Were you shocked to see Lewis destroying Golota so easily?

Yes. I expected a more competitive bout. But Golota looked off during the ring entrance and then we learned later on he took a shot of lidocaine hours before the fight and had an adverse reaction to it. He won a 7 figure settlement over it. But that aside I was surprised. I didn’t expect Golota to win, too much pressure after witnessing back to back meltdowns I figured he would mess it up again but Lewis just blew him out. I remember all the pre hype and pressure on Golota, Duva and company were trying to teach him not to go low by hitting a heavy bag with a pair of trunks on them lol. And after the horrible riot that took place with the first fight it was just way too much for Andrew’s make up. Let alone the two savage wars he coming out of, in hindsight I shouldn’t have been surprised at all by the result.

 

I wasn't shocked at the time. I thought Lewis was a bad ass (my girlfriend at the time...her mother went to school with him in Waterloo) and I hadn't seen too much of Golota. In retrospect, it was an even better performance than I realized.

 

Nope.

Bet a lot on the bout. And you could always get nice odds on Lewis fights because it took a long time for him to get accepted.

But never liked Golata's defense. And certainly do not like him against hitters. But so much of the golata hype was due solely due that Duva connection and the Bowe fights. But I never bought into Bowe much so his efforts did not translate to a polished diamond in the making to my eyes.

 

Ring Magazine were riding Golota’s nuts at the time because he twice hammered Bowe who they previously trumpeted as the man at heavyweight.

It took a long time before the American scribes manned up and accepted that LL was the best heavyweight in the world. Even after he trounced Golota there were sceptics.

 

In hindsight, probably not. The fights with Bowe overrated Golota but also destroyed him, in addition he was an injured slow starter, as it later turned out, additionally paralyzed by a lidocaine injection.
Lamon Brewster later did the same thing, but much faster.

 

I wouldn't call 43 seconds MUCH faster. But again, looking at the fact it was twice as that, I don't know, lol.

 

you're right, sorry, the correct term would be - he did it twice as fast. Thanks for the correction

 

yea I think Brewster dropped him with the first left hook of the fight

 

No, he had beatup Tommy Morrison, had the war with Ray Mercer and made Oliver Mccall cry. Went in thinking he was gonna beat up Golota or win by dq because Golota was being considered as a nutcase because of the Bowe fights.

 

Yes …I was shocked…I remember thinking to myself…maybe this Lennox Lewis guy is better than everyone thinks he is

 

Yeah, it took 2 golotas for Lewis to knock Golota out, but it took Brewster only 1 golota, haha.

 

I thought Lennox would win, but it would’ve been a cautious points victory with a few rough moments. Definitely didn’t expect a first round demolition.

 

Golota's performances vs. Bowe were always a mixed bag for me. Although he generally fought well in both fights, he also couldn't stop himself from fouling every time he either got frustrated &/or Bowe put some heat on him, & he basically quit in the rematch due to fatigue.

What made the Lewis-Golota fight so intruiging going in was that Lewis' own recent performances had been so erratic (albeit not always due to his own fault) - a huge upset loss to McCall, a close shave vs. Mercer, the bizarre McCall rematch, the hugfest vs. Akinwande. For me, the pre-fight storyline was, "Who knows what to expect from either fighter?" It's only w/ the benefit of hindsight that we now know that the fight played out exactly as it should've.

 

Perhaps a better questions would be, what do we conclude in hindsight?

Golota handed Bowe two one side beatings, but managed to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory twice.

In his next fight Lewis steamrolls him.

Two years later he beats Michael Grant somehow, for whatever that is worth.

A year later a stoned Mike Tyson destroys him.

Four years later he hold Chris Byrd, who is then a top two heavyweight in teh world, to a draw.

In the same year he loses to Ruiz, who is a belt holder, but it is a very bad decision.

Golota kind of got the last laugh, by defeating Tyson's final conqueror.

He was his own worst enemy, but he was clearly unlucky to share his prime with giants, and his post prime with corrupt promotors.