RIDDICK BOWE w dq 7 ANDREW GOLOTA
July 11, 1996; Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
THE manner in which this escalated from intriguing heavyweight contest into a full blown riot via rule-breaking of the most flagrant kind – all in the space of 25 minutes – is off the scale, even when you’re using boxing history as the barometer. Golota, who had previous for biting and head-butting opponents, bossed the favoured Bowe before hitting him in the knackers in round four. He continued to go low – the reason why, considering he was winning comfortably, remains unknown – before he was thrown out in the seventh. Bowe’s manager, Rock Newman, burst into the ring. Golota was attacked by Newman’s colleagues, Bernard Brooks Snr and Jnr. Cue violent crowd trouble that spilled out to the Manhattan streets, 22 reported injuries and at least seven people hospitalised – including 74-year-old Lou Duva, who was working with Golota.
DID YOU KNOW? Hours before, Golota refused to fight because he had only trained for 10 rounds and not the scheduled 12 the bout was changed to.
WATCH OUT FOR: Those low blows. The maniacal mindset of Golota was already crying out for help.
