How good was the Golota that fought Bowe?

[Mctaggert]

I think Golota was pretty good as a boxer, but the guy had no heart. Bowe by that time also had brain damage. It's not even up for interpretation it’s just bloody obvious.

I think what you can say about Golota is that he was a proper heavyweight who could box, jab and punch, but just lacked guts and dare I say it brains.

[THE PHILOSOPHER]

Some ppl put it down to the maskaev v rahmam syndrome! Personally i think golota was more than that. I dont think it was a case of maskaev or golota just having there number, i think it was a case of 2 fighters being underrated and 2 fighters being overrated. Rahman just wasn't that good (on a consistant basis) and bowe just wasn't destined to be a long reigning champ, he turned into a fat blob. He also got an outright gift decision vs tony tubbs, he could quite easily have gone 1-2 rather than 2-1 against a 205lb holyfield had parachute man not saved him from the beatdown evander was putting on him, he was out on his feet against hide too...

In his prime he was an Elite-Level talented fighter but also a mental midget, no one denies it. Past prime he improved mentally but his great jab was gone with an accident and a serious chunk of his athleticism was just gone with time.

He still should be a champ in the division abandoned by Lewis and not yet taken over by Klits but he was shamefully robbed vs ruiz and the byrd fight was debateable too, Hardly anyone denies that too.

His fight with the 6'6" american corey sanders was just an absolute slugfest, he was impressive vs witherspoon (tim to this day swears golota hit him harder than any fighter ever!) and if he had committed more in the fight with michael grant he would have took him out early too, the bowe fights are 2 of my favourite HW clashes ever so for that he always has me as a fan but ultimately he fought on way past his best and just couldn't get it together!

Had his head always been in tact, he would surely be knocking on or just below the lewis/Klitschkos level, but it wasn't. That's all there is to it.

[ElTerribleMorales]

Some ppl put it down to the maskaev v rahmam syndrome! Personally i think golota was more than that. I dont think it was a case of maskaev or golota just having there number, i think it was a case of 2 fighters being underrated and 2 fighters being overrated. Rahman just wasn't that good (on a consistant basis) and bowe just wasn't destined to be a long reigning champ, he turned into a fat blob. He also got an outright gift decision vs tony tubbs, he could quite easily have gone 1-2 rather than 2-1 against a 205lb holyfield had parachute man not saved him from the beatdown evander was putting on him, he was out on his feet against hide too...

In his prime he was an Elite-Level talented fighter but also a mental midget, no one denies it. Past prime he improved mentally but his great jab was gone with an accident and a serious chunk of his athleticism was just gone with time.

He still should be a champ in the division abandoned by Lewis and not yet taken over by Klits but he was shamefully robbed vs ruiz and the byrd fight was debateable too, Hardly anyone denies that too.

His fight with the 6'6" american corey sanders was just an absolute slugfest, he was impressive vs witherspoon (tim to this day swears golota hit him harder than any fighter ever!) and if he had committed more in the fight with michael grant he would have took him out early too, the bowe fights are 2 of my favourite HW clashes ever so for that he always has me as a fan but ultimately he fought on way past his best and just couldn't get it together!

Had his head always been in tact, he would surely be knocking on or just below the lewis/Klitschkos level, but it wasn't. That's all there is to it.

The fan-man fight is the one that Holyfield did win, Bowe rightfully picked up the first fight, lost the second fight (fan-man fight) , and then stopped Evander in the 3rd fight, in Holyfield's defense he was having heart issues at that time, as for the question at hand I agree with the assessment that Golota had all the attributes to be a top HW, he has skill, size, power, he could physically take a beating when he was in the mindset (watch the shots he took against Tyson before he finally quit), he just didn't have the heart, will, or drive to strive and be the best, he became frustrated too easily and would either quit or find a way out, be it by DQ or just getting clocked

[THE PHILOSOPHER]

Some ppl put it down to the maskaev v rahmam syndrome! Personally i think golota was more than that. I dont think it was a case of maskaev or golota just having there number, i think it was a case of 2 fighters being underrated and 2 fighters being overrated. Rahman just wasn't that good (on a consistant basis) and bowe just wasn't destined to be a long reigning champ, he turned into a fat blob. He also got an outright gift decision vs tony tubbs, he could quite easily have gone 1-2 rather than 2-1 against a 205lb holyfield had parachute man not saved him from the beatdown evander was putting on him, he was out on his feet against hide too...

In his prime he was an Elite-Level talented fighter but also a mental midget, no one denies it. Past prime he improved mentally but his great jab was gone with an accident and a serious chunk of his athleticism was just gone with time.

He still should be a champ in the division abandoned by Lewis and not yet taken over by Klits but he was shamefully robbed vs ruiz and the byrd fight was debateable too, Hardly anyone denies that too.

His fight with the 6'6" american corey sanders was just an absolute slugfest, he was impressive vs witherspoon (tim to this day swears golota hit him harder than any fighter ever!) and if he had committed more in the fight with michael grant he would have took him out early too, the bowe fights are 2 of my favourite HW clashes ever so for that he always has me as a fan but ultimately he fought on way past his best and just couldn't get it together!

Had his head always been in tact, he would surely be knocking on or just below the lewis/Klitschkos level, but it wasn't. That's all there is to it.

The fan-man fight is the one that Holyfield did win, Bowe rightfully picked up the first fight, lost the second fight (fan-man fight) , and then stopped Evander in the 3rd fight, in Holyfield's defense he was having heart issues at that time, as for the question at hand I agree with the assessment that Golota had all the attributes to be a top HW, he has skill, size, power, he could physically take a beating when he was in the mindset (watch the shots he took against Tyson before he finally quit), he just didn't have the heart, will, or drive to strive and be the best, he became frustrated too easily and would either quit or find a way out, be it by DQ or just getting clocked

My bad, i haven't watched the 5 fights in question for years so forgive me if my memory deserts me, I'm to heavily involved in the current scene, maybe il go back and watch them all when i have a few hours to spare because i know they're worth a watch again.

Bowes career if i remember correctly was bizarre full stop! His fight with tillary was hilarious, he ventured into the marines for 11 days, threw his belt in a bin, kidnapped his wife & children, battered his sister, came back to boxing looking like a whale and struggled with journeymen. Gave us 3 classics with evander and got beat down by golota!

[ElTerribleMorales]

Some ppl put it down to the maskaev v rahmam syndrome! Personally i think golota was more than that. I dont think it was a case of maskaev or golota just having there number, i think it was a case of 2 fighters being underrated and 2 fighters being overrated. Rahman just wasn't that good (on a consistant basis) and bowe just wasn't destined to be a long reigning champ, he turned into a fat blob. He also got an outright gift decision vs tony tubbs, he could quite easily have gone 1-2 rather than 2-1 against a 205lb holyfield had parachute man not saved him from the beatdown evander was putting on him, he was out on his feet against hide too...

In his prime he was an Elite-Level talented fighter but also a mental midget, no one denies it. Past prime he improved mentally but his great jab was gone with an accident and a serious chunk of his athleticism was just gone with time.

He still should be a champ in the division abandoned by Lewis and not yet taken over by Klits but he was shamefully robbed vs ruiz and the byrd fight was debateable too, Hardly anyone denies that too.

His fight with the 6'6" american corey sanders was just an absolute slugfest, he was impressive vs witherspoon (tim to this day swears golota hit him harder than any fighter ever!) and if he had committed more in the fight with michael grant he would have took him out early too, the bowe fights are 2 of my favourite HW clashes ever so for that he always has me as a fan but ultimately he fought on way past his best and just couldn't get it together!

Had his head always been in tact, he would surely be knocking on or just below the lewis/Klitschkos level, but it wasn't. That's all there is to it.

The fan-man fight is the one that Holyfield did win, Bowe rightfully picked up the first fight, lost the second fight (fan-man fight) , and then stopped Evander in the 3rd fight, in Holyfield's defense he was having heart issues at that time, as for the question at hand I agree with the assessment that Golota had all the attributes to be a top HW, he has skill, size, power, he could physically take a beating when he was in the mindset (watch the shots he took against Tyson before he finally quit), he just didn't have the heart, will, or drive to strive and be the best, he became frustrated too easily and would either quit or find a way out, be it by DQ or just getting clocked

My bad, i haven't watched the 5 fights in question for years so forgive me if my memory deserts me, I'm to heavily involved in the current scene maybe, il go back and watch them all when i have a few hours to spare because i know they're worth a watch again.

Bowes career if i remember correctly was bizarre full stop! His fight with tillary was hilarious, he ventured into the marines for 11 days, threw his belt in a bin, kidnapped his wife & children, battered his sister, came back to boxing looking like a whale and struggled with journeymen. Gave us 3 classics with evander and got beat down by golota!

not particularly in that order but yea, that about sums it up

[THE PHILOSOPHER]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcRvHfocX2Y

All 3 of these are funny for various reasons. The man was unhinged but always value for money.

[Spicoli]

He was alright and always had the physical gifts of a bull with nice straight punches. Unfortunatly his mind was held together with duct tape and elmers glue. Bowe did come in looking like Mardi gras float the first go but still had some skill in tow. He had taken lots o leather from Hide, Holyfield bouts and was literally there to be flat kod in the third fight but Holyfield had hit a wall badly.

Golota was just a trip. I'm convinced he had some trigger in his head that flipped once every year or two. He ripped Hayden in the balls, the next year he got stunned badly and resorted to turning Zombie on Sampson pouhas neck, following year he almost caved Nicholsons head in with intentional headbutts, then he got Bowe and made himself into a trivia question and punchline. It's a shame, he had skill, but he was also dude set on self implosion.

[THE PHILOSOPHER]

but the guy had no heart.

Try watching the sanders fight.

Bowe by that time also had brain damage. It's not even up for interpretation it’s just bloody obvious.

Bullshit. Arguably the best american HW of the 90's got his arse handed to him that's why you hear all these crappy excuses about bowe being shot at 28 lol. He had just beaten evander for a 2nd time and stopped hide and gonzalez ffs but he was brain damaged! Please....

[Bobthepen]

but the guy had no heart.

Try watching the sanders fight.

Bowe by that time also had brain damage. It's not even up for interpretation it’s just bloody obvious.

Bullshit. Arguably the best american HW of the 90's got his arse handed to him that's why you hear all these crappy excuses about bowe being shot at 28 lol. He had just beaten evander for a 2nd time and stopped hide and gonzalez ffs but he was brain damaged! Please....

You're right, Bowe had to be in the shape of his life to beat heavyweight legends Herbie Hide and Gonzalez.
He only beat Holyfield because Holyfield had hepatitis and gassed trying to finish Bowe after knocking him on his fat ass.
Just looking at the physique of Bowe in his nearly days to then says it all.

[johnsebastianmiran]

Andrew the Nutcracker Golata had some jab and more than adequate right hand. He shouldn't have been allowed to watch any movie where nuts were mentioned. Bowe is one of those guys who doesn't get caught doing the dastardly deeds that causes a loss of points. I don't know what it was with Golata but I saw John Ruiz in another light and he was getting dirtier as the fight went on. Golata could have been champion and he fooled everyone with his peed and his punches traveled quick because most of them were straight but the uppercuts and hooks had a mind of their won and I don't remember if Bowe ever had a deep voice after that fight. In the Ruiz fight Golata looked like the good guy. Ain't that a bitch for the four rounds I actually did see.

[Hulk]

I thought the Golota that beat Chris Byrd and John Ruiz was pretty good too

[brocktonblockbust]

ı remmeber watchıng the 1st fıght ınjuly 1996 on hbo -- ı had never even herd of golota but holy shıt ı wıll never ever forget that hot humıd NJ nıght watchıng that ıncredıble fıght--ıncredıble ın so many ways. Rıght b4 the fıght--they dıd a lıttle ıntro about golota sınce alot of people obvıously dıdnt really know hım at that poınt. Golota gave a lıttel pre-recorded spewech about polısh beer, polısh sausages and polısh fıghters, a lıttle comıc spıel that ı thought was rather weırd. And the fıght that followed was wıerder stıll! Amazıng fıght--- Ill never forget ıt--and YES goplota showed some amazıng speed for a heavyweıght wıth joltıng accurate straıght punches wıth both hands. too bad he self -destructed. he was a bıg dısappoıntment to a lot of fans.

[VictorCharlie]

I've always though that Golota and Bowe were a lot alike. Both had great HW size, skill and power (More so for Bowe). Unfortunately Bowe never saw a twinkie he didn't like and Andrew just fell apart in the ring.

[Master]

Golota was a head case who could freeze and get blown away early or very rarely be competitive against the best fighters. He has the right tools but not the mentality to be the top fighter he should have been.

[chinchekked]

but the guy had no heart.

Try watching the sanders fight.

Bowe by that time also had brain damage. It's not even up for interpretation it’s just bloody obvious.

Bullshit. Arguably the best american HW of the 90's got his arse handed to him that's why you hear all these crappy excuses about bowe being shot at 28 lol. He had just beaten evander for a 2nd time and stopped hide and gonzalez ffs but he was brain damaged! Please....

yeah....umm, the doctors have said he was brain damaged so its not so much of an opinion. There was a youtube video that discussed this in great detail and they track his speech patterns and discuss his tests. Not making an excuse for the Golota beatings but he didnt pull that argument out of his ass as your "Please" suggests.