Bowe, clearly happy to be fighting again, knocked an outclassed Marcus Rhode down four times before the fight was finally stopped at 2:45 of the second round in a ring on a tribal reservation.

Bowe's only official loss came in a rematch with Evander Holyfield, but he took a severe beating in both of his last two fights against Andrew Golota in 1996. He won the fights when Golota was disqualified for low blows, but his reflexes were slow and his speech was so slurred it was barely understandable.

His former manager, Rock Newman, said he couldn't understand how Bowe could be licensed to fight, and a neurologist and chief ring doctor for the Nevada Athletic Commission said he was at severe risk of serious brain damage if he fought again.

In federal court four years ago, a doctor testified that Bowe sufered from frontal lobe damage caused by repeated punches to the head. But Bowe insisted he was OK, and should be allowed to return to the sport he loves.

"I never even heard of no frontal lobe before," Bowe said.