He made his debut in February 1992.
In May 1995 he met with Samson Poukha. In the 4th round, Golota bit his opponent on the shoulder. In the 5th round, the Pole knocked out Pouha.
In March 1996, Golota knocked out Dannel Nicholson.
In July 1996, a fight took place between Riddick Bowe and the undefeated Andrzej Golota. Golota dominated the fight, but constantly broke the rules. At the end of the 3rd round, Golota hit him in the groin. Bow remained standing. The referee warned the Pole that next time he would deduct a point for the same violation. At the end of the 4th round, Golota hit the groin again. This time Bow fell. The referee deducted a point from the Pole and gave the American 5 minutes to recover. Bow rested for just over a minute. At the end of the 6th round, Golota hit below the belt for the 3rd time, although this time not in the groin. Bow winced in pain. The referee again took a point from him and gave the American time to rest. Bowe recovered again for more than a minute. In the middle of the 7th round, Golota landed another low blow. The referee deducted a point from him again. Bowe immediately began to attack and landed two blows to the back of the head. The referee gave him a verbal warning. Towards the end of the round, the Pole began to bomb Bowe. With 30 seconds left, he landed a series of punches to the head, and then a left uppercut to the groin. Bow fell to the canvas. Referee Wayne Kelly stopped the fight and disqualified the Pole. People from both corners immediately ran into the ring, and then just spectators, and a brawl broke out. Security managed to separate the fighters only after a few minutes. The fight received the status of “event of the year” according to Ring magazine.
In December 1996, a rematch took place between Andrzej Golota and Riddick Bowe. In the middle of the 2nd round, the Pole threw a right cross to the top of the head. Bow swayed and fell to his knees. He rose to the count of 4. After the fight resumed, Golota pinned his opponent against the ropes and began to finish off. Bow responded with counterpunching. At the end of the 2nd round, Golota hit Bowe with his head in the jaw. The referee paused the fight and deducted a point from the Pole. The Pole himself received a cut in this episode. At the beginning of the 4th round, Bowe landed a right hook to the head. Golota retreated. Bowe immediately threw several more right hooks, then several left ones. The Pole fell to the canvas. This was his 1st knockdown in his career. He stood at the count of 5. Bowe was unable to finish off his opponent, as Golota turned the fight into a fuss at close range. In the middle of the 4th round, Golota carried out two blows - left and right uppercuts - below the belt. The referee warned him verbally. At the end of the 4th round, Golota repeated low blows. Bow fell to the canvas. This time the referee deducted a point from the Pole. In the middle of the 5th round, Golota landed a right hook to the head. Then two short left hooks to the jaw and a long right to the head. Then he delivered a series of hooks to the stomach, and another series of short hooks to the jaw. Exhausted, Bow fell onto the canvas. He rose to the count of 7. After the fight resumed, Golota pressed him to the ropes and began to finish him off. Bow was able to reach the gong. At the end of the 9th round, Golota carried out a multi-punch series to the groin - a right uppercut, a left, then a right again. “Low blows!” shouted HBO commentator Jim Lampley. Bow fell to the floor. The referee stopped the fight and disqualified Golota. Bow lay on the floor for several minutes.
In October 1997, Golota fought against Briton Lennox Lewis. Lewis unexpectedly immediately attacked Golota. At the 2nd minute of the 1st round, he locked the Pole in the corner, and delivered several strong right crosses in a row to the jaw, and then added a couple of hooks from both hands. Golota fell. He stood up with wild eyes and suddenly ran to the side. Joe Cortez rushed after him and stopped him. Because of this, the referee counted longer than the required 10 seconds. The Pole did not express his readiness to continue the fight, and clearly did not come to his senses, but Joe Cortez allowed the fight to continue. Lewis immediately attacked Golota again. Golota stood in one place, not even trying to escape the attack. Lewis launched a series of powerful crosses from both hands, again driving the Pole into a corner. Lewis then launched another series of punches, mostly from his right hand. Golota collapsed in the corner. The referee started the countdown, but seeing that the Pole was not coming to his senses, he stopped the fight.
In July 1998, Andrzej Golota entered the ring against Corey Sanders. In a spectacular battle, the Pole outplayed his opponent. In the fight, Sanders received a cut above his right eye.
In October 1998, Golota defeated Tim Witherspoon in Poland.
In November 1999, Golota entered the ring against the undefeated Michael Grant. Golota won the fight, but was knocked down in the 10th round. He stood up, but suddenly refused to continue.
In October 2000, Golota met with Mike Tyson. At the end of the 1st round, Tyson knocked down his opponent with a left hook to the jaw. Golota immediately stood up. During the break between the 2nd and 3rd rounds, Golota refused to continue the fight. Golota's corner tried to persuade him, but to no avail. Golota fled from the battle. While he was leaving the hall, spectators threw all sorts of objects at him, mostly drink glasses. Near the exit, he was hit by a can of ketchup, which spilled over the boxer’s body. Later, representatives of the Showtime television channel said that Golota was a coward, and they would never show him on their channel again. Shortly after the fight, Tyson's doping test gave a positive result and the fight was declared invalid.
In April 2004, Golota met with Chris Bird. The fight ended in a draw.
In January 2008, a fight took place between Andrzej Golota and Mike Mollo. The first half of the fight was equal, but after the middle the Pole seized the initiative. By the end of the fight, Golota's right eye was completely closed. The fight took place as part of a show organized by HBO, the main event of which was the fight between Roy Jones and Felix Trinidad.
October 25, 2009 marked the end of the controversial but eventful career of Polish heavyweight boxer Andrzej Golota. Well, period - this is, of course, in the understanding of Pan Andrzej's fans. The rest will probably agree with the statement that it was still an exclamation point. Yes, he is not very associated with defeat, but the fact is that Golota is famous not for his spectacular victories, but for his defeats - offensive, strange, devastating and those that are beyond understanding. That's how he is Andrzej Golota, the only heavyweight boxer who challenged all four major championship belts (WBC, IBF, WBA and WBO) and did not win a single one.
Genital beater. Take one: Belostotsky
The young boxer Andrzej Golota was considered terribly promising in Poland. At the age of 18 he won the European Junior Championships, and at twenty he went to the Olympic Games in Seoul. There, the Pole became a bronze medalist in the first heavyweight division (up to 91 kg), while in the final of the weight category over 91 kg, two future super heavyweight stars in the professional ring met - then Canadian Lennox Lewis and American Riddick Bowie. Lewis won, knocking down his opponent three times. Did Andrzej realize then that he would meet both?
Probably, young Golota hardly bothered with whom and when fate would bring him together. He was simply enjoying life. And he had a blast. Even before his trip to Seoul, he was caught in a serious wall-to-wall fight and ended up in the hospital after it. Such adventures did not interfere with his amateur career - he won the Polish championship several times in a row, although at the 1989 World Championship he dropped out of the fight already in the second fight. However, failure at the world championship is such a thing, but in Poland Golota was the strongest boxer. He proved this not only in the ring, but also at discos. The most famous case occurred in 1990, although there is information that a case was opened against Andrzej before that, but earlier the embarrassment was hushed up. Well, this time the promising heavyweight was unlucky - he hit a certain Mr. Belostotsky so hard on his manhood that he ended up in the hospital.
Golota was facing several years in prison, but he was lucky. Andrzej had a visa to the USA, and he and his future wife Mariolla rushed to conquer America. The Pole settled in Chicago, where at first he did odd jobs (which, history is silent...). However, when Andrzej had a daughter, he had to look for a more profitable job. What did Mr. Golota do well? That's right - to beat people. So he found a boxing club where he showed off his skills. Legendary coach Lou Duva approached the promising heavyweight and decided to make him a real champion.
Genital beater. Take Two: Bowie
The start of Andrzej Golota's professional career was truly impressive. In his first fight on February 7, 1992, he knocked out Roosevelt Scheler in the third round. The Pole defeated the next three opponents in the first round. In four and a half years he scored 28 victories. And only three of his opponents managed to survive to the end of the fight! I think it goes without saying that the performance of the Polish heavyweight created a sensation, which was explained not only by his spectacular boxing, but also by the fact that he was a white boxer.
However, due to his reputation as a formidable knockout artist, leading fighters were in no hurry to meet with Golota. Yes, the Pole beat mostly journeymen, but who knew then what his potential was? In general, the search for the first worthy opponent for Andrzej Golota dragged on, but in the end our hero’s opponent became perhaps the strongest heavyweight fighter at that time. It was not without reason that many considered Riddick Bowie, a two-time winner of Evander Holyfield, to be such a boxer, by the way!
The last victory over the great Holy, who was knocked out for the first time in his career (then only James Toney succeeded in this trick in 2003), brought nothing but money to Bowie. Repeated refusals to defend championship belts - and Riddick once owned three at once - were not in vain. Some leading boxing organizations even kicked Bowie out of their ratings, so he could only dream of a title fight. Well, if not on the championship belt, then what else can you raise good money on - of course, on a strong opponent. So Riddick, unaware of what awaited his manhood, chose Andrzej Golota as his opponent.
The fight, which took place on June 11, 1996, unexpectedly turned out to be equal for many. Moreover, the Pole acted no worse than his eminent opponent and at times inflicted quite sensitive blows on him. However, in the fourth round, Golota, who had been guilty of low blows before, finally hit the target. Bowie rested for about five minutes, and the referee deducted one point from Andrzej. In the sixth round the situation repeated itself. Well, what Golota did to his opponent in the seventh and last three-minute period of this fight, as well as how several dozen people rushed to the Pole to hold him by the throat, you need to see...
Genital beater. Take Three: Bowie Easter Eggs
The first defeat in Golota’s career, oddly enough, brought him more glory than the previous 28 victories. Andrzej was now taken seriously and quite reasonably believed that he could become a future white champion. However, the result of the fight with Riddick Bowie, despite the fact that the Pole looked better than his opponent, was still a defeat. So the public was eager for a rematch. It happened five months later and was a copy of the first fight.
According to the ancient Slavic fun, on Easter you need to fight with “krashanki”. If you break a similar egg, so to speak, of your opponent with your Easter egg, you hit it differently until you break everything. But it’s just like chicken eggs - it doesn’t hurt for them. But Riddick Boyu decided to risk his own! However, what to take from a man who served a decent amount of time in prison for kidnapping his ex-wife? This time the same story repeated itself: Golota confidently won the fight, but in the penultimate round he delivered not just one, but a whole series of blows below the belt, for which he was disqualified.
After that fight, Bowie fans staged a pogrom in the famous Madison Square Garden, for which their favorite lost 250 thousand dollars. Riddick himself stopped performing altogether, after which, as mentioned above, he ended up in prison. But Golota’s popularity grew even more, and in Poland he generally became a national hero. The then president of the country, Alexander Kwasniewski, achieved an amnesty for the property of the Polish nation and even came to visit the fugitive criminal. The authoritative American magazine The Ring pitted Andrzej against Tyson and Holyfield in computer fights and got the following result: the Pole should knock out Mike in the second round, and Evander in the fourth.
Fate brought Golota together in October 1997 with Lennox Lewis, world champion according to the most prestigious version - WBC. In fact, the situation itself looks strange when a boxer who has lost his last two fights challenges the championship title. However, this fact only emphasizes the popularity of the Pole at that time. Lewis didn’t bother with such things and knocked out his opponent in the first round. Here it was no longer possible to blame the disqualification of the actor-Bowie, who imitated pain after blows to the groin. Andrzej lost without any options.
The flight of Pan Andrzej or the battle of two psychopaths
We can safely say that after the defeat from Lewis, the Pole’s career went downhill, although he basked in the rays of fading glory for a long time. As for the defeat from Lewis, Golota, like many of his other strange actions, found a simple explanation. They say that before the fight he had pain in his knee and was injected with a painkiller, which ultimately had a negative effect on him.
However, after the defeat from the Briton, Andrzej won five fights and went on to fight the invincible Michael Grant. In this confrontation, the contender for the WBC championship title was to be determined - that is, the future opponent of the same Lewis. He started the fight against Grant Golota very confidently, and already in the first three minutes Michael took a horizontal position. Later the fight evened out, but the Pole still had an advantage and should have won on points. However, in the tenth round, Andrzej was unexpectedly knocked down, after which he quickly stood up and told the referee that he did not want to fight anymore.
Many began to doubt out loud about Golota’s normality. Fortunately, by that time our hero had given plenty of reasons for this. Many talked about his psychological instability and many oddities and compared him, no matter how hard it may be to guess, with Mike Tyson, who had already distinguished himself by biting off Holyfield’s ears. Well, someone came up with the brilliant idea to bring these two together in the ring!
Naturally, before the fight between Gotota and Tyson, no one bothered with tactical refinements. Everyone wondered how the fight would end: Tyson would bite off Golota’s ear or the Pole would manage to prevent the act of cannibalism with a painful castration procedure. Nobody guessed right. On October 20, 2000, Andrzej Golota ended as a top-class boxer and remained just a laughing stock. Tyson quickly figured out the Pole and already in the first round sent his opponent to the floor with an excellent left hook. It cannot be said that in the second three-minute period Mike was much better than his opponent - yes, he won, but nothing catastrophic, in fact, happened for Golota.
However, Andrzej did not wait until the end of the minute break, he abruptly stood up and went to the referee in order, as it turned out later, to declare that he needed to leave. It is clear that the “third man in the ring” did not understand what the Pole wanted and sent Golota to his corner. The Pole's coach Al Certo pulled his ward into a corner and tried to insert a mouth guard into his mouth, but Andrzej clenched his teeth in a strong desire to stop the fight. “Fuck are you doing?” - the coach asked in vain. However, Golota had already jumped onto the ropes and headed towards the exit.
Dozens of disappointed fans threw all sorts of rubbish at the Pole - glasses, bags, empty bottles. People who paid quite tidy sums for tickets did not understand how a boxer, whose fee for a fight would be more than two million dollars, could just throw them all away like that. Golota automatically dodged the objects flying at him. Only near the exit the Pole was hit by a can of ketchup, which spilled over the boxer’s body. After the fight, Showtime refused to ever show this “coward” on their channel. But the fight itself was eventually declared invalid, since Tyson’s doping test gave a positive result - Mike smoked marijuana before the meeting.
On the way to final shame
In fact, after the shameful fiasco in the fight with Tyson, Golota could have hung up his gloves, but he did not. Andrzej took a break, went to Poland, beat up some gentleman there and decided that he had the strength for new achievements. In addition, Don King appeared on the horizon, taking the Pole under his wing. And the patronage of such a monster of the promotion business is worth a lot. Judge for yourself: after two victories over obvious bags, Golota goes to fight with IBF champion Chris Byrd and brings the fight to a draw.
Then King arranges a meeting for the Pole with his other ward - WBA champion John Ruiz, to whom Andrzej loses! Here, it would seem, Golota could have been scrapped, but Don King doesn’t do that to his own, so he brought the Pole together with WBO champion Lamon Brewster, Vladimir Klitschko’s offender in that strange fight when the Ukrainian suddenly became exhausted in the middle of the fight and lost . Brewster ate Golota without choking, the Pole even flew over the ropes after the American’s post-strike series. Recommended viewing.
Andrzej healed his mental wounds for two years, and then returned to the ring. However, after three victories in a row, he lost by knockout in the first round to his peer, American Ray Austin. But, despite this, before the fight with Tomasz Adamek, Don King seriously claimed that he wanted to organize a fight for Golota against Nikolai Valuev! However, Andrzej, in front of eight million compatriots who watched his “Fight of the Century” with Adamek, resignedly conceded to his opponent, having already lost what was an important match in his career.
After his defeat to Adamek, Andrzej suddenly announced that perhaps boxing was not what he should do in life. If so, then another job is ready for him. Sylvester Stallone is looking for an opponent for Rocky Balboa's final battle. It is possible that Stallone will invite Golota to play this role: he has repeatedly attended the Pole’s fights and knows him personally. It’s not hard to guess that according to the plot, Rocky-Stalone will have to defeat the scoundrel Golota, and will probably do it spectacularly. Well, Andrzej Golota knows how to lose!
17 years ago October 20, 2000 in a huge hall The Palace, Auburn Hills in the suburbs of Detroit, an event occurred that once again attracted the attention of the boxing world to two boxers whose careers were full of drama and controversy. These events continue to be the subject of heated debate among professional boxing fans. It is enough to name the names of the main characters to understand why their meeting in the ring interested millions of people then - they were Mike Tyson, who gradually adjusted his career after a scandal with biting off an opponent’s ear, and standing in his way to the next championship fight Andrzej Golota. The Pole was in a similar situation to his opponent, trying to cover up the bad memories after his amazing defeat to Grant with another fight.
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Today, probably, few people remember that before this fight Tyson was not at all the obvious favorite, although, of course, most expected him to win. However, it was also expected that Golota, who then had only one “real” defeat against him, and lost the other three to himself rather than to his rivals, therefore had to give a tough rebuff. Tyson himself also did not feel too confident, which he recently wrote about in his autobiography, pointing out the Pole as the most brutal boxer in the world. There was a significant amount of money in the bank for fees for both boxers, apparently 10 million dollars for Tyson and 5 million for Golota, the world champion of the 80s, 20th century made his debut as a promoter Thomas Hearns, could be pleased. The fight was shaping up to be a big hit. The intensity of emotions before the fight between two unpredictable and also excellent boxers was truly enormous.
The beginning turned out to be very typical for the Polish athlete, who, after a strong blow from Tyson in the last seconds of the first round, familiarized himself with the platform. But already in the second round it seemed that Golota was beginning to dominate the situation, even shaking “Iron Mike” several times. However, in the first round, despite his characteristic harshness, until he was knocked down, he also coped quite well with Tyson’s attacks. A fierce fight was ahead, of course, many of the Polish fans, who again received their dose of adrenaline that night and were worried about Golota, watched this fight standing. And then something happened that many today are also unable to understand. when Andzhdey Golota did not come out for the third round and left the ring to the accompaniment of whistles and curses, disappointed spectators gathered at The Palace and threw plastic cups of food at him.
Tyson's victory was announced by technical knockout, but after the fight marijuana and hashish were found in Iron Mike's body. In this regard, after several months, the Michigan State Athletic Commission changed the verdict to “failed.” The fight was officially declared a “no contest,” but the problem remained. Today, with the benefit of hindsight, we know a little more about the circumstances of Golota's astonishing decision, although the portrayal of the dramatic events still remains unclear 17 years later. According to the doctor who examined him for several days after the fight, having already returned home to Chicago, the Polish boxer received a concussion and a fractured cheekbone caused by blows to Tyson's head, although the referee was in the ring Frank Garza denies this information. According to him, there was no injury, and the fight was clean. One of the attempts to explain Golota’s behavior is based on the assumption that the Pole refused the fight, feeling damage that seriously threatened his health and even life, and not seeing the referee’s adequate reaction to Tyson’s violations. How was it really? Of course, we will argue for many years to come. Perhaps Golota did not find adequate support in his coach Al Certo, perhaps the drama of the boxer who performed a year ago during a boxing evening with Grant remains in memory? Junior middleweight boxer Steven Johnson was heavily knocked out that evening by Paul Vaden and died after two weeks. However, on the day of Golota’s fight with Tyson, another boxer from the USA, Bobby Tomasello, fell into a coma after the fight in Boston and died five days later, which, naturally, Golota did not know about then.
One thing is clear - after this fight for Golota, it was believed that this was his final end, journalists rushed at him like hyenas, chasing him in the locker room like a wounded animal. He showed, however, that he can rise from the very fall, so perhaps this is a phenomenon of the extraordinary popularity of the boxer, not only in Poland. Everyone experiences ups and downs in their life. Golota returned to the ring after three years and fought three more times for the world heavyweight title. For many of the Poles, he will forever remain a champion in title fights with Bird and Ruiz. Mike Tyson, during a visit to Poland, named his former rival as a double failed world champion, and one can assume that this was not just a courtesy towards the host organizers, his visit-over-the-Vistula. And for all of us, the Polish boxer will certainly remain one of the most amazing phenomena in the history of professional boxing. Few are able to rise up from such humiliation, which happened to Andrzej Golota exactly 17 years ago.
In March 1996, Golota entered the ring against Daniel Nicholson. In the middle of the 5th round, the Pole butted his opponent with his head. The referee deducted one point from him. The American took time to recover and rested for a few minutes. In the 8th round, Nicholson missed a lot of punches. His trainer Emmanuel Steward did not let him go into the 9th round. HBO commentators called it a good decision.
July 11, 1996 Riddick Bowe - Andrzej Golota
- Location: Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York State, USA
- Result: Bowe wins by disqualification in the 7th round in a 12-round fight
- Status: Rating battle
- Referee: Wayne Kelly
- Judges' score: Steve Weisfeld (65-67), Luis Rivera (65-67), George Colon (66-67) - all in favor of Golota
- Time: 2:30
- Weight: Bow 114.30 kg; Golota 110.20 kg
- Broadcast: HBO
- Unofficial judge's score: Harold Lederman (56-56)
In July 1996, a fight took place between Riddick Bowe and the undefeated Andrzej Golota. Bowe was the favorite in this fight (bet odds on him were accepted at a rate of 12 to 1). Before the fight, Bowe declared himself “the people’s champion,” and also said that after the fight with Golota he would meet Lennox Lewis, and then plans to have a super fight with Mike Tyson. Bowe weighed 5.4 kg more in this fight than in the previous fight. Bowe explained his advantage by saying that he did not train for too long for the fight with Golota. Unexpectedly for everyone, Golota dominated the battle, but constantly broke the rules. At the end of the 3rd round, Golota hit him in the groin. Bow remained standing. The referee warned the Pole that next time he would deduct a point for the same violation. At the end of the 4th round, Golota hit the groin again. This time Bow fell. The referee deducted a point from the Pole and gave the American 5 minutes to recover. Bow rested for just over a minute. At the end of the 6th round, Golota hit below the belt for the 3rd time, although this time not in the groin. Bow winced in pain. The referee again took a point from him and gave the American time to rest. Bowe recovered again for more than a minute. In the middle of the 7th round, Golota landed another low blow. The referee deducted a point from him again. Bowe immediately began to attack and landed two blows to the back of the head. The referee gave him a verbal warning. Towards the end of the round, the Pole began to bomb Bowe. With 30 seconds left, he threw a series of punches to the head, and then a left uppercut to the groin. Bow fell to the canvas. Referee Wayne Kelly stopped the fight and disqualified the Pole. People from both corners immediately ran into the ring, and then just spectators, and a brawl broke out. Members of Bowe's security entered the ring and approached Golota, who had his back turned as he returned to his corner. One of them pushed Golota, causing Golota to hit him back. Another man, later revealed to be Jason Harris, began beating Golota with a walkie-talkie, causing Golota to receive 11 stitches. Lou Duva, 74, was also hit in the melee and collapsed to the canvas with chest pain and eventually left the ring on a stretcher. In the end, Golota's fans began to fight with Bowe's entourage inside the ring, as well as outside it. In the end, 10 people were arrested, 8 police officers were injured and 9 spectators were hospitalized. The fight received the status of “event of the year” according to Ring magazine. Despite the defeat, Golota's authority increased significantly, and Bowe fell, so Golota won all but one round on the score of one judge and all but two on the scores of the other two.
Andrzej Golota is a professional Polish ex-boxer in the heavy weight category (up to 91 kilograms), who competed from 1992 to 2013. Winner at the 1989 European Championships and the 1988 Summer Olympics. In amateur boxing, Andrzej had 114 fights: 99 wins (27 KOs), 2 draws and 13 defeats. Professionally: 42 wins (33 KOs), 1 draw, 9 losses and 1 failed fight. Andrzej Golota's height is 193 centimeters, his arm span is 203 cm.
Weird Boxer
Golota is the only professional Polish boxer who fought for all major titles (WBC, WBO, WBA, IBF) during his career, but never won one. The boxer gained great popularity due to his eccentric antics in the ring. He also became famous in two fights with the American Riddick Bowe, in which he, winning on points, delivered prohibited low blows, due to which he was disqualified twice.
Escaped from Poland
In 1990, the Polish boxer fought with Piotr Bialostoski in one of the pubs in the city of Wloclawek (Poland). Golota was charged with assault and battery, and therefore the Polish athlete fled the country because he could have received 5 years in prison. It later turned out that Andrzej Golota married a US citizen of Polish origin and lives in Chicago.
Andrzej Golota: fighting at a professional level
In 1992, the Polish boxer began performing at the professional level. Andrzej's first opponent was Roosevelt Shuler, whom he defeated by technical knockout in the 3rd round. Between 1992 and 1995, he defeated the following opponents by knockout: Eddie Taylor, Bobby Crabtree and Terry Davis. American Marion Wilson (twice) and Pole Samson Poha were also defeated on points.
In the fight with Samson Poukha, Golota lost over four rounds. The opponent repeatedly carried out a series of successful punches, after which Andrzej received a knockdown. At the beginning of the fifth round, Golota bit his opponent on the shoulder in the clinch (a year and a half later, Evander Holyfield). In the same round, Golota became more active and knocked down Samson Poukha three times. As a result, the referee stopped the fight and awarded the victory to Andrzej.
In 1994, Golota fought Jeff Lumpkin and won after his opponent submitted.
Why did Andrzej Golota run away from the ring in the fight with “Iron Mike”?
In October 2000, the Polish boxer met in a duel with the legendary and experienced Mike Tyson. This fight is remembered by the boxing community under the name “Showdown in Motown” (the location of the fight). In the first round, Mike immediately rushed to attack the Polish fighter. It was clear that Andrzej Golota was not ready for such a pace. At the end of the first round, Mike Tyson delivered a powerful hook-shaped right punch to Andrzej’s jaw, after which he, having received a cut on his left eyebrow, could not keep his balance and fell. Despite this, the Polish boxer quickly got up and continued the fight. There were only a few seconds left until the end of the round, and Tyson wanted to end the fight with a knockout, but Andrzej managed to survive.
In the second round, Mike Tyson again took over and went to attack his opponent. Golota, in turn, tried to clinch and tie the hands of the “king of knockouts” in order to reduce the risk of his most powerful blows. The second round also went to Mike.
During the break between the first and third rounds, the Polish boxer refused to continue the fight. Golota’s coaching corner persuaded the boxer to enter the ring and continue the fight, but he flatly did not want to do this. As a result, boxer Andrzej Golota ran away from the ring. On the way to the locker room, fans sitting next to the aisle began booing the Pole and throwing plastic cups and bottles at him. Near the exit, a can of red drink hit him and spilled all over his body. The enraged Mike Tyson, who missed out on another early knockout victory, was held back by several people so that he would not rush at his opponent after the fiasco was declared.
Consequences
There have never been such conflicts in world boxing before. After these incidents, representatives of a sports channel called Showtime announced that they would no longer allow Andrzej Golota on air because he was a coward. The post-match doping test showed that “Iron Mike” was found to have traces of marijuana, and therefore the fight was declared invalid. Upon arrival of the Polish boxer to the hospital, he was diagnosed with a concussion, a fracture of the left cheekbone and an intervertebral hernia in the 4th and 5th cervical spine. Apparently, the listed ailments were the reason for such a decision on Golota’s part. After the fight with Mike Tyson, Andrzej Golota retired from boxing for three years.