21.05.05 – By Don Caputo: His trainer, Al Certo, pleaded with him, “You’re going to disgrace yourself.” It fell on deaf ears, he’d had enough. Two turbulent rounds of being viciously torn into by an un-caged animal were so traumatic that a flee response was triggered in the fighter which saw him make a hare-footed departure from the ring and, it appeared, out of boxing.. Watching as Andrew Golota left the arena under a cloud of shame and with his credibility smashed to pieces yet again, one had no choice but to write him off as a legitimate heavyweight contender there and then. “Boxing is a very, very difficult sport,” he said meekly after the fight. “I apologize to all my fans.” Following the debacle, Golota announced his retirement.
That was of course October 20, 2000, the night on which the ‘Foul Pole’ infamously quit against Mike Tyson and promptly walked away from the sport.
At the time, his plight seemed both bizarre and sad; the ability was there for all to see, yet he inexplicably allowed himself to be sabotaged by demons that festered destructively in his fragile psyche. The ‘No Mas’ episode (not the first time he had quit by the way) was just another in a long list of erratic and unexplainable actions that we had witnessed from him in a major fight.
In the end, those of us who recognized his potential and knew how good he could have been simply shook our heads and dolefully filed his name under the label which read wasted talent – for the most part after that, we thought no more about him. Fast-forward to this weekend, and Golota (38-5 31 KO’s) is back in the ring to take on Lamon Brewster (31-2 27 KO’s) for
the WBO belt in what will be his third consecutive title shot since making his tentative return back in 2003.
The match, which takes place at the United Center in Chicago on Saturday night, will surely represent Golota’s final opportunity to capture a portion of the heavyweight crown that he has for so long craved. Brewster, although regarded as being the weakest of the current champions, is not a man that one should overlook as he carries dynamite in both hands and possesses the ability to fight back strongly after absorbing almost frightening amounts of punishment.
It would therefore be wise for Golota to go about his business with an element of caution, and if possible, avoid engaging in too many drawn out exchanges. As he showed in his title winning effort against Wladimir Klitscko, Brewster has a habit of outlasting an opponent who tries to blast him out early; so with that in mind, Golota needs to re-discover his jab and utilize his superior boxing skills more than we have seen him do in recent outings. This is it for him now, its crunch time; he showed against Chris Byrd that he still belongs in the upper-echelon of the division but how more chances does he need?
The powerful Pole, who came agonizingly close to becoming a world champion in his last two title attempts, knows that there will not be a fifth opportunity and accepts that it is now or never for him.
“On Saturday May 21, there will be a new WBO heavyweight champion. There is no question if I don’t win, because if I don’t win it will be over for me.”
Age and inactivity have inevitably diluted his skills, but with age comes wisdom. Golota is clearly no longer the fighter that he once was physically, however in his comeback fights he has displayed far greater maturity and composure under the spot light. So much so, I am not even worried about the possibility of another mental collapse against Brewster. He has too
much on the line to do anything crazy, for when the bell rings it will not only be for his last crack at a heavyweight title, it will also signify his final opportunity to gain some sort of redemption for a career of underachievement. Golota by unanimous decision.