The second Bowe-Golota fight was the most brutal I've ever seen

[BKM-2010]

Has there been a more brutal heavyweight fight than this one? I mean both these guys were really big guys with a lot of skill. guys that size pounding eachothers head in for that long is much worse than say Gatti vs Ward.

I agree about about Bowe clearly suffering brain damage after this fight. I could be wrong here but was the damage apparent immediately after the fight? I just saw the post fight interview with Bowe and he is slurring badly. Was he talking like this before the fight too?

Anyway, I just have to continue to give Bowe so much credit(I refuse to give Golota any credit). So much heart and durability shown that night. You have to respect the man wether you like or dislike him. To take that kind of horrible beating every minute of every round but STILL continue to throw punches and not give up the entire time. It really is amazing what the human mind is capable of. In this case scary.

[TheGreatA]

The low blows were Golota's way out of the match and he does not deny it. The match had gotten to the point where it resembled more of a street fight, with Bowe taking a beating but valiantly trying to score a knockout with the occasional wild right hand. Golota said Bowe was the toughest guy he ever saw and that he hit him low because the man would not go down otherwise.

Golota dealt out some pretty bad beatings to other fighters too because despite having the size and the skill, he did not really have one punch knockout power. He wore people down and in Bowe's case he was too tough to quit and Golota didn't have the ability to punch his lights out. Thus he went for the low blows.

Possibly the best example of seeing the dominating fighter just mentally drained from the other guy taking his best punches and still swinging.

[Clegg]

Yeah, I think Bowe should get credit for the win as well. Ultimately, if you are too strong for your weakminded opponent to break, and it wins you the fight, that's a legit win. It bears some similarity to when a boxer loses because they punched themselves out or just generally lacked the stamina to reach the final bell. Their opponent might not have done anything particularly skillful, but not all victories come because of skills anyway. Some come just because one guy possess a greater mentality.

If Golota had quit on his stool, people would give Bowe more credit. Because he quit via a different method doesn't make it any less valid to me.

As for the brain damage Q, I think it's hard to be sure. But I do think that he was already done as a fighter coming into the second fight, and considering his age I put at least part of that down to the punishment he took in the ring (and part may also be attributable to his weight issues).

[TheGreatA]

Bowe was never known for his defense but his defense got really bad by the end of his run. It's as if he gave no respect to the opponent's power, or simply didn't have the reflexes to avoid the punches anymore. The Herbie Hide fight was a warning sign of things to come despite the seemingly impressive performance against a timid Jorge Luis Gonzalez in between.

People often forget that he was decked and nearly stopped by Holyfield in their third fight, saved only because Holyfield ran empty on stamina.

[Wild Blue Yonda]

Was an amazing, amazing fight. Jim Lampley at ringside was moved to call it, "a Rocky movie!"

[BKM-2010]

Yes, THANK you. Finally some people who give Bowe credit for winning, instead of only focusing on Golota's way out of both fights. The guy folded in every big fight he's ever had. If you make it into the later rounds against Golota and you keep fighting back, you'll win. I think Bowe knew this, so he never gave up because eventually Golota would quit.

People like to talk about how crazy Golota was, but I don't think he was crazy. He knew exactly what he was doing. He quit against Bowe because he was scared and couldn't take it when Bowe refused to crumble.

As for the brain damage Q, I think it's hard to be sure. But I do think that he was already done as a fighter coming into the second fight, and considering his age I put at least part of that down to the punishment he took in the ring (and part may also be attributable to his weight issues).

Is it true that this fight still holds the record of a heavyweight taking the biggest amount of power punches in a fight?

I could be wrong because I remember the Ibeabuchi-Tua fight breaking a lot of records too. Now that I think about it, didn't Ibeabuchi, from all the punches he took in that fight start to have bad headaches and became a madman?
these kind of fights between heavyweights are really damaging.

[-Jay-]

Just watched the fight again, Golota was told not to throw any body punches by his corner, still did, threw the fight away.

[Mugwump]

I recently watched the first fight and I was amazed at Bowe's shocking defence. In the first round Golota seemed to catch him with every jab he threw.

[Wild Blue Yonda]

Bowe gets a definite tip of the cap fotq showing a heart Joe Frazier would be proud to call his own, but no credit for winning the way he did. Golota exposed just why Bowe is such an over-rated fighter historically.

[BKM-2010]

Upon reviewing Vitali Klitschko's brutal massacre of Danny Williams, I might have to retract my original statement as this HW fight might contain a worse beating than the one Bowe took.

I'm gonna try to find out more about the statistics of the fight.