Lewis-Golota, 20 Years Ago: Polish History As First Eastern European Wave Hits Boxing

[joseph5620]

[QUOTE=billeau2;18113295]Is English your first language? The piece is not bad, like all pieces it could use some editing. if you ever want to run a piece you do of this length by me feel free to do so.

Regarding your points about Golota: His rise to fame coincides with the steady rise of athletic talent in that part of the world. For example, in basketball where Eastern European youth started to show considerable talent. What Golota lacked was what most talented fighters from far away lands lacked, including many Nigerian fighters, for example...namely the right infrastructure.

How important is infrastructure to the development of a fighter? well Cuba and Puerto Rico together are not very big...yet these island nations have always had incredible fighters, why is this? It is because of talented coaching, training programs in boxing. So when a guy like Golota reached a pinnacle, he would have the "polish" and the skill sets to forge ahead. I actually think Nigeria is very similar to Poland in that there were a lot of very talented fighters who fought ammy but could not really shine in the pros due to the changes that are not addressed unless one is with a great gym and coaching program.

Golota himself was quite talented. He had good fast hands, good punches, but never could get the most important aspect, the feet! Golota also did have psychological issues as well to be fair.[/QUOTE]


I think that's a huge part of his downfall.

[Sugar Adam Ali]

I knew Lennox lewis was truly the goods when he iced golata like it was nothing..


Lennox always stepped up huge in big fights.

Him destroying Morrison, ruddock, golata, and grant was some terrific heavyweight moments of the 90s

[jdoro63]

Good question. What’s brought up the most in Poland is that Golota fled the country in an attempt to avoid prosecution for assaulting a man at a bar where there was a weapon involved. Golota has had his share of legal matters in the U.S. as well, but in Poland these are not as heavily publicized except for the 2012 news story that broke out about Golota facing deportation to his native country. In general, the perception of his image in Poland is not too different than in America. His countrymen view him as one of the most astounding/perplexing characters in boxing history. But that doesn’t change Poles’ national love affair with Golota. While many in the country question his behavior, they still find it amazing that he was able to generate so much publicity and fame amid controversy. They appreciate his boxing talent in the ring far more than American fans. And that is the biggest difference between how's he's received by Polish fans compared to American fans.

[jdoro63]

Very interesting points you raise there, thanks for sharing. I never considered it from that perspective before. Nor have I ever heard a similar perspective. When I think about what you shared, it starts making perfect sense because the relatively weaker status of Polish Boxing starts at the amateur level and the poor structure of the Polish Boxing Association (PZB). The PZB has some bad management but a biggie is a lack of money necessary for proper training. There simply isn’t enough participation of Polish amateur fighters in international tournaments. My guess is a similar structural crisis exists in not only Nigeria but other African countries as well. But in general, Polish Boxing has declined recently and it’s nothing in comparison to the Golden days of the Olympics in the 1960s and 1970s and this has a lot to do with why training is on a relatively low level.

What has crossed my mind before, however, is the comparison of a Polish heavyweight to a Nigerian heavyweight. Amazing that the glory division has historically been loaded with so many talents of Nigerian descent (Ibeabuchi, Peter, Akinwande, Hide, Dokiwari, Izon, Ahunanya, Ugonoh, Joshua). Despite this wide talent pool, only one official world titleholder went down in history as an official Nigerian heavyweight champion who fought under the white and green flag. And this is where I wanted to point out that I believe Nigeria has suffered a little more than Poland as far as what country fighters decided to represent. Think about how good Anthony Joshua might become. Yet some people will not even know he’s Nigerian! All of the guys I listed above could have all fought for Nigeria. But I think the points you raised about certain elements missing is possibly the explanation for why some of these fighters didn't remain in the country. The talent for Poland at heavyweight was also loaded (Golota, Sosnowski, Adamek, Wach, Wawrzyk, Szpilka, Ugonoh, Kownacki) but all of these guys actually competed for Poland. Yet zero champions. Interesting dichotomy there.

I will send you a private message regarding your comments atop.

[OctoberRed]

Good question. What’s brought up the most in Poland is that Golota fled the country in an attempt to avoid prosecution for assaulting a man at a bar where there was a weapon involved. Golota has had his share of legal matters in the U.S. as well, but in Poland these are not as heavily publicized except for the 2012 news story that broke out about Golota facing deportation to his native country. In general, the perception of his image in Poland is not too different than in America. His countrymen view him as one of the most astounding/perplexing characters in boxing history. But that doesn’t change Poles’ national love affair with Golota. While many in the country question his behavior, they still find it amazing that he was able to generate so much publicity and fame amid controversy. They appreciate his boxing talent in the ring far more than American fans. And that is the biggest difference between how's he's received by Polish fans compared to American fans.

I remember something where he was arrested with a lot of guns and some woman was claiming sexual assault, but then nothing was ever reported about it ever again.

[billeau2]

Very interesting points you raise there, thanks for sharing. I never considered it from that perspective before. Nor have I ever heard a similar perspective. When I think about what you shared, it starts making perfect sense because the relatively weaker status of Polish Boxing starts at the amateur level and the poor structure of the Polish Boxing Association (PZB). The PZB has some bad management but a biggie is a lack of money necessary for proper training. There simply isn’t enough participation of Polish amateur fighters in international tournaments. My guess is a similar structural crisis exists in not only Nigeria but other African countries as well. But in general, Polish Boxing has declined recently and it’s nothing in comparison to the Golden days of the Olympics in the 1960s and 1970s and this has a lot to do with why training is on a relatively low level.

What has crossed my mind before, however, is the comparison of a Polish heavyweight to a Nigerian heavyweight. Amazing that the glory division has historically been loaded with so many talents of Nigerian descent (Ibeabuchi, Peter, Akinwande, Hide, Dokiwari, Izon, Ahunanya, Ugonoh, Joshua). Despite this wide talent pool, only one official world titleholder went down in history as an official Nigerian heavyweight champion who fought under the white and green flag. And this is where I wanted to point out that I believe Nigeria has suffered a little more than Poland as far as what country fighters decided to represent. Think about how good Anthony Joshua might become. Yet some people will not even know he’s Nigerian! All of the guys I listed above could have all fought for Nigeria. But I think the points you raised about certain elements missing is possibly the explanation for why some of these fighters didn't remain in the country. The talent for Poland at heavyweight was also loaded (Golota, Sosnowski, Adamek, Wach, Wawrzyk, Szpilka, Ugonoh, Kownacki) but all of these guys actually competed for Poland. Yet zero champions. Interesting dichotomy there.

I will send you private message regarding your comments atop.

Yes I got the message and You are a good sport! When I initially answered on this thread I had intended to speak at length about a few more things and I got called away suddenly. Such is living in Baltimore... the incident involved a very angry, very bald, black guy screaming on a cell phone, and some ladies in the hood including my wife, a lot of dogs barking and a plea for me to try to restore order.

LOl. Anyhow I said a few things in the PM that should be qualified here: My feeling about the language of our Op had to do with his rhythm and timing. It felt to me that he was expressing through a germanic type language...I know this is a weird observation but different languages express things in very different manners depending on what the thing is being described. My observation was not to suggest that the piece, or the use of the language was lacking, I think it was well written. it was at a stage where one can start to subtract and tighten up things.

Just wanted to make that clear. And the most important thing about writing is to just keep doing it, it is a craft, and one gets better at it the more they do it. The subject is an interesting one. From many angles... Identity crisis! We have the Soviets, the East German Bloc, and the other players who have big boxing programs, then we have places like Brooklyn New York, where many Eastern European fighters have come. where does Poland sit?

[jdoro63]

You're a good sport as well! I just messaged you back. Please let me know if you received it (time-stamped today) as it doesn't appear as sent on my end.

Anyway, as I wrote in my PM, my rhythm and timing was in such a manner because I wanted to be as descriptive and very specific about the topic and fighter I was writing about. I totally agree that writing is a craft that takes time and everyone could use that fine tuning!

In terms of where Poland sits on the boxing hemisphere, I will just say that we will have to wait a very long time for the next world champion to emerge from the nation. It's too bad Krzysztof Glowacki lost his title but Usyk was just a cut above indeed. A major reason regarding Poland's relatively poor standing is its lack of strong amateur pedigree, which I touched on recently. Nowadays other Eastern European nations such as the Ukraine are much stronger in boxing than Poland.

I am very glad you appreciate and acknowledge Eastern European fighters at least because on the whole, American fans aren't committed to the sport enough to be as globally sensitive. That's why American fans couldn't care less about the accomplishments of such Eastern European pioneers as Alex Zolkin and Andrew Golota.

[jdoro63]

Yup, that was back in 2006 when Golota was charged with 12 misdemeanor counts of possessing unregistered firearms. A man allegedly approached two women walking not far from his home and ordered them into his car at gunpoint; this man drove the two women to a house, which police later identified as Golota's. Both women escaped, but one of them was supposedly sexually assaulted in one of the bedrooms and one of these women reportedly identified Golota as her attacker.

Nothing serious came of the gun charges, Golota may have just been fined or something to that effect. And if my memory is correct, there wasn't enough evidence in the sexual assault claim at the time and the case was dropped.

I personally wish Golota did not have such a spotted criminal record. It only worsens his reputation the most.

Out of curiosity, I'd like to ask you, what do you consider to be Golota's biggest achievement in boxing?

[PRINCEKOOL]

Andrew Golota for a short period of time, was the most dangerous man in heavyweight boxing! His two fights up against Riddick Bowe, displayed both his mental vulnerabilities but? Also his immense skill, and at times beautiful technical punching ability! (I was only a kid at the time, and for some reason I did not watch the fight live! The next morning following the fight, I can remember watching a news bulletin thinking to myself? Lennox Lewis is the real deal!).

[ShoulderRoll]

As part of the Golota story it should be mentioned that he was suspected of steroid use. Both Riddick Bowe and Lennox Lewis accused him of it.

If true that might explain some of his irrational outbursts and behavior.

Also you mentioned Kostya Tszyu but if we are talking about the first wave of Eastern Europeans into pro boxing then Yuri Arbachakov and Orzubek Nazarov deserve a mention and shouldn't be forgotten.