‘I'm going to kill you’: What Miami Cannibal said to heavyweight boxer in 2007 after picking a fight before he was knocked out with a single punch



A former boxer said he encountered the 'Miami Cannibal' five years ago after he flew into a rage over something trivial and threatened to kill him.

In 2007, former heavyweight Melton Bowen encountered Rudy Eugene, who last week was gunned down by police after he savagely ate the face off homeless man Ronald Poppo.

Bowen told 7News about the confrontation, saying it was over almost before it began after he knocked him out with one punch.

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Confrontation: Melton Bowen knocked out Rudy Eugene in 2007 after he threatened to kill him Anger issues: On the Saturday morning before he would make headlines for chewing off a man's face Rudy Eugene held his Bible and kissed his girlfriend goodbye, said his family



He first met the Miami Cannibal at a flea market they were both working in in North Miami.

Bowen said Eugene picked a fight with him over music and who knew more when they were working in side-by-side stores, not realizing who he had just picked a fight with.

He said: 'I'm not scared of no one. He took his shirt off and came at me saying "I'm going to kill you!"

'What goes through my mind? I'm a fighter.'

It was then the boxer delivered a right hook to the man and knocked him out.

Confrontation: Bowen had the encounter with Eugene in 2007 when they were both working at this Miami Flea Market

Former fighter: Bowen spent many years in the boxing ring giving and receiving punches and has slurred speech as a result

Speaking of the horrific attack which shocked America, Bowen said: 'I can't believe a man could do that.'

His revelation comes the day after police revealed the calls from terrified members of the public who saw the violence attack against 65-year-old Ronald Poppo on the Miami highway.



But none of them mentioned the extent of the injuries from the vicious assault, or the means by which the 'Miami cannibal' was attacking his victim - with his teeth.



Poppo was once a student at a prestigious New York school before he became a down-and-out

Callers only reported seeing two men fighting in the shadow of The Miami Herald headquarters but did not mention seeing Poppo's face being torn off and eaten.



'He's going to kill that man, I promise you,' a female bus driver said, urging a 911 operator to send help. Poppo remains hospitalised.



The driver, who wasn't named by authorities, described the scene as she drove by.



'Listen, there is a naked man on the MacArthur Causeway,' she said. 'He is beating another man to a pulp - like on top of the man, beating him, the man is bleeding.'

Another caller said the two men were fighting, saying they nearly knocked over an elderly bicyclist.



'These two bums were going at it with each other, taking up the whole lane,' the caller said. 'I think they were fighting or something.'



Callers only reported seeing two men fighting in the shadow of The Miami Herald headquarters but did not mention seeing Poppo's face being torn off and eaten

According to Miami police, the first call of a disturbance came from a passing motorist who reported seeing Eugene stripping off his clothes and acting erratically

The unidentified man gave his phone number to the 911 operator.



A second male caller didn't mention the fight, instead reporting that he saw a man taking off his clothes and throwing them into traffic.



'You can't miss him. He's naked,' the man said.



Surveillance video shows Rudy Eugene, 31, attacking Poppo alongside the highway last Saturday afternoon. A police officer fatally shot Eugene during the attack. Police have not released a motive for the attack.