Andrzej Golota: boxing career, "Showdown in Motown"

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:42

Andrzej Golota is a professional Polish ex-boxer of the heavy weight category (up to 91 kilograms), who competed from 1992 to 2013. Bronze medal winner at the 1989 European Championships and the 1988 Summer Olympics. In amateur boxing, Andrzej had 114 fights: 99 wins (27 KOs), 2 draws and 13 losses. Professional: 42 wins (33 KOs), 1 draw, 9 losses and 1 failed fight. Andrzej Golota's height is 193 cm, arm span is 203 cm.

Crazy boxer

Golota is the only professional Polish boxer who fought for all major titles (WBC, WBO, WBA, IBF) during his career, but never won a single one. The boxer gained great popularity due to eccentric antics in the ring. He also became famous in two fights with the American Riddick Bowe, in which he, winning on points, struck illegal low blows, due to which he was disqualified twice.

Escaped from Poland

In 1990, the Polish boxer got into a fight with Piotr Bialostoski in one of the pubs in Wloclawek (Poland). Golota was charged under articles of assault and beating, in connection with which the Polish athlete fled the country, because he could receive 5 years in prison. Later it turned out that Andrzej Golota married a US citizen of Polish origin and lives in the city of Chicago.

Andrzej Golota: fighting at a professional level

In 1992, the Polish boxer began to compete at a professional level. Andrzej's first opponent was Roosevelt Shuler, whom he defeated by TKO in the 3rd round. In the period from 1992 to 1995, he defeated the following opponents by knockout: Eddie Taylor, Bobby Crabtree and Terry Davis. American Marion Wilson (twice) and Pole Samson Poha were also defeated on points.

In the fight with Samson Pouha, Golota was inferior for four rounds. The opponent repeatedly carried out a series of successful punches, after which Andrzej received a knockdown. At the beginning of the fifth round, Golota bit his opponent on the shoulder in the clinch (a year and a half later, Mike Tyson bit off Evander Holyfield's ear). In the same round, Golota stepped up and knocked down Samson Pouha three times. As a result, the referee stopped the fight and awarded the victory to Andrzej.

In 1994, Golota fought Jeff Lumpkin and won, due to the fact that the opponent surrendered.

Why did Andrzej Golota run away from the ring in a fight with Iron Mike?

In October 2000The Polish boxer met in a duel with the legendary and most experienced Mike Tyson. This fight was remembered by the boxing community under the name "Showdown in Motown" (the venue of the fight). In the first round, Mike immediately rushed to attack the Polish fighter. It was noticeable that Andrzej Golota was not ready for such a pace. At the end of the first round, Mike Tyson delivered the strongest hook-shaped right blow to Andrzej's jaw, after which he, having received a cut in his left eyebrow, lost his balance and fell. Despite this, the Polish boxer quickly got up and continued the fight. There were only a few seconds left until the end of the round, and Tyson wanted to end the fight with a knockout, but Andrzej managed to survive.

In the second round, Mike Tyson again took up his own, and went to attack his opponent. Golota, in turn, tried to clinch and tie the hands of the "king of knockouts" in order to reduce the risk of hitting his most powerful punches. The second round was also left for Mike.

In the break between the first and third rounds, the Polish boxer refused to continue the fight. The coaching angle of Golota persuaded the boxer to enter the ring and continue the fight, but he flatly did not want to do this. As a result, boxer Andrzej Golota fled the ring. On the way to the locker room, the fans sitting next to the aisle began booing the Pole and throwing plastic cups and bottles at him. Near the exit, he was hit by a can of red drink, which spilled all over his body. Enraged Mike Tyson, who missed another early victory by knockout, was held by several people so that he would notrushed at the opponent after declaring the fiasco.

Consequences

This kind of conflict in world boxing has never happened before. After these incidents, representatives of a sports channel called Showtime announced that they would no longer let Andrzej Golota on the air because he was a coward. Post-match doping control showed that "Iron Mike" found traces of marijuana, in connection with which the fight was declared invalid. Upon arrival of the Polish boxer to the hospital, he was diagnosed with a concussion, a fracture of the left cheekbone and an intervertebral hernia in the 4th and 5th cervical region. Apparently, the listed ailments were the reason for such a decision on the part of Golota. After the fight with Mike Tyson, Andrzej Golota was out of boxing for three years.