Mike Tyson vs. Andrew Golota
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| Date | October 20, 2000 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | The Palace in Auburn Hills, Michigan | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | None | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Boxer |
 Mike Tyson |
 Andrew Golota |
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| Nickname | "Iron Mike" | "The Powerful Pole" | |
| Hometown | Catskill, New York, US | Warsaw, Poland | |
| Pre-fight record | 48–3 | 36–4 | |
| Recognition |
WBC/WBO No. 1 Ranked Heavyweight |
WBC No. 9 Ranked Heavyweight |
Mike Tyson vs. Andrew Golota, billed as Showdown in Motown, was a professional boxing match contested on October 20, 2000.
After serving a 15-month ban because of his actions during his 1997 match with Evander Holyfield, Tyson returned in January 1999 with a fifth round knockout win over heavyweight contender, Francois Botha. After Botha, Tyson had little trouble with his next three opponents. He fought a no-contest with Orlin Norris. Norris was injured and could not continue after the first round. A second round knockout against journeyman fighter, Julius Francis followed by a 34-second knockout versus fringe contender Lou Savarese. On August 30, 2000, the announcement came that Tyson's next fight would be against former heavyweight title challenger Andrew Golota. Both men came into the fight with reputations as dirty fighters which led some to doubt whether the two could have a clean fight. Golotas' two most notable fights were against Riddick Bowe, where both times, Golota was disqualified for hitting Bowe below the waist. Meanwhile, Tyson was notoriously disqualified in his rematch with Holyfield for biting both of Holyfields' ears and had a history of hitting after the bell, repeated in his fights against Botha, Norris and Savarese. Golota publicly stated that he planned to fight cleanly. Tyson stated that he hoped he would obtain a quick knockout victory over Golota.
As usual, Tyson started the fight aggressively by landing several power punches on Golota within the first 30 seconds of round one. Golota was able to withstand Tyson's early assault and effectively used his left jab and height advantage for the next two minutes to remain in the fight. During the final 30 seconds, Tyson became more aggressive and threw two big right hooks at Golota, one of which connected. Golota was forced to clinch Tyson in an effort to slow him down. After the referee separated the two, Tyson connected with a powerful right hook that dropped Golota to the canvas. Golota was able to get back up just before the round came to an end, but he was now bleeding from a cut above his left eye. After the first round, Golota asked his trainer to stop the fight twice. Hoping to secure the knockout victory, Tyson continued his aggressive assault in the second round, prompting Golota to clinch Tyson several times to try to slow down Tyson's furious rally and reduce the effectiveness of Tyson's power punches. Though Golota attempted to fight back, Tyson was able to easily win the round on all three judges' scorecards. In between rounds two and three, Golota informed his corner that he would not continue. Despite pleas from his trainer, Golota refused to continue the fight giving the win to Tyson by technical knockout.
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