Lennox Lewis retired with 32 knockouts to his 41 wins, and one man on the receiving end may have truly deserved it.
Lennox Lewis retired in 2003 after a controversial win over Vitali Klitschko.
Long before the Klitschko fight, and, indeed, the Mike Tyson fight, and even the Evander Holyfield fights, Lewis faced a fearsome opponent, one known for doing whatever he can to get to his opponent, even if it’s against the rules.
In 1997, Lewis faced Andrew Golota.
Lennox Lewis brutally destroyed Andrew Golota after double-disqualification
31-1 Lewis, who had lost only to Oliver McCall (a loss he soon avenged), faced 28-2 Andrew Golota in 1997 in New Jersey.
Golota had lost just twice before, despite being up on every scorecard in both instances.
In 1996, Golota faced Riddick Bowe for the first time, and was disqualified in the seventh round for repeated low blows.
Hoping to put the loss and the dent to his reputation behind, Golota faced Bowe once more the same year.
Again, Golota was winning the fight, and was just seconds away from finishing round nine and going into the final round, when he was disqualified again for the same reason.
According to BoxRec, Golota’s co-trainer, Lou Duva, said: “I can’t defend him. I wish I could. I can’t explain it. I said: ‘Andrew, you’re winning the fight. Just get out there and box.’ What made him do what he did, I don’t know. “
Lewis, who sent Frans Botha out the ring, dispatched Golota in just one round, marking his third loss in a row.
Andrew Golota had humiliating loss to Mike Tyson scrubbed from his record
Though not as devastating as his first-round loss to Lewis, in 2000, Golota suffered a fate almost as humiliating when he dropped a second-round loss to Mike Tyson.
Golota was dropped in the first round and made it to the end of the second, but walked around the ring, refusing to fight Tyson, whose rival, Buster Douglas, advised Tyrrell Herndon ahead of his fight with Deontay Wilder.
As fans threw things at Golota, the referee halted the contest, though the result was overturned later as Tyson tested positive for marijuana.