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| Date | October 4, 1997 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | Convention Center in Atlantic City, New Jersey, US | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | WBC Heavyweight Championship | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lewis defeated Golota via 1st Round KO | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Lennox Lewis vs. Andrew Golota was a professional boxing match contested on October 4, 1997, for the WBC Heavyweight Championship. [1]
After making the first successful defense in his second reign as WBC Heavyweight champion against the previously undefeated Henry Akinwande, Lennox Lewis agreed to make his second defense against controversial Polish fighter Andrew Golota. [2] Golota was coming off two consecutive disqualification losses to Riddick Bowe. Golota had dominated the action in both fights and lead on all of the judge's scorecards before landing multiple low blows on Bowe that caused the referee to stop the fight both times. Initially, Golota was to face Olympic Gold Medalist Ray Mercer after his second fight with Bowe, but a neck injury forced Mercer to forgo the match and Golota was able to come to an agreement for a title fight with Lewis instead. [3] Prior to the bout, Lewis' manager Frank Maloney accused Golota of steroid use and asked that he be tested for banned substances, but Golota was found to be clean. [4]
Though it was thought that the match would be a back-and-forth contest between two of boxing's top heavyweights, it instead became one of the most lopsided championship fights in the sport's history. As soon as the fight started, Lewis had Golota on the defensive by effectively using his strong left jab and as the first minute of the fight came to close, was able to land a powerful right hook that stunned Golota and sent him into the corner. With Golota's back now against the turnbuckle, Lewis proceeded to land a six-punch combination that sent Golota to the canvas. Golota was able to back up, but was clearly hurt from the exchange and had trouble finding his balance. Nevertheless, referee Joe Cortez allowed Golota to continue the fight but he was quickly met with a furious assault from Lewis, who landed an over 10-punch combination that again sent Golota down. Cortez quickly stopped the fight and Lewis was named the winner by knockout after only 95 seconds of action. [5]
Golota was injected with lidocaine, a powerful painkiller, before the bout in an attempt to stave off knee pain. Golota had a seizure in the locker room about 15 minutes after the bout ended, during which he stopped breathing and was without a pulse for about 30 seconds. After being revived by cardiopulmonary resuscitation and rushed to the hospital, Golota's condition was upgraded to stable and he eventually made a full recovery. Golota was fined $5,000 for allowing the lidocaine injection. Golota filed a $21 million lawsuit against the doctor who administered the shot. The case was settled out of court for around $1 million. [6]
Confirmed bouts: [7]
| Country | Broadcaster |
|---|---|
 Canada | TSN |
 France | Canal+ |
 United Kingdom | Sky Sports |
 United States | HBO |
Lennox Claudius Lewis is a boxing commentator and former professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 2003. He is a three-time world heavyweight champion, a two-time lineal champion, and held the undisputed championship. Holding dual British and Canadian citizenship, Lewis represented Canada as an amateur at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics; in the latter, he won a gold medal in the super-heavyweight division.
Andrzej Jan Gołota, best known as Andrew Golota, is a Polish former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2013. He challenged four times for a heavyweight world title, and as an amateur won a bronze medal in the heavyweight division at the 1988 Olympics. Despite his accomplishments and more than 40 professional wins, Golota is perhaps best known for twice being disqualified against Riddick 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 champion Lennox Lewis at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. In November 2016, Golota was inducted into the Illinois Boxing Hall of Fame.
Riddick Lamont Bowe is an American former professional boxer and professional kickboxer who competed between 1989 and 2008 in boxing, and from 2013 to 2016 in kickboxing. He held the undisputed world heavyweight championship in 1992, and won the super heavyweight silver medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics.
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Riddick Bowe vs. Andrew Golota, billed as "Big Daddy's Home", was a professional boxing match contested on July 11, 1996. The fight was held at Madison Square Garden in New York City and was televised on HBO in the United States, and on Sky Sports in the United Kingdom.
Riddick Bowe vs. Andrew Golota II was a professional boxing match contested on December 14, 1996 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The bout was a rematch of a controversial fight held earlier in the year at Madison Square Garden in which Bowe was largely outboxed by Golota, but won the fight by disqualification because the Polish fighter repeatedly hit him with punches below the belt.
Lennox Lewis vs. Donovan Ruddock, billed as "The Fight for the Right" was a professional boxing match contested on 31 October 1992. The fight was a WBC heavyweight title "eliminator", with the winner scheduled to challenge the winner of the Evander Holyfield–Riddick Bowe championship bout held two weeks later. In addition, Lewis' Commonwealth heavyweight title was also on the line.
Lennox Lewis vs. Phil Jackson was a professional boxing match contested on May 6, 1994 for the WBC Heavyweight Championship.
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Lennox Lewis vs. Oliver McCall II, billed as "Payback or Playback", was a professional boxing match contested on February 7, 1997, for the vacant WBC Heavyweight Championship.
Lennox Lewis vs. Shannon Briggs, billed as "March Badness", was a professional boxing match contested on March 28, 1998 for the WBC and Lineal Heavyweight Championships.
Lennox Lewis vs. Željko Mavrović, billed as "Battle of the Giants", was a professional boxing match contested on September 26, 1998 for the WBC and Lineal Heavyweight Championships.
Lennox Lewis vs. Tommy Morrison, billed as "Laying It All on the Line", was a professional boxing match contested on October 7, 1995 for the IBC heavyweight championship.
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Mike Tyson vs. Brian Nielsen was a professional boxing match contested on 13 October 2001.
Tommy Morrison vs. Michael Bentt, billed as "The Tulsa Shootout", was a professional boxing match contested on October 29, 1993 for the WBO Heavyweight Championship.
