17.05.05 – By Barry Thompson: Ok here we go….Lamon Brewster – He seems like Arturo Gatti minus charisma, fans, action, and…. Ok, scratch that thought. (My bad, Arturo!) Lamon Brewster won the title by getting damn near beat to death before the other guy (Wladimir Klitschko) ran out of gas and he hit him back.. In his fight with Kali Meehan, Brewster was too much a friend of his former sparring partner before fighting him and ended up getting damn near beat to death to retain the WBO title (That didn’t stop Corrales from finishing Castillo, however).
Andrew Golota – Has quite a few skills and is in great shape, but he is remembered more for this:
a. Biting shoulders (Samson Po’uha).
b. Hitting below the belt and getting disqualified while he was winning (Riddick Bowe I and II).
c. Quitting when he gets knocked down when he is winning (Michael Grant)
d. Quitting when he gets hit too hard (Mike Tyson).
Golota was outboxing Riddick Bowe and was damn near beating him to death when he decided to go “under the radar” (low blows) and got disqualified, in two consecutive fights!
In his upcoming fight with Brewster, Golota may be more skilled, but Brewster is probably more mentally stable (and can obviously withstand more severe beatings).
The question is, can Golota handle the pressure of his hometown fans counting so much on him to win, the pressure of having a second chance (lost count) in the eyes of his fans? If Andrew Golota can avoid punching himself out like Wladimir Klitshko did against Brewster, he may have his hands raised at the end of this sad affair.
Although I have a great deal of respect for the way that Lamon Brewster carries himself outside of the ring and the regard in which he describes his opponents, he brings nothing to the ring that I would care to see.
In my opinion, Golota has the skills to dominate many of today’s heavyweights, but does boxing need another black eye from the unpredictable behavior that he exhibits without seeming rhyme or reason (Mike Tyson, Zab Judah, and James Butler)?
Here’s how I believe it will go:
Andrew Golota comes out and performs superbly, boxing the ears off of Lamon Brewster, who has no answers for this awesome display of boxing, covers up and holds tight, fighting only when necessary to keep from having the fight stopped. Golota, frustrated with spending so much energy beating someone with no results, goes low, gets points deducted in front of a hometown crowd, experiences severe mental anguish, and flips the hell out in front of god and everybody.
Meanwhile, Brewster, peeking out from between his severe beating defenders (gloves), sees the perfect opportunity to sucker punch a worn out Golota, and shoots his best shot of the night, either knocking out Golota or causing him to quit in front of his hometown crowd.
Result: Brewster keeps belt mysteriously and Golota just barely misses another one.
As I said in the beginning…. Let’s just get it over with