19.05.05 – By Chris Ireland: The heavyweight division added another shiner to its long list of black-eyes recently, when James Toney tested positive for steroids following his impressive win over John Ruiz for the WBA heavyweight title. The win figured to add interest to a maddeningly unclear division, but instead turned out to be another chapter in the sad title tales of Lamon, Moe, and Curly..
With the division still feeling the shame of having a fighter built more like John Candy than John L. Sullivan dominate one of its title holders, and the utter embarrassment of calling John Ruiz a three time world champion, it became Don King’s job to magically make heavyweight humiliation disappear. It’s the greatest smoke and mirror job in all of sport.
So with the waive of a wand and the blink of an eye, out comes Andrew Golota from Don King’s hat. And, for his next trick, King will match Golota, a perennial loser of big fights, against WBO heavyweight champion Lamon Brewster Saturday night.
For Golota, this fight will either begin what will hopefully be a run at other champions down the road, or it will effectively end the most bizarre career in recent memory. Golota brings into the ring almost every advantage imaginable into the ring. He’s the bigger, more skilled fighter of the two, and the setting of the fight is in his American backyard — Chicago. But perhaps the only advantage you need to defeat Golota is mental stability, or be his opponent in a major heavyweight fight. Brewster has experience in taking advantage of an opponent breaking down.
Lamon became a champion when Wladimir Klitschko, while dishing out a one-sided beating, collapsed and could not continue. The WBO title fell right in the center of the ring, waiting for Lamon to come pick it up. Pick it up he did, and defend it he almost didn’t do. Last year Brewster would make his first title defense against the unheralded and undeserving challenger Kali Meehan. Meehan exposed Brewster for the fighter he is, a B level champion with little skill, on the way to a questionable split decision win for Lamon.
Heading into his fight with Golota, Brewster is the Giacamo of boxing. A champion still cast as the underdog, getting no respect. Golota is more or less playing the part of Belamy Road, the horse everybody has bet on before, and come away disappointed. However, make no mistake, this fight isn’t the Preakness.
The feeling here is that with the Polish chants of “Golota Bumbaye!” shaking the arena, Andrew Golota will finally make good on his wasted potential. Brewster simply doesn’t have the skill to remain a champion, and defend his belt against an experienced fighter like Andrew. So fight fans, bet on Andrew Golota one more time. He’s got the home crowd, the skill, and the size to finally become a champion.