not too many boxing people harken back to Hamlet. Fewer believe being truthful is one of the sport's 10 commandments.