Bowe Wins Ugly, Fight Gets Ugly

Boxing suffered a low blow when a wild melee erupted Thursday night at Madison Square Garden after controversial low blows cost Andrew Golota a disqualification in a heavyweight fight he was winning against former champion Riddick Bowe.

Golota was penalized for throwing four low blows, including two in the seventh round that ended the fight and set off the melee.

With 27 seconds left in the round, Bowe fell to the canvas from a low blow, and his promoter and manager, Rock Newman, led a charge into the ring from Bowe’s corner. A young member of Bowe’s entourage followed Newman into the ring and began banging Golota over the head with what appeared to be a cellular phone. As the fight in the ring swelled, Golota left the ring bleeding from a gash in the back of his head.

Garden security was slow to respond and failed to prevent fans from climbing over the barriers surrounding the press section and the ring, which was overflowing with combatants.

Golota cornerman Lou Duva, who initially fought back, slumped to the canvas during the melee and was eventually carried out on a stretcher because trainer Roger Bloodworth was worried about Duva’s heart condition.

Golota’s camp said Duva had no chest pains but he would be held overnight at NYU Medical Center.

“You could hear people yelling, ‘You’re hurting my fighter,’ ” ring announcer Michael Buffer said of comments between the sixth and seventh rounds. “When it ended there was a wave of humanity. I didn’t even try to get in the ring. There was no security ringside.”

The Garden physician said there were no major injuries. Police said there were 10 arrests. In addition, eight police officers were injured, none seriously.

Thirty-five minutes after the bout, Garden authorities ordered the crowd of 11,252 to evacuate.

Maybe it was the eight-month layoff or the 252 pounds he carried into the ring that affected him, but Bowe was sluggish from the start.

By the third round, Bowe was blowing hard despite what he said was eight hard weeks of training. Golota began to land the harder shots, twice rocking Bowe with lefts to the head. Midway through the fourth, Bowe buckled from a Golota right hand and then was sent stumbling backward by a left.

At 2:38 of the round, Golota dropped Bowe to the canvas with a left way below the belt. Referee Wayne Kelly took a point away from Golota, and the fight was delayed so Bowe could recover.

Twice in the fifth, Bowe was rocked by powerful combinations. By the end of the round, he was leaning against the ropes.

The sixth was even until Golota threw another low blow that cost him a point. Early in the seventh, Golota was penalized for a third low blow. When the fight started again, Golota began battering Bowe with power combinations. A fourth low blow set off the melee and led to his disqualification.

Earlier, the sides had argued all day over the length of the fight with Newman insisting on 12 rounds and Golota threatening not to fight unless it was 10. The disagreement was finally resolved about 5:35 p.m.

On the undercard, middleweight Hector Camacho (61-3-1) stopped Craig Houk (52-9) in the first round, IBF junior-lightweight champion Arturo Gatti (26-1) stopped Feliciana Correa (15-6) in the third, and light-heavyweight contender Montell Griffin (22-0) knocked out Matthew Charleton (22-7) in the 11th. Another light-heavyweight, Merqui Sosa (27-5-2), stopped Karl Willis (21-5-1) in the fourth round.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.