Bowe takes decision for second win of comeback

TEMECULA, Calif. -- Former heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe won the second fight of his comeback after a nearly eight-year layoff, taking a 10-round split decision over journeyman Billy Zumbrun on Thursday night.

The 37-year-old Bowe weighed 280 pounds, by far the most of his career, and 54 pounds more than the game Zumbrun. At 6-feet-4{, Bowe also towered over his 5-11 opponent.

Bowe, who sent Zumbrun crumbling to the canvas with a powerful left to the body in the fourth round, over the course of the bout appeared to take more punishment than he gave.

Judges David Denkin and Lou Filippo still favored Bowe by scores of 96-92. Ray Corona had Zumbrun winning 95-93.

In addition to being knocked down in the fourth round, Zumbrun had a point deducted in the eighth for charging into Bowe with his shoulder.

When the judges' scoring was announced, there was a chorus of boos from the crowd ringside at the Pechanga Resort and Casino.

Zumbrun, a 32-year-old from Ogden, Utah, who didn't have his first pro fight until he was 25, rocked the once-beaten Bowe several times during the bout, but could not put him down.

The fifth round ended with Zumbrun, who had just stunned Bowe with an overhand right, landing hard combinations while Bowe slumped back on the corner ropes. Zumbrun also was on the mark with a sharp left hook to Bowe's head in the seventh round, and landed a similar punch in the 10th as the crowd chanted, ''Billy. Billy.''

Along with the knockdown, Bowe used his longer reach to score points with his jab. Zumbrun often threw a punch, then ducked in to tie Bowe up. On several occasions, though, Zumbrun suddenly landed hard overhand rights to Bowe's temples.

Bowe (42-1, with 33 knockouts) began his comeback with a second-round knockout of Marcus Rhode last September in Shawnee, Okla.

Bowe's only loss was to Evander Holyfield in their rematch in 1993. Bowe weighed 240 for that fight.

He beat Andrew Golota twice in 1996 when Golota was disqualified for low blows in both fights. Bowe had slurred speech after the second fight, and some states have been hesitant to grant him medical clearance to fight.

He was cleared by doctors in California, however.

His long absence from the ring included a 17-month prison stint for kidnapping his first wife and their children in 1998, and a 1996 stint in the Marines, which he quit after 11 days.

Zumbrun is 18-6-1, with 10 knockouts.

On the undercard, 2004 Olympic gold medalist Andre Ward of Oakland, Calif., ran his record to 3-0. Ward, who was dominating Roy Ashworth in their six-round middleweight bout, was declared the winner when the brawling Ashworth was disqualified at 2:56 of the third round.

After repeatedly warning Ashworth to quit hitting on the break, the referee stopped it when the fighter from Lake Charles, La., slugged Ward once again as the referee was pushing them apart.

Ward, who weighed 163, is 3-0 with one knockout. Ashworth, 162{, is 3-2.

Another Olympic gold medalist, Vassiliy Jirov, knocked out Forrest Neal in the third round of their scheduled 10-round heavyweight bout.

Jirov, a 1996 Olympic champion who now lives in Scottsdale, Ariz., improved his record to 34-3, with 30 knockouts. Neal, from Detroit, is 16-6, with 12 knockouts. Jirov weighed 227, Neal 211.