Ex-boxer Melton Bowen says South Beach cannibal Rudy Eugene was an 'all right' guy, despite temper

10:04 AM, Jun 5, 2012   |    comments
Rudy Eugene (left) and victim Ronald Poppo (Credit: CBS/Miami-Dade Police Dept.)
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CBS NEWS
Rudy Eugene (left) and Ronald Poppo
SOUTH BEACH CANNIBAL ATTACK

-- Naked man shot while eating another man's face
-- Cops search for face attack witnesses
-- Cannibal victim identified
-- Did bath salts play role in face eating attack?
-- Details emerge on Rudy Eugene's final hours
-- Face eating victim has long recovery ahead
-- Girlfriend: Attacker wasn't a ''zombie''
-- Fund set up to help victim Ronald Poppo
-- Friends recall Rudy Eugene's last words to them
-- Brain researcher on cannibal attack
-- Gloria Allred involved in cannibal case
-- Last known picture of cannibal attack victim
-- "Zombie attack" talk grows online after gory incidents
-- 911 calls describe man "acting like Tarzan"
-- Report: Cannibal was carrying Bible at time of attack
-- Hospital: Ronald Poppo is awake, alert
-- Victim speaks about attack

-- GRAPHIC PHOTOS: South Beach cannibal attack
-- MORE: Ronald Poppo's first hospital pictures
-- Notorious cannibals in history

 

MIAMI (CBS) - In the week following the disturbing Memorial Day face-chewing attack that left 65-year-old homeless man Ronald Poppo missing about three-quarters of his face, acquaintances of accused attacker Rudy Eugene have claimed he was a nice guy looking to get his life on track.

GRAPHIC PHOTOS: South Beach cannibal victim photos

Friend Melton Bowen said Eugene was an "all right" guy, but he recalls a time when the 31-year-old had a temper and looked for fist fights, CBS Miami reports.

A former boxer and one-time heavyweight champion, Bowen told CBS Miami he had to use his right hook to defend himself against Eugene in 2007.

"I got him before he got me," Bowen said.

Bowen said the two were arguing over music when tensions escalated, and that Eugene then removed his shirt and threatened him.

Police were called out to the fight, but Bowen said no charges were filed against him, because he claimed to punch Eugene in self-defense.

Bowen added that they eventually put their differences aside, and at the time of Eugene's shooting death by police during the alleged "face attack," he considered Eugene a friend.

Despite their troubled past, Bowen said he was shocked to learn that Eugene was capable of the gruesome "zombie attack" that left Poppo without most of his face.

"He wasn't violent," Bowen said. "If you got to know him, he was pretty cool. He was all right."

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