WBC Takes Bowe’s Title, Gives It to Lewis

Riddick Bowe gave up a third of his heavyweight boxing title Monday, showing what he thinks of the World Boxing Council by dumping the WBC belt in a trash can.

Then the WBC dumped Bowe, stripping him of the title and declaring No. 1 British contender Lennox Lewis the new champion.

“The WBC is wrong, and I will not be intimidated by them,” Bowe said. “I am the heavyweight champion of the world, and today I withdraw my recognition of the WBC. I am stripping them.”

The action by WBC President Jose Sulaiman, who said Bowe reneged on a commitment to fight Lewis, split the heavyweight title for the first time since 1987, when Mike Tyson unified the crown by stopping Tony Tucker.