Educate me - what was Andrew Golota’s issue with Riddick Bowe?

Having watched the two fights again, I still don’t get it. Golota was winning both fights and then he completely lost his rag. Why? It can’t be just because Bowe called him a “bum” in the lead up to the first fight. There must be more to it as he was never DQ’d before or after those two fights.

What am I missing?

 

Bowe had testicles. Golota didn’t like that fact.

 

Whenever Bowe had any sort of momentum, Golota felt the need to fight dirty.

 

This, Bowe had moments of success only to get flattened by a nutshell multiple times in the rematch

 

Golota was notorious for being a head case and even when he was beating up Bowe he just couldn’t keep everything straight for whatever reason. Perhaps it was because Golota threw everything he could and Bowe wouldn’t budge which wasn’t going the way Golota wanted so he resorted to going low. When Bowe was having some success Golota felt the need to fight dirty.

 

Way I saw the two fights was with Golota simply being a bit too dirty in the first one and thereby getting disqualified. In the second fight however Golota knew that he would get disqualified and when Bowe was having some success Golota simply freaked out and threw those low blows in panic.

 

I honestly think it's because he couldn't put Bowe away so he just lost the plot completely and resorted to his street fighting days.

Golota was always a bit of a headcase and despite the terrible beatings Bowe took against Golota he would always fight back and and still be standing.

So I honestly think Golota just got frustrated he couldn't put the big man away.

 

Bowe was one of the dirtiest fighters ever, Golota simply fought fire with fire, and easily got the best of it. Neither one had a measurable iq, so there is that too.

 

Golota was one of those guys who hated to be hit. He bit Samson Pa'ouha.

 

He was throwing them out of desperation, just like Mike Tyson in the second Ruddock bout, it's a cowardly trick.

 

Big Daddy had nothing on Golota when it comes to fighting dirty. Don't remember Bowe trying to bit the neck of his opponent.

 

The narrative seems to be that Golota quit in both fights, supported by the fact he was a prolific quitter post-Bowe. However, this overlooks the fact that Golota was a nutcase and isn’t necessarily going to act rationally, especially in a mentally and physically taxing situation. IIRC he bit a journeyman earlier in his career in a fight he was winning comfortably.

Golota may well have deliberately fouled himself out of the first Bowe fight; he was DQ’d in the 7th of a 12 rounder so there was a lot of time left. But in the rematch he was literally seconds away from completing the 9th round in a 10 round fight. Golota was well ahead on the scorecards and could have only lost via KO or multiple KD’s, in a fight where a diminished Bowe had taken a savage beating, both legal and illegal. Golota could have ran and held in the final round if need be and still likely won the fight, which is why it’s so bizarre. I don’t think there is a “rational” explanation here.

 

I always wondered whether, psychologically, he just couldn't handle the pressure of defeating a big name opponent (top names of the era). Like he worried what it would mean for his career down the line - the pressure of having to do it again. He folded against Bowe, crumbled against Lewis and quit against Tyson

 

Yep. People forget how dirty Bowe used to fight. This time he just ran into a better, dirtier fighter.

 

This.