By: Ste Rowen
The Story ofAndrew Golota The ‘Foul Pole’ Who Caused a Riot & Almost Changed New YorkBoxing Forever Andrew Golota on a rare occasion of resilience.
He stares down at the changing room floor, towel over his head, tears in his eyes. It had happened again. “You can be champion of the world.” Lou Duva, boxing’s most famous manager screams at his fighter. ”The only person stopping you is you. Nobody but you.” Andrew Golota had been offered the opportunity of redemption five months on from the night he almost completely destroyed his reputation. Now against the very same opponent, a man who won bronze at the 1988 Olympics was repeating the same mistakes and displaying the lack of fight he had shown earlier in the year, which for any boxer is a baseline requirement.
But here in thisAtlantic City changing room the future looked truly bleak, and it was all downto one man and the events that led him to become one of the most famous namesin the sport.
Boxing is a prettyeasy sport to find the men you love to see lose, and maybe that’s what turnedan almost childlike giant into a fan favourite in that sense. Andrzej JanGolota was born in 1968’s Wroclaw, Poland to an alcoholic father and a motherhe learned very early on couldn’t cope with him on her own. His fathercommitted suicide when Andrzej was just five years old, and a year later thesmall boy still reeling from the most horrific circ*mstances was given up to anorphanage by his one remaining parent.
Fortunately, hewas reunited with his extended family when his aunt gained custody of hernephew, but the tragedy of having been given away never left the futureheavyweight contender. His aunt however was unable to control the temper of anever-growing menace. Both literally and figuratively.
Fights,expulsions and trouble with the law led the authorities to send Andrzej to amilitary training centre in Legia, where Golota’s boxing story began. “Myfamily was against my boxing. They did not think I should do such a brutalsport,” Andrew reflected back in 1996. “They were scared I would get a flatnose.” However much of a discipline boxing is famed to be when it comes tohelping troubled children, some boys just can’t be completely saved, andtrouble follows them around like a bad smell. “I just wanted to make him looksilly.”
‘Silly’ wasn’texactly how Piotr Bialostocki viewed it when he faced the wrath of Golota, bynow already a bronze medallist Olympian when the infamous event occurred in1990. As the story goes, full of Dutch courage, Bialostocki challenged the200lb+ boxer to a fight and a short time later he awoke in a bin, treated to apair of black eyes and his clothes removed. Presumably so that he would sleepeasier without them, you know, or not.
The incident wasbrought to the attention of the police and once again put the now 22-year-oldback in the sights of the authorities. Forced to make arguably the mostsignificant decision of his life, he prepared to leave the country that hadmoulded him and mere months later touched down in Chicago.
Golota always finds it amusing to imagine the faces of the police hunting him down on an armed robbery charge only to see the ‘fugitive’ six years later, on HBO PPV, potentially one win away from fighting for a heavyweight world title.
“In Poland today I am a hero AND a wanted man.”
Speaking barelyany English and having very limited contacts in America, Golota not only beganto establish a professional boxing career but linked up with one of the sport’sgreat figures, Lou Duva, former soldier, businessman, boxer, trainer, managerand owner of promotional company, Main Events.
It was all in thePole’s hands, not only the resources to work with, but a heavyweight division stackedwith supreme boxers willing to fight all comers. Although it wasn’t withoutsome almost major hiccups that could’ve derailed Golota’s momentum. At 23-0,the unbeaten man was accused of biting his 24th professional opponent, SamsonPo’uha.
In a sign ofthings to come, Andrew was cruising through the early rounds but after taking apowerful right hand that shook him up, the Pole began to panic. Held the Samoanin a clinch and in Po’uha’s version of events, Golota bit his foe. Photo’s seenafter the fight proved that Po’uha wasn’t lying and despite being stopped inthe 5th round, the result stood.
Golota’s firststrike.
He was a supposedbogeyman before he really stepped up. Chicago resident, via Poland, Andrewheaded into his July 1996 bout, his most important fight to date vs. RiddickBowe with a 28-0 (25KOs) record, but it was from that bout that fans becameaccustomed to the crazy personality that would expose the Eastern Europeanfighter on the world stage. “How do you train for a bum?” Golota’s nextopponent, former world champion, Riddick Bowe proclaimed to the media.
It was an interestingturn of phrase even for boxing’s standards, but at a time when it was mainlyAmerican’s dominating the glamour division it’s not surprising that Bowe was soconfident. However, despite Riddick taking the win, it wasn’t Riddick that wonit, more that Andrew lost it. “Don’t throw anything below the shoulder!” Duva,once again in Golota’s face in the corner, yelled at his man. “Just hit him inthe head.” But the vulnerable child from years ago was coming out once again inAndrew. The need to run, which to this day seems ridiculous as anyone whowatches the fight back can see that the crazy Pole is well on top, but hecouldn’t resist the urge to fire shots below the belt. By the 7th the refereehad, had enough and unfortunately for the rest of Madison Square Garden, so hadBowe’s team.
Once the refereewaved off the fight and disqualified Andrew for continuous low blows, Riddick’scorner rushed into the ring charging and pushing at Golota and chaos ensued.Punches flying in every direction, Lou Duva dropped to the floor on his back,and then the crowd turned on each other. Media reports from journalistsringside likened it to a fight between black and white because of the largeattendance of Polish New Yorker’s in attendance and Bowe being from Brooklyn.
The MSG had somekind of ‘The Warriors-esque’ haze dropped over where you either tried to getout or fight a stranger. The New York Times labelled him the ‘Foul Pole’. TheMSG banned any boxing events from taking place at their venue for three years.Golota was public enemy number one, something you really don’t want to be,especially in America.
And yet theboxing world was ready to do it all over again within the same year. Thequestion was, can a leopard change its spots? No.
Rinse and repeatfor the rematch five months later, only this time the fight lasted three roundslonger and there was no riot in the Convention Centre, only the riot happeningin Golota’s head. Andrew seemed firmly on top once again, a jab wasted in theannals of boxing, but he just could not get out of the mental block ofsabotaging himself, earning a second straight disqualification.
In most sportsthat would usually be the end of someone playing in the big leagues, at leastfor a little while, but boxing isn’t like that. Ten months after the shame thatcame with losing to Bowe by DQ again, the Pole was awarded with a shot at WBCchampion, Lennox Lewis – it sure pays to be in business with Duva. But Golotawas knocked out in a single round and despite having three more shots at aworld title, fell short on each occasion.
A draw, adecision loss, and another 1st round KO. The ‘Foul Pole’ can’t help himselffrom losing control. His legacy.
There’s apoignant quote that comes to mind when thinking of Golota,“I’mnota failurecos Ididn’t succeed, I’mafailure becauseIdidn’t try.”
Accusing Golotaof never trying would be going too far, but in those moments when he was on thebrink of legacy-defining performances, he quit, he fell way short of histalent, but then again, he’s still had a career 95% of professional boxers trainfor.
In this article:andrew, Boxing, golota
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