40 year-old heavyweight contender Andrew Golota (40-6-1, 33 KOs) will be fighting on the undercard of Roy Jones Jr. vs. Felix Trinidad bout this Saturday night against heavyweight prospect Mike Molla (19-1, 12 KOs) at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Golota, ranked #10 in the World Boxing Council, is going up against one of the hardest punchers in the heavyweight division in Molla. Normally, this would be a bout that an experienced heavyweight like Golota could win fairly easy, since Molla has been in with only one top fighter in his career, DaVarryl Williamson, and was blown out in the 4th round in May 2006.
Molla, who has little defensive skills, often leaves himself wide open while trying to knockout his opponents in the first couple of rounds of every fight. It hasn’t mattered against the soft opposition he’s faced, as none of them had the skills or the power to test his chin. Unfortunately, when Molla finally ran into a fighter that could punish for his lack of defense, he failed miserably. However, it’s questionable whether Golota has enough speed to withstand what will most likely be an all out attack in the first couple of rounds.
In his last fight, Golota was wobbled in the 1st round by a terribly slow and overweight Kevin McBride on October 6th, 2007. Though Golota came back and won the fight by 6th round KO, he seemed lucky to have escaped the first round. If he’d been in there with a fighter with stamina, I think Golota would have been knocked out quickly. Not sure what Golota will do if he gets knocked out again, but at this point in his career, it would seem like he’d almost have to retire.
I don’t see how he could continue on with three loses out of his last five fights. Sure, fighters like Oscar De La Hoya continue to fight even when losing most of the time, but he has a large public that seems to care little, and are willing to pay to see him lose. It’s not the same for Golota. I don’t see an interest if Golota were to be knocked out once again in the first round like he was against Lamon Brewster and Lennox Lewis. I could be wrong, but unless the fans aren’t aware of Golota’s recent history, I don’t see him being able to continue on with his career.
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