19.05.05 – By Patrick Corcoran: Try is it might, the heavyweight division can’t seem to right itself. As other divisions (the lightweights, junior welterweights, welterweights, and middleweights, just to name a few) operate in the midst of a golden age, the big boys are still suffering from the post-Lennox malaise.. Case in point: Saturday night, we have a challenger whose claim to another title shot is questionable versus a champion who has yet to earn the respect of the boxing public.
For more than one year, Lamon Brewster has been one of the four officially sanctioned champs. After starching Wladimir Klitschko in five rounds last April, Brewster has fought just once, winning a controversial split decision over Kali Meehan in September. Before the Klitschko fight, he had been exactly no one of consequence, had lost to Clifford Etienne and Charles
Shufford. And yet, a heavyweight champ he remains.
Obviously, Lamon Brewster’s reign with the WBO belt will not be remembered alongside Rocky Marciano’s. He faces his toughest threat to date on Saturday, when he squares off with the Foul Pole, Andrew Golota.
Unlike Brewster, Golota has been a well known combatant for years, having earned renown for his two disqualifications against Riddick Bowe in 1996. His recent re-arrival as a contender has brought some life back into the division, and he severely tested both Chris Byrd (in a draw) and John Ruiz (in a loss) in 2004. A victory over Brewster would give him his first heavyweight title in four tries, and set him up for a rematch unification bout against either of his most recent opponents.
That Golota is even in such a position is startling, given the abuse his reputation suffered in the losses not just to Bowe, but Lewis and Tyson as well (the Tyson loss was later switched to a no contest). But his able opposition against Byrd and Ruiz has somewhat repaired the popular opinion surrounding Golota. If he can keep his punches up and his head together, Golota is an entertaining fighter. He is a brawler who will let his hands go in a division starved for a good scrap. Less than a month after John Ruiz hugged his way to an eventually negated loss, boxing fans should at least have the opportunity to see some decent exchanges between Brewster and Golota.
Golota alone won’t transform boxing glamour class, but, even if he loses, he will make Brewster’s reign a bit more legitimate than it is right now. Beating a fighter of Golota’s pedigree is quite a different thing from squeaking by Kali Meehan.