Andrzej Golota
, (born January 5, 1968 in Warsaw, Poland) more commonly known in the English speaking world as Andrew Golota
, is a Polish professional boxer who has been involved in many controversial fights.
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ANDREW GOLOTA TICKETS
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Amateur career
Golota had 111 wins in a stellar
amateur career that culminated in his winning a
bronze medal at the
1988 Seoul Olympics. Golota won other international
amateur tournaments, but in 1990, he married a U.S. citizen of Polish descent and moved permanently from Poland to the city of
Chicago. His wife had lived in Chicago since the age of eleven.
Golota's Olympic results were as follows:
- 1st round bye
- Defeated Svilen Rusinov (Bulgaria) 5-0
- Defeated Harold Obunga (Kenya) 5-0
- Lost to Baik Hyun-Man (South Korea) RSC 2
Professional career
In 1992, he turned
professional, knocking out
Roosevelt Shuler in three rounds. He had three more
knockouts and then went the distance for the first time when
Robert Smith took him six rounds. He then began a 16-fight
knockout win streak, including wins over
Bobby Crabtree and
Jeff Lampkin. It was after the Crabtree win that Golota was featured on
Ring Magazine's
new faces
section. Then, he faced tough contender
Maron Wilson, winning by a decision in ten. Golota then went on another knockout streak that extended to five wins in a row, including defeats of
Samson Po'hua and
Darnell Nicholson, both of whom were considered fringe contenders at the time. The win over Po'hua was memorable for the moment in which Golota bit Po'hua on the shoulder, two years before the infamous bite-filled
rematch between
Evander Holyfield and
Mike Tyson.
[1]
Golota vs. Bowe
Perhaps trying to earn a little more general respect for their fighter, Golota's
management put him in the ring against former world Heavyweight champion
Riddick Bowe, who had defeated
Evander Holyfield at
Madison Square Garden, on an
HBO Boxing event. Though ahead on points and landing punches seemingly at will, Golota was disqualified and suffered his first loss when Bowe went to the floor in round seven after being hit with the last of several low blows throughout the fight. What ensued was a dramatic riot that left a large number of civilians and policemen injured, including Golota himself, who was hit by a Bowe entourage man's two-way radio and required eleven stitches to close a cut on his head. Golota's trainer,
Lou Duva, who has a
heart condition, was taken to a doctor as a precaution.
The fight made all the sports shows, including
SportsCenter
, and the public immediately wanted to see Bowe and Golota go at it again. The rematch was on
Pay Per View and Golota once again led Bowe on the scorecards only to be disqualified in the ninth round, again for low blows. Despite not having another riot, this fight also proved to be controversial and a protest was filed by Golota's camp to try to overturn the fight's result. Michael Katz, a sportswriter, coined the term
Foul Pole
for Golota.
Despite two losses in a row, Golota's stock among the Heavyweights had risen so much that the
WBC decided to make him their number one challenger, and so on
October 4,
1997, he received a shot at the world's Heavyweight championship against
Lennox Lewis, once again on
HBO's Pay Per View branch. Suffering from a bad case of fight-or-flight panic response when faced with a heavy-hitter, Golota was knocked out in the first round.
Golota, who passed out in his locker room after the fight and had to be resuscitated with CPR, subsequently claimed that an injection of
lidocaine for
tendonitis in his right knee given to him by his physician shortly before the fight made him see double and woozy. As a result, he filed a
medical malpractice suit against his physician, claiming that the injection had cost him the fight and a deal with HBO for $21 million to broadcast his next four to five fights.
[2]
Later career
Golota went on with
boxing, and he beat former 2-time world champion
Tim Witherspoon by decision before losing to
Michael Grant by a knockout in ten in one of
The Ring
s 1999 fights of the year. Golota had dropped Grant twice in the first round and was far ahead on all scorecards, but in the tenth he himself was knocked down. When asked by referee Randy Neuman whether he wanted to continue, he shook his head twice and then haltingly answered "No."
In 2000, Golota fought in
China's first professional boxing event ever, beating
Marcus Rhodes by a knockout in three, and then, he faced
Mike Tyson. At the time many in boxing said this was Golota's last chance to attain any kind of respectability. Tyson dropped Golota in the first round of the bout, and Golota controversially refused to continue after the second round and walked off from the ring, claiming that the referee and his own trainer, Certo, ignored Tyson's dirty tactics which included intentional headbutts. Golota shoved his trainer Al Certo when Certo attempted to put his mouthpiece in. Following the bout, Golota was hospitalized with a head injury.
Following the Tyson fight, Golota was inactive for nearly three years before making his return to the ring on
August 14,
2003. He scored a technical knockout of journeyman Brian Nix in the seventh round. Golota then returned again, on
November 15, knocking out
Terrence Lewis in six rounds at
Verona, New York.
Golota then received a second world title shot, fighting
IBF world Heavyweight champion
Chris Byrd at New Yori City's Madison Square Garden on
April 17,
2004. Most viewers felt Golota won the fight, and he clearly was the aggressor, with Byrd against the ropes through most of the 12 rounds. Despite this, the judges rendered the fight a controversial draw.
On
November 13 of that year, he received his second world title try in a row. Despite flooring
WBA world champion
John Ruiz twice within the bout, he lost by a controversial unanimous decision in a foul-filled fight.
[3]
With the vast majority of the boxing press proclaiming him the real victor of both his championship efforts since returning to boxing, Golota received his third world title try in a row on
May 21,
2005 against
WBO world champion
Lamon Brewster. Though heavily favored to win, Golota once again blew his shot when Brewster knocked him down three times inside the first round, forcing the referee to stop the bout. The fight lasted for 53 seconds.
June 9,
2007, he beat Jeremy Bates in the 2nd round by
technical knockout.
Golota fought Irishman
Kevin McBride on October 6, 2007 in Madison Square Garden and won by TKO in the 6th round, winning the IBF North American Heavyweight Title.
On January 19, 2008, Golota fought
Mike Mollo and won after a unanimous decision after 12 rounds, winning the WBA Fedetation Heavyweight Title.
In January, 2009, Golota fought
Ray Austin and lost after the first round when the referee stopped the fight due to an arm injury Golota sustained. Austin knocked Golota down once during the first round.
Golota is managed by
Ziggy Rozalski.
[4]
Legal troubles
Golota left his native
Poland when he was facing charges of
assault from an incident in a disco in
Wloclawek. Following a confrontation with an intoxicated patron, the also-intoxicated Golota assaulted the man and stripped him of his clothing, leaving the garments in a trashcan.
[5]
In 2002, Golota was arrested in
Joliet, Illinois for impersonating a police officer following a traffic stop. Golota used his honorary badge to try to pretend he was a police officer.
[6]
In June 2006, Golota was charged with weapons charges and alleged to have sexually assaulted a woman in his
Chicago home.
[7]
Golota has been sued several times for automobile accidents, including a 2007 case in which a teenage girl was partially disabled as a result of the collision.
[8]
References
- http://www.braggingrightscorner.com/mouthpiece7.html
- Ackert, Kristie, Golata Sues Own Doctor Over Shot, New York Daily News, February 12, 1999, http://www.nydailynews.com; Plus: Boxing-- Heavyweights, Golota Says Injection Made Him Feel Woosy, The New York Times, March 20, 1998, http://query.nytimes.com
- http://www.usatoday.com/sports/boxing/2004-11-14-heavyweight-fights-part2_x.htm?csp=34
- Golota Wins Decision Over Sanders in Slugfest
- http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1008582/index.htm
- http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=1323853&type=news
- http://www.fightnews.com/fightnews_2/headlines/EEVEyZAFVAaynmdifd.html
- http://www.doghouseboxing.com/benz/dhbenz0910g07.htm