As a professional, González had yet to lose a match, but up until his match with Bowe, had faced mostly journeymen with his most notable opponent being former heavyweight contender Renaldo Snipes.
•
Riddick Bowe vs. Jorge Luis González, billed as "Mortal Enemies", was a professional boxing match contested on June 17, 1995 for the WBO Heavyweight Championship.
Jorge Luis Borges | Luis Miguel | Luis Buñuel | C.D. Luis Ángel Firpo | Tomás Luis de Victoria | San Luis Potosí | Felipe González | San Luis | San Luis Obispo, California | Luis Ángel Firpo | Luis | San Luis, Argentina | Jorge Negrete | Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster | Seu Jorge | José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero | José González | Luis Muñoz Marín | Luís Figo | Riddick Bowe | Luis Suárez | Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport | Luis Fortuño | Luis Brandoni | Juan Luis Guerra | San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí | San Luis Obispo | Miguel Ángel González | Luis Manzano | Luís de Camões |
In what was supposed to be a tuneup before his title match with Bowe, Mercer fought journeyman Jesse Ferguson on February 6, 1993 on the undercard of the Riddick Bowe–Michael Dokes championship fight.
Riddick Bowe vs. Andrew Golota, billed as "Big Daddy's Home", was a professional boxing match contested on July 11, 1996.
Shortly after this exchange, the fight was stopped after James Miller crashed into the ring with his powered paraglider causing a 21-minute delay.
•
After one successful defense against Jorge Luis González, Bowe vacated his title in favor for a third fight with Holyfield.
Bowe, meanwhile, would fight a no-contest against Buster Mathis, Jr. and defeat Larry Donald before capturing the less-regarded WBO Heavyweight Championship by knocking out Herbie Hide.
•
After the previous fight between the two in which Holyfield was able to regain the WBA, IBF and Lineal heavyweight titles by defeating Bowe via majority decision, Holyfield would face undefeated southpaw Michael Moorer in his first defense.
•
After a successful defense of his tile against Jorge Luis González, Bowe and Holyfield would agree to a non-title rubber match set for November 4, 1995, two years after their previous fight.
The fight took place in RFK Stadium in Washington, DC, was Bowe's second defense of the title he had won from Evander Holyfield in November 1992, and was the main event of a card that included a fight between Roy Jones, Jr. and Bernard Hopkins for the vacant IBF middleweight championship, which Jones won.
•
Riddick Bowe vs. Jesse Ferguson, billed as "The Heavyweight Debate", was a professional boxing match contested on May 22, 1993 for the WBA and Lineal Heavyweight championships.
In 1990 though, his comeback was haulted after he was dominated by Donovan "Razor" Ruddock and lost by fourth round technical knockout after being hit with a vicious combination that knocked him unconscious.
•
Initially, Bowe hoped to face the once promising 1988 Olympic Gold Medalist Ray Mercer in his next defense, but a loss to journeyman Jesse Ferguson knocked out Mercer out of contention.
•
However, Bowe was now contractually obligated to make his first defense against the WBC's number one contender Lennox Lewis, the man who had defeated Bowe at the 1988 Olympics to capture the Gold Medal.