Andrew Golota

Andrew Golota is a former professional heavyweight boxer from Poland, who had a professional career that spanned over two decades, from 1992 to 2013. Throughout his career, Golota fought in 52 fights, winning 41 of them, with 33 of those wins coming by knockout. His record includes 9 losses, 1 draw, and 1 no-contest. He is known for holding the record for being the first Pole to challenge for a heavyweight boxing crown, having fought Lennox Lewis in 1997 for the WBC title, and having competed four times for heavyweight world titles across all four of the major sanctioning bodies.

Andrew Golota was born on January 5th, 1968, in Warsaw, Poland. He began his career as a professional boxer in 1992, where he knocked out Roosevelt Shuler in just three rounds. Golota then went on to win his next 27 fights, which included 24 wins by stoppage. Throughout that period, he became a highly respected contender in the boxing world, with his wins over Orlin Norris, Corey Sanders, Kevin McBride, and Tim Witherspoon, among others.

Golota's first world title fight came on October 4th, 1997, when he fought against Lennox Lewis for the WBC title. Unfortunately for Golota, he lost that fight via 1st round KO. Throughout his career, Golota had a total of nine losses, with three of them resulting from title bouts and the other six coming from non-title bouts. Golota has been stopped six times in his career and lost three times via decision.

One of the most infamous moments of Golota's career came against former heavyweight champion, Riddick Bowe. In 1996, Golota fought Bowe at Madison Square Garden, where he was disqualified in the seventh round for striking Bowe in the testes repeatedly. The fight ended in a dramatic riot, where both civilians and police officers were injured, including Golota himself, who was hit by a member of Bowe's entourage and required stitches on his head.

The controversy of Golota vs. Bowe I created interest in a rematch, which was held in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on December 14th, 1996. Golota once again led Bowe on the scorecards but was disqualified in the ninth round by the referee, Eddie Cotton, again for multiple shots to Bowe's testes. Both fights are featured on HBO's documentary Legendary Nights The Tale of Bowe Golota.

Golota continued his career after those high-profile fights, beating former two-time world champion Tim Witherspoon by decision. In his next match, he lost to Michael Grant by a knockout in the tenth round, which became one of The Ring's 1999 fights of the year. Later in 2000, he faced former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson. Tyson knocked Golota down in the first round, but in between rounds, Golota told his corner to stop the fight. However, his corner talked him into continuing. In the third round, as in the Grant match, Golota told the referee he did not want to continue, despite his team desperately urging him on. The result of the fight was later changed to no contest when Tyson failed a post-fight drug test, testing positive for marijuana.

Gołota received his second world title shot in a row on November 13th, 2004. Despite knocking down WBA champion John Ruiz twice within the bout, he lost by unanimous decision. Golota received his third world title try in a row on May 21st, 2005, against Lamon Brewster. Though heavily favored to win, Golota lost when Brewster knocked him down three times inside the first round, prompting the referee to stop the bout. His last professional fight was a non-title bout against Przemysław Saleta on February 23rd, 2013. Golota lost the fight via 6th round KO. That would ultimately be the last fight of a long and storied career.

Throughout his career, Golota made quite the name for himself in the boxing world, and even won a bronze medal in the heavyweight division at the 1988 Olympics, during his time as an amateur. In November 2016, Golota was inducted into the Illinois Boxing Hall of Fame.

In conclusion, Andrew Golota had an eventful career that went on for more than 21 years, and despite his various controversies, managed to become a respected contender in the boxing world. Golota's record speaks for itself, with his numerous wins via knockout and his four attempts at heavyweight world titles. However, it's safe to say that he will forever be remembered for his high-profile fights against the likes of Lennox Lewis and Riddick Bowe, and his controversial disqualifications for low blows in both cases.

Andrew Golota Fight Record