Andrew Golota
Golota in 2008
Born	Andrzej Gołota (1968-01-05)5 January 1968 (age 57) Warsaw, Poland
Statistics
Weight(s)	Heavyweight
Height	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Reach	201 cm (79 in)
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	52
Wins	41
Wins by KO	33
Losses	9
Draws	1
No contests	1
Medal record Men'samateur boxing Representing Poland Olympic Games 1988 Seoul Heavyweight European Championships 1989 Athens Heavyweight

Andrzej Jan Gołota (Polish:[ˈandʐɛjɡɔˈwɔta]; born 5 January 1968),^[1] best known asAndrew Golota, is a Polish formerprofessional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2013. He challenged four times for aheavyweight world title (by all four major sanctioning bodies), and as anamateur won a bronze medal in the heavyweight division at the1988 Olympics. Despite his accomplishments and more than 40 professional wins, Golota is perhaps best known for twice being disqualified againstRiddick Bowe for repeated low blows in fights that Golota was winning. On October 4, 1997, he became the first Pole to challenge for a heavyweight boxing crown when he fought WBC championLennox Lewis at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. He had a bout withMike Tyson in 2000, which he first withdrew from, but afterward was ruled no-contest. In November 2016, Golota was inducted into the Illinois Boxing Hall of Fame.^[2]

TheWarsaw-born, Golota had 111 wins and 10 losses in anamateur career that culminated in his winning a bronze medal at the1988 Summer Olympics. Golota won other international amateur tournaments as well.

In 1990, he got into a fight with amachinist "about half a foot and 50 pounds smaller" in a bar in Poland. Facing charges of assault and battery, he fled rather than risk five years in prison.^[3] Later that year, he married an American citizen of Polish descent and settled inChicago.^[4]Gołota's Olympic results were as follows:

• 1st roundbye
• DefeatedSvilen Rusinov (Bulgaria) 5-0
• DefeatedHarold Obunga (Kenya) 5-0
• Lost toBaik Hyun-Man (South Korea) RSC 2

In 1992, Golota turnedprofessional, knocking out Roosevelt Shuler in three rounds. He had three moreknockouts and then went the distance for the first time, defeating Robert Smith in six rounds. He won his next 16 fights byknockout. His wins included Bobby Crabtree andJeff Lampkin. Following his KO of Crabtree he was featured inRing Magazine'snew faces section. Soon after, he faced a respected contender, Maron Wilson. Golota won a ten-round decision. He won his next five bouts by knockout. His opponents includedSamson Po'uha andDarnell Nicholson, both of whom were considered fringe contenders at the time. The win over Po'uha was memorable for the moment in which Gołota bit Po'uha on the side of the neck, two years before the bite-includingrematch between Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson.^[5]

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Golota's first high-profile fight came against former heavyweight championRiddick Bowe. Bowe had not fought in nearly a year since his third and final fight withEvander Holyfield, which he won by technical knockout in the eighth round, and had said regarding his opponent, "how do you train for a bum?", paying no attention to his opponent's win–loss record. The fight was held atMadison Square Garden on 11 July 1996, and was televised byHBO as part of itsWorld Championship Boxing series.

Early in the fight it appeared that Bowe had underestimated his opponent's skills. However, Golota's penchant for not following the rules was also showcased in this fight as he took to striking Bowe in the testes. After being repeatedly warned, referee Wayne Kelly began deducting points from Golota and had done so twice prior to the seventh round. Early in that round, Kelly took a third point from Golota for punching Bowe in the testes, and warned him that if he did it again, he was going to lose the fight. Golota continued to fight and with less than a minute left in the round landed several hard shots that appeared to have Bowe staggered. However, with 37 seconds remaining in the round Golota dropped Bowe with another punch directly to thetestes, and Kelly disqualified him. What ensued was a dramatic riot that left a large number of civilians and policemen injured, including Gołota himself, who was hit by a member of Bowe's entourage with a two-way radio and required eleven stitches to close a cut on his head. The riot, which has been named "Riot at the Garden", was called Event of the Year byRing Magazine.

The controversy of Golota vs. Bowe I created interest in a rematch, which was held in Atlantic City, New Jersey on December 14, 1996. Golota vs. Bowe II was onPay Per View and Gołota once again led Bowe on the scorecards only to be disqualified in the ninth round by referee Eddie Cotton, again for multiple shots to Bowe's testes. This fight also proved to be controversial, and a protest was filed by Gołota's camp to try to overturn the fight's result.Michael Katz, a sportswriter, coined the termFoul Pole for Gołota. Both fights are featured onHBO's documentary Legendary Nights The Tale of Bowe Golota.^{[citation needed]}

Despite two losses in a row, Gołota became theWBC number one contender. On 4 October 1997, he received a shot at the world's Heavyweight championship againstLennox Lewis in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Gołota was knocked out in the first round.

Gołota subsequently claimed that an injection oflidocaine fortendonitis in his right knee given to him by his physician shortly before the fight made him woozy and impaired his vision. The adverse effects of lidocaine include dizziness, blurred vision, seizures. As a result, he filed amedical malpractice suit against his physician, claiming that the injection had cost him the fight and a deal with HBO for $21 million to broadcast his next four to five fights.^[6][7]

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Gołota's boxing career continued with his beating former 2-time world championTim Witherspoon by decision. In his next match, he lost toMichael Grant by a knockout in the tenth round in one ofThe Ring's 1999 fights of the year. Gołota scored two knockdowns of Grant in the first round. He was ahead on all three judges' scorecards in the tenth round when he himself was knocked down. When asked by referee Randy Neuman whether he wanted to continue, he shook his head twice and then haltingly answered "No".^[8]

In 2000, Gołota fought inChina beating Marcus Rhodes with a third-round knockout. Later in 2000, he faced former heavyweight championMike Tyson. Tyson knocked Golota down in the first round, and in between rounds Golota told his corner to stop the fight but his corner talked him into continuing. In the third round, as he had done in the Grant match, Gołota told the referee he did not want to continue, despite his team desperately urging him on. He later claimed a headbutt impaired him during the fight, which was one of his main reasons for deciding not to continue. The result of the fight was later changed to no contest when Tyson failed a post fight drug test, testing positive for marijuana. Following the Tyson fight, Gołota was inactive for nearly three years before returning to the ring on 14 August 2003. He scored a technical knockout of journeyman Brian Nix in the seventh round. On November 15, Golota knocked out Terrence Lewis in the sixth round atVerona, New York.

Gołota then received a second world title shot, fightingIBF heavyweight championChris Byrd at New York City's Madison Square Garden on 17 April 2004. The fight resulted in a draw.

On 13 November 2004, Gołota received his second world title shot in a row. Despite knocking downWBA championJohn Ruiz twice within the bout, he lost by unanimous decision.^[9]

Golota received his third world title try in a row on 21 May 2005 againstWBO championLamon Brewster. Though heavily favored to win, Gołota lost when Brewster knocked him down three times inside the first round, prompting the referee to stop the bout. On 9 June 2007, he beatJeremy Bates in the 2nd round bytechnical knockout. Gołota foughtKevin McBride on October 6, 2007 in Madison Square Garden and won by TKO in the 6th round, winning the inauguralIBF North American Heavyweight championship.^[10]

On 19 January 2008, Gołota defeatedMike Mollo by unanimous decision in 12 rounds to win theWorld Boxing Association Fedelatin heavyweight championship belt. In January, 2009, Gołota lost by first-round TKO toRay Austin. On 24 October 2009 inŁódź, Gołota foughtTomasz Adamek and lost by TKO in the 5th round. The event was hosted onPolsat TV, it was also broadcast live online on ipla.tv platform. It was the largest live internet transmission in Poland.^{[citation needed]}

Golota took part in Census 2010 commercials, recorded in Polish and English. In 2010, he appeared in the Polish edition ofDancing with the Stars (Taniec z Gwiazdami) with partner Magdalena Soszyńska-Michno. In his first appearance he danced thewaltz. He was eliminated on 7 November 2010, at the quarter final stage and he finished in 5th place.^{[citation needed]}He has also participated in Polish version ofThe Mole (Agent - Gwiazdy), he has been eliminated and finished in eighth place.

• Boxing record for Andrew Golota fromBoxRec(registration required)
• Andrzej Golota atOlympics.com
• Andrzej Gołota atOlympedia
• Andrzej Gołota at thePolski Komitet Olimpijski (archive)(in Polish)

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