Bowe vs Golota, 1996: Low Blows, a Garden Riot and a Rematch That Ended the Same Way
Andrew Golota was outfighting Riddick Bowe at Madison Square Garden in July 1996 when repeated low blows got him disqualified and set off a riot in the arena. In the December rematch in Atlantic City he was again ahead on the cards and was again disqualified.
On 11 July 1996 an unbeaten Polish heavyweight named Andrew Golota was beating Riddick Bowe at Madison Square Garden, then lost the fight on fouls in the seventh round and left the ring with his head split open while the arena turned into a brawl. Five months later in Atlantic City he was again ahead on the cards, and the rematch ended the same way.
A Former Champion and an Unbeaten Olympian
On paper the matchup looked like a gentle rebuilding night for Bowe. Bowe was a former heavyweight champion, and the record he brought into the Garden stood at 38-1 with 32 knockouts. His recent run included a knockout of Evander Holyfield, the most notable win in the four-fight winning streak he carried that night. He was paid a reported $2 million for the bout, which HBO broadcast in the United States.
Golota, born in Warsaw in January 1968, had won a heavyweight bronze medal for Poland at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. He arrived 28-0 with 25 knockouts and a purse of about $600,000. He also came with a reputation. In 1995 he had bitten Samson Pouha during a fight, and in March 1996 he had head-butted Danell Nicholson. Bowe weighed in at 252 pounds, Golota at 243.
Six Rounds of the Wrong Fighter Winning
Once the bell rang, the favourite looked slow and short of conditioning, and Golota was the quicker man from the start. Contemporary accounts describe him staggering Bowe several times while getting hit relatively little himself. Associated Press punch statistics had Golota landing 243 of 440 punches, about 55 percent, against 143 of 361 for Bowe.
His punches also kept straying below the belt. Referee Wayne Kelly warned him twice for low blows in the second round. In the fourth, a punch to the groin put Bowe on the canvas and Kelly took a point. Another point came off in the sixth, along with a warning that the next foul could cost Golota the fight. Accounts differ slightly on the details: Wikipedia's article on Golota mentions a third deduction before the finish, while the AP report lists penalties only in the fourth and sixth before the disqualification.
Round Seven: Disqualification With the Fight in Hand
In the seventh round Golota again landed heavy, legal shots that appeared to hurt Bowe. Then, with about half a minute left (one account gives 37 seconds), he drove another punch into Bowe's groin and Bowe went down. Kelly ended the bout and gave the win to Bowe on a disqualification. Golota had been ahead on the scorecards when he threw it away.
Rock Newman, Bowe's manager, put the official view bluntly in comments carried by the Associated Press: "You just can't let a fighter foul another fighter like that."
The Riot at Madison Square Garden
The trouble began seconds after the stoppage. Members of Bowe's entourage climbed through the ropes and went toward Golota's corner. During the scuffle one of them, identified in later reporting as Jason Harris, hit Golota on the head with a two-way radio. The cut needed eleven stitches. One retrospective, The Sweet Science in 2005, said the object was a mobile phone, but most accounts describe a walkie-talkie.
From there the trouble spread through the seats. Supporters from both camps fought in the aisles and chairs were thrown. A spectator in a wheelchair was knocked over. Golota's trainer, the 74-year-old Lou Duva, suffered chest pains in the middle of the crowd, was carried out on a stretcher and kept overnight at NYU Medical Center. Bowe's trainer, Eddie Futch, then 84, was also at ringside.
Sources differ on how long the trouble lasted and what it cost. Columnist Thom Loverro, writing two days later, said police reported regaining control after 22 minutes. The AP said it was more than half an hour before the building was cleared. That first AP report counted 10 arrests and 14 injuries, all minor according to Police Commissioner Howard Safir. An AP preview of the rematch in December gave 16 arrests and 22 injured, and Wikipedia's account lists eight injured officers and nine spectators taken to hospital.
HBO's Jim Lampley was calling the fight from ringside. Later recalling the night, he said: "I've never been involved in a more personally terrifying situation than that one." Mayor Rudolph Giuliani blamed "a few people who acted like criminals," according to the AP. The Ring later named the night its Event of the Year.
Atlantic City, December 1996: The Rematch
The two men met again on 14 December 1996 at the Atlantic City Convention Hall, now Boardwalk Hall, on HBO's pay-per-view arm, TVKO. Security was increased for the night. Bowe came in at 235 pounds, 17 lighter than in July, and said he would be a different fighter from the one who had taken Golota for granted. The bookmakers still made him a 2-1 favourite. Golota, now 28-1, told reporters he expected a clean fight. The AP noted that the line drew laughter.
The fight went wrong for Golota again, and this time the referee was Eddie Cotton. Golota dropped Bowe in the second round but lost a point in the same round for a head-butt. Bowe knocked Golota down in the fourth, and Golota was penalised in that round for low blows. Sources disagree on whether one or two points came off there. In the fifth Golota had Bowe on the floor again. Wikipedia records one knockdown in that round, while a 2015 round-by-round recap by Tony Calcara records two.
By the ninth round Golota led on all three cards, at 75-71, 75-73 and 74-72 according to the round-by-round account. Then he threw another combination into Bowe's groin and Cotton disqualified him at 2:58 of the round. Golota's camp protested the result without success.
What the Two Nights Left Behind
Bowe got the two wins, but he had taken a beating in both fights. In January 1997 he joined the Marine Corps Reserve and quit after about ten days. On 30 April 1997, aged 29, he announced his retirement from boxing. Golota became known in the press as the "Foul Pole" yet still got a title fight. He challenged Lennox Lewis for the WBC belt and was knocked out in the first round.
Many explanations have been offered for why Golota kept fouling while he was winning, and none has been proven. What the record shows is simple enough. In two fights against a former heavyweight champion he was ahead on the scorecards both times, and both times he was disqualified for low blows.
Sources
- Riddick Bowe vs. Andrew Golota, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
- Riddick Bowe vs. Andrew Golota II, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
- Andrew Golota, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
- Bout degenerates into full-scale riot, Associated Press via Deseret News, 12 July 1996
- Golota expects clean rematch against Bowe, Associated Press via Deseret News, 14 December 1996
- For 22 long minutes, a world without order, Thom Loverro, 13 July 1996
- Bowe vs. Golota I and II, Tony Calcara, Round by Round Boxing, 25 December 2015
- Golota gets another chance: where will it lead?, JE Grant, The Sweet Science, 17 May 2005
