Andrew Golota...how frustrating was this guy to watch??

If the eminent threat of being stripped of the title for passing him by were a problem then I might make an exception. But if there were no real consequences to avoiding him, then I'd keep my guy away. A fighter who is notorious for biting, head butting and hitting below the belt collectively is dangerous and could end a man's career. See Riddick Bowe.

 

The Bowe fights kind of marked Golota as a nut for me but didnt really sour me on him as there were so many bizarre incidents during the 1990s (fan man, bite fight, McCalls nervous breakdown, low Bowe, etc etc what the hell were they putting in the HW drinking fountain back then). What really got me about him was when he finally came back and was put in the ring against HBO darling Michael Grant. Everyone was so high on Grant because he looked the part of the next champion: Big, in great shape, photogenic, etc. Nobody gave Golota a shot and that fight was supposed to be a springboard for Grant to fight Lewis. Instead Golota came out and beat the holy hell out of Grant, dropping him like a rag doll. Then just because Grant didnt fold Golota quit. I was ridiculous. I became convinced that he suffered from anxiety syndrome after the Tyson fight and wrote a rather lengthy post on the subject that night at the old HouseofBoxing forum. All the signs were there down to reverting to his childhood stuttering problem (which actually made me feel quite sorry for him). He should have quit after that fight but then the guy comes back and way past his prime gets robbed against two paper champions in Ruiz and Byrd which illustrated both Golota's potential and just how weak those guys were.

 

He had the talent and skills to be champ, but he had severe mental problems. He should have been banned after a few of his outrageous actions.

 

I live near Atlantic City and got the inside scoop of what Golota's pre-fight activities consisted of before the Lennox Lewis fiasco in 1997. He and a couple pals spent the night before this fight into the morning hours at an infamous all-nude strip joint on Pacific Ave called "Bare Exposure." His rationale was that since he was going to clear at least a million bucks for the fight he could throw money around in this place like there was no tomorrow. His people became frantic and could not find him until about a couple of hours before the fight was to begin. He then went and got his ailing knee shot-up with so much of a certain narcotic pain killer that it was rumored that he froze up and could have even died in the ring that evening. Most of the local sports radio pundits regarded Golota as an irresistible, if not unpredictable force, and picked him to win. After all, he had ruined the fearsome Riddick Bowe in his previous two bouts despite the imbecilic fouls on his part. He became almost a nonentity after this fight for about three years until he fought Tyson and almost lost his life in that fight. I feel that this was the fight where Golota was justified in quiting since rumor has it that Tyson's blows really ravaged his facial bones more than what could be seen from afar. Then the decent comeback against mostly lighter hitters like Byrd and Ruiz. This guy was off his rocker.

 

It was during the Samson Pa'uha (sp) fight that we first saw the mental make up of this guy. Physically, he had the tools… but astute observers of the game understand that 50% of the game is 90% mental.

In the Tyson fight he was actually hurt, broken cheek, concussion, and vertebrae injury… it was also suspected he had bleeding on the brain.

But he kept that left low the whole time and took some serious rights to the head… along with a quality headbutt or two.

 

I think most of it stemmed from how bad of a finisher he was

-Beat the hell out of Bowe twice, could never close the show
-dropped a rubbery legged Grant considered "weak chinned" twice, couldnt do it
-hit TRex Sanders with everything in the damn arsenal and couldnt close
-dropped Ruiz twice and couldnt finish

probably from his street fighting roots, he gets frustrated when the guy doesnt go down and reacts with the same tactics he would use in a brawl to gain the upper hand

 

good post. May be some truth to that

 

Golota is a dirty fighter, and a little over rated. He did not hit that hard. His chin was average. He went low, bite, and head butted. His best career win is....maybe an older Tim Witherspoon. Correct me if I am mistaken. I think Golota never beat an active top ten ranked heavy.

While Golota looked amazing vs Bowe, keep in mind Bowe never fought a big man with skills like Golota had as a pro. Golota took advantage of Bowe's lack of defense, and ring generalship. Some say Bowe was out of shape. Yes he was, but he trained hard for the rematch and it was a replay of the first fight.