Golota Still a Show-Stopper

Once again, Andrew Golota stormed out of the ring at Madison Square Garden, just as he did eight years ago.

Then, it was because of a disqualification due to low blows. Saturday night, it was because Golota (38-4-1, 31 knockouts) felt he had been dealt the lowest blow of all, a draw in his International Boxing Federation title match against champion Chris Byrd (36-2-1, 20).

There was controversy in the evening’s other heavyweight title fight as well. John Ruiz (39-4-1, 28) defended his World Boxing Assn. crown with an 11th-round technical knockout over Fres Oquendo (24-3, 15). Oquendo vigorously protested the stoppage.

While the Ruiz-Oquendo fight featured virtually no action until the end, the Golota-Byrd match was furious and brutal until the end.

Giving away 27 pounds and three inches in height, Byrd chose to spend much of the fight on the ropes, hoping that Golota would punch himself out. But enough Golota punches landed to leave Byrd with a puffed left eye and little strategy other than a rope-a-dope.

“That’s what we need, two guys who are willing to fight,” Byrd said. “I thought I stole the early rounds, but he came on late. I don’t take anything away from Andrew Golota. He can definitely fight.”

The announced crowd of 15,195 had showered the ring with boos throughout the Ruiz-Oquendo fight, but Golota and Byrd brought back the cheers.

“I’m glad people thought it was a great fight,” said Golota after he was convinced to return to the ring for post-fight comments, “but I thought I won. Did you see his eye? There is no question in my mind I won the fight.”

Judge Steve Weisfeld agreed, giving the fight to Golota, 115-113. But Tom Paolillo had it 115-113 for Byrd and Melvin Latham scored it a draw.

Perhaps it was the shock of actually seeing punches landing that caused referee Wayne Kelley to stop the Ruiz-Oquendo fight.

Few had landed in the previous 10 rounds of an agonizing match in which Kelley seemed to be working harder than either of the fighters. It was a match in which there was far more holding than hitting. For much of the bout, it became a matter of which fighter had the better headlock, which fighter was the more skillful wrestler.

But in the 11th, Ruiz suddenly found the mark, connecting with a series of combinations, the last being a solid left hand.

Oquendo’s legs wobbled and his hands dropped.

That was enough for Kelley, who leaped between the fighters and threw his arms around Oquendo, who vehemently protested the stoppage.

“He stopped a great fight,” said Oquendo of the referee. “I was fine. I wasn’t even hurt. It’s not fair. I wasn’t even knocked down. I’m a gladiator.”

Said Kelley, “He took several good, solid punches. It came out of nowhere. I thought he was hurt and he stopped protecting himself. My job is to protect the safety of the fighter.

“He was fine when I stopped the fight, but if he took three more punches, he wouldn’t have been fine. You know what? Now he’ll be able to fight again.”

Ruiz conceded that it was a struggle for him.

“He was moving around a lot,” Ruiz said. “I was trying to chase him down. He had a good jab. I definitely was taking a lot of shots, but sooner or later, I knew I was going to catch up to him.

At the end, “I hit him with my right, then I hit him with the hook. I kept throwing punches and I knew I had him hurt.”

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The chant began in the third round of Ricardo Mayorga’s fight against Eric Mitchell: “We want Rivera. We want Rivera.”

Where indeed was Jose Rivera, who was supposed to defend his WBA welterweight title against Mayorga on Saturday night?

Instead, he stepped aside and who could blame him after Friday’s weigh-in for the 147-pound fight? Mayorga weighed in at 153, departed and two hours later phoned Ron Scott Stevens, executive director of the New York State Athletic Commission, claiming he had gotten to 151. Rivera had weighed 146 1/2.

It was no longer to be a title fight and Rivera, uncertain what Mayorga would weigh when he stepped into the ring, refused to fight at all.

Mitchell, who had already been scheduled to fight on the card only to have two potential opponents drop out, was brought in as a replacement. When Stevens weighed Mayorga on Saturday afternoon, he was at 155 as was Mitchell.

Mayorga (26-4-1, 23) won a unanimous decision over Mitchell (16-4-1, 17), but lost a large share of credibility in terms of being taken seriously as a title contender.

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When Wayne Braithwaite faced Louis Azille in 2001, Braithwaite won on a third-round knockout.

It looked like a repeat performance Saturday night when Braithwaite, defending his World Boxing Council cruiserweight title, again floored Azille in the third round.

But this time, Braithwaite had to go 12 rounds to retain his title and an unbeaten record (21-0, 17). After being awarded a unanimous decision over Azille (18-3-2, 15), Braithwaite conceded he could have been more impressive, but claimed he was hampered because of an injury.

“I would have done better,” Braithwaite said, “but I hurt my right hand when I hit [Azille] in the head in the third round.”