I find it hard to believe that any human being would pay to fix a Byrd or Ruiz win. They are awful to watch and don't bring in money at all. Golota was a King fighter, just like Ruiz and Byrd. I don't think there was a political reason behind him losing.
Well, why was he more or less screwed back to back then? Is there a chance he was even less controllable/marketable than Ruiz or Byrd? Byrd at least was a draw against Wlad twice, and had that win over Vitali to draw interest.
Considering he downed both of them multiple times and fought very good fights both times... I don't know. Maybe his in-ring actions made judges turn against him, Whitaker style.
never saw his byrd fight, but other than his knockdowns he let ruiz control the tempo, and was outworked.
