Bowe Opponent Golota Found to Have Fled Arrest in Poland

Andrew Golota, disqualified last week against Riddick Bowe in a bout that ended in a riot, fled Poland six years ago on charges of assault and robbery.

The Polish heavyweight, according to Polish media reports, is still wanted to stand trial and could face a minimum of five years in prison if convicted.

Details of the charges are not clear. However, Golota could get an assist from Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski, who was sports minister in the country’s last communist government.

Kwasniewski, in the United States to attend the Atlanta Olympics, spoke with Golota on Tuesday night at a reception at the Polish consulate in New York, said a consulate official, Krzysztof Jedrzejewski.

“He had a chance to speak to the president,” Jedrzejewski said. “He said he would see what legal means can be taken to help him. He didn’t promise anything specific.”

Kwasniewski has known Golota since the 1988 Olympics, where the boxer won a bronze medal for Poland. Golota, 28, emigrated from Warsaw to Chicago in 1991.