Mike Tyson and Riddick Bowe had successful boxing careers. They both went on to become world champions in the heavyweight division. One thing people may not know about the two is that they went to the same elementary school growing up.

Who would have known, two kids at the same school would grow up to be world heavyweight champions? Let’s take a look at both of their careers.

A look at Mike Tyson’s career

Tyson has been in the spotlight a lot lately and has had many people question if he would make a return to boxing at 53. Even though he’s in his 50s, Tyson looks to be in great shape and still has the moves. During his career, Tyson dominated in the boxing ring. He fought with a lot of power, and he was skilled too.

There’s a reason why he’s regarded as one of the best, and looking at the numbers, you can see why. Tyson made his professional debut in 1985 as an 18-year-old. A young Tyson won his first 19 professional fights. In 1986, he won the WBC title, and he also won the WBA and IBF titles in 1987. Tyson became the first heavyweight boxer to hold the WBA, WBC, and IBF titles. He quickly gained a lot of attention based on his success early on in his career.

Tyson holds the record as the youngest boxer to win a heavyweight title. He was 20 years, four months, and 22 days old when he won the heavyweight title. In 58 total fights, Tyson finished with a 50-6 record. He had 44 knockouts and two no contests. As a boxer, Tyson was known for his ferocious approach, and he had no fear in his eyes when he fought. In 1997, Tyson did something that completely shocked the world when he bit off Evander Holyfield’s ear during the WBA Heavyweight Championship. That’s just a snapshot of his career, and he made himself a celebrity outside of boxing from his expensive purchases of tigers and starring in movies.

Looking at Riddick Bowe’s career

Just like Tyson, Bowe had success during his career. He started his professional career in 1989, and in three years, he fought reigning champ, Evander Holyfield, for the undisputed heavyweight title. It was a very entertaining fight between Bowe and Holyfield and Bowe won in a unanimous decision. When Bowe defeated Holyfield, he won the WBA, WBC, and IBF titles and he was named Fighter of the Year by The Ring and The Boxing Writers’ Association of America.

In 45 fights, Bowe only lost one time in his professional career, and he had 33 knockouts. In 2004, he made a return to boxing after being away for over seven years. He competed in a total of two fights in 2004 and 2005 and won both of them. Boxrec ranked Bowe as the 32nd best heavyweight of all time. His first fight against Holyfield is considered to be one of the best heavyweight fights of all time.

The relationship between Mike Tyson and Riddick Bowe

Though the two had success during their careers, they never fought each other, and many people wondered why that never happened. They were childhood friends, and in 1994, Tyson appeared as a guest on CNN’s Larry King Live and talked about how he planned to return to boxing but did not think he would fight Bowe because of their friendship.

A Riddick vs. Tyson fight in their prime would have been the fight to watch and could have been one of the greatest fights to happen. But things don’t always work out the way some people want it to. Riddick and Tyson continue to have a good friendship, and it’s great to see two young kids going to the same school growing up to be two great professional boxers.