Would a prime Golota...

I never said he wasnt powerful, but he certainly wasnt as powerful as he could be. In fact i doubt he hit any harder than many all time great fighters even if he was technically stronger. I believe this is because of his poor technique. This wearing down is all very well, but he never stopped a world class fighter. McBride was the closest or perhaps bates. If he fights another ATG, he cant KO them quickly (or probably at all) which means that at some time, they will test his heart and the reality is, these factors are extremely low on his list of abilities.

Lets be honest, none of the fighters he knocked out give any all time greats the slightest bit of trouble. This includes every single previous world champion. I dont see how his punching power can be rated any higher than some of the lighter hitting heavy champs like say Spinks, Tunney etc. It definitely isnt at the same level of big hitters like Tyson, Lewis, Louis or Dempsey. To be honest, i struggle to think of a former champ with less stopping power and who has failed to stop as many world class heavys.

As a matter of interest, which champions do you think that Golota punched harder than?

 

let's face it guys, you can't ignore golota's faults while emphasizing his strengths, which many are doing here.

did he have ATG qualities? yes. was he ATG? no

the weaknessnes he had were too prominent to ever allow him to beat ANYONE of quality.

quick: name golota's 3 best wins? quick: name golota's 3 best fights? let me guess, they are all loses.

golota is one of boxing's greatest losers and i have no respect for someone with the skills to succeed but never did cause he was too busy punching balls and biting necks

 

What we can say, based on his BOWE PERFORMANCES Golota was rated by many Americans to beat Lewis at the time of their bout, because Bowe was rated higher than Lewis at the time.

 

Golota had boxing ability, size and strength, but his record against top-flight heavyweights in his own era makes a mockery of any suggestion that he'd give any heavyweight in history a tough fight.

Riddick Bowe was never a solid defensive fighter but he more or less quit avoiding any punches from 1994 onwards. Look at him against Herbie Hide and Evander Holyfield in 1995. And it's no surprise the punishment he took coupled with training and dieting issues, and a total neglect for defense, made him a sitting duck for a man of Golota's type. Sure, Golota proved a lot in the Bowe fights, but Bowe proved to be a fighter past his best too. Even then, Golota showed a bizarrely deficient mentality and threw the fights away out of some manic panic that really almost defies explanation.

Golota's a flakey fighter if ever I saw one.
I'm backing the other guy.

 

When exactly are people here saying Golota's prime "ended"? He was right at the peak of his career when Lennox smashed his way through him, and he still was in or near his prime when he quit to an aging Tyson after just two rounds. That's two fighters right there we KNOW he wouldn't give tough fights to.

 

The guys who do that are the ones who are punishing (usualy hard) hitters that keep their oponent on their feet for a long time.

 

In Golota's case it's difficult to say he ever had much of a "prime". Sometimes he would perform, sometimes he wouldn't.

He didn't even do that bad in the second round against Tyson before quitting.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVHlMpp97uk[/ame]


I imagine most of the time he would end up doing something like this against a great opponent in their prime.

 

Right. Agree 100% on the Golata punching power. And another critical flaw was his finishing ability and finishing instincts. And that's looking at the best part of his game--offense.

The problem is defense.



Almost everyone seems to evaluate the heavyweights on their punching power and seem to think that aspect alone determines the outcome of every heavyweight fight. What about a guy's defense? Golata held his left low. He's open for jabs. The guy simply eats straight right hands. He does not react well when he does get tagged and hurt. Once hit a little, he falls badly for feints. He cuts.

Golata also makes mistakes when he gets fatigued and he'll resort to even more fouling and more mental lapses during portions of a round. These types of defensive shortcomings are simply far too exploitable when facing the best fighters. That skillset is simply going to come up short once a top caliber opponent is in the opposing corner.

 

He was not in his physical prime vs Tyson. Golota was in a car accident (which killed his passenger friend) that forever ruined his terrific left jab. This happened right after the Grant fight. So I'd say Golota's prime ended after the Grant fight when Golota was 31. He was never the same after that.

 

I agree with the Thread Starter 100%....shame he'll **** it up for himself even if he does well.

Ibeabuchi vs Golota Prime for Prime anyone???

 

Ike would have stopped him. Ike might have been a psycho outside the ring, but inside the ring he had better control of his mind than did Golota.

I'm still laughing at the thread starter who thinks Golota would hold his own w/anyone. Could you picture Golota vs the 73-74 Foreman? George woulda had him pissing his pants during the staredown. Then woulda destroyed him.

 

And the Klitschko's have been after him a long time as well. That bout sells very well in europe. How about the Vitali stare/no nonsense approach/towering over him and in the meantime, Golata is the guy entering the ring first and being the guy to kill 10 minutes before the bell rings.