My knee-jerk answer to this was Golota. Too big, too strong for the smallish Moorer who didn't have the greatest chin. After a little thought, however, Golota never really beat a top guy who was in his prime. His best wins that I can think of were decisions over Witherspoon, Ferguson, and Norris, who were all well past prime. Then there were guys like Nicholson, P'ouha, T-Rex Sanders, McBride, and Mollo, who weren't quite top-level Heavyweights. Other than that, Golota found ways to lose some of his biggest fights, whether it was one of his panic attacks, or simply getting blown out early. I'd have to go with Moorer in this one. Golota just couldn't get over the hump against someone of Moorer's caliber. Moorer by decision, but there's always the possibility of Golota fouling out or quitting. Golota could not be trusted to win this type of fight.
Moorer bust up an overrated Golota with his strong right jab. Golota gets way to much credit for the Bowe fights. Anyone that knows **** about boxing could see that Bowe was completely shot as a fighter and was already suffering from CTE when he fought Golota.
Recently rewatched the Moorer vs cooper fight and just feel moorer had more toughness and could really bang with that right hook. I don’t see Golota doing it this match up made me think of Holyfield vs Golota which would also be a fun fight
Golota was mentally weak. Loved to control things when the wind was at his back, keep at his preferred pace, not getting in firefights, just wearing his opponent down with safety first, low risk attacks. But he got unhinged and off the rails when his opponent suddenly escalated, applied pressure and kept at it for any duration. Not a small order because Golota was class but doable for a guy like Moorer who had that dog and great skills. And I'm mostly talking about post-Bowe Golota, but the signs were there before those bouts. Moorer KO8
I thought Andrew fought well enough against Byrd and Ruiz to earn the decision. This could end in a variety of ways. Moorer, himself, was often content to box at his own pace, after all. I believe he lacked either the inner drive or cognizance to press matters when things were close, but had a personality that could be caused to explode in retaliation if he felt Golota were taking liberties with him.
Agree. And I myself am not 100% sold on who would win here. While I think Michael Moorer was basically the better fighter, he’s shown he could be hurt or dropped a number of times in his career. Andrew Golata could certainly punch and had a pretty good jab as well
I like MM here. Just never did like that Golata defense and this time he is going against a guy with extremely accurate hands. And a southpaw to boot and that factor alone causes Andrew adjustment problems. Those Moorer combos either bust him up or have the ref step in and wave it off while Golata tries doing nothing but covering up when hurt. I think MM lands 70% or more of his punches and the punches Golata throws see's him countered to death. I like Golata in matches against softer hitters and far less accuracy. Then, he can impose his will.
