Golota quits against Tyson after two rounds

Mike Tyson was angry and had to be restrained.

Mike Tyson was angry and had to be restrained.

He had just won a fight, but there was no glory in it, not even any satisfaction.

Across the ring from the frustrated Tyson stood Andrew Golota, who after two rounds told referee Frank Garza, "I quit."

Golota was pelted by popcorn, showered by soft drinks and beer and serenaded by boos as he left the arena early this morning. He then went to a hospital to have a cut over his left eye repaired.

Tyson quickly left the ring and the arena.

"I think he was a little unfulfilled, he wanted to knock him out," said Shelly Finkel, a Tyson adviser.

"That's the first time I've every seen that," Tommy Brooks, Tyson's trainer, said of Golota's action. "He is not a coward. He suffers from anxiety attacks. I think he suffered one at the beginning of the third round."

Actually, Golota wanted to quit after the first round.

With 12 seconds left in the opening round, many in the crowd of 16,228 in the Palace of Auburn Hills came to their feet when the 222-pound (110 kilograms) Tyson knocked down the 240-pound (120 kilograms) Golota with a right to the head. Golota got up quickly, took a mandatory eight-count. Then the bell rang.

Al Certo, Golota's trainer, said when the fighter returned to his corner he said he wanted to quit.

"I said, 'No, you're going to win this fight.' But he wanted to stop it."

Golota went out for the second round, got shook early, but landed some shots and held his own.

Then, before the bell for the third round, Golota left his corner and referee Frank Garza said: "You must go back to your corner."

Garza said Golota replied, "I quit."

The referee then told Golota, "Your one-minute rest period is not over. Go back to your corner."

Garza said Golota said, "Why? I quit."

Certo then led Golota back to his corner, saying, "What are you doing? What are you doing? You've got to get back out there."

But when Certo tried to insert Golota's mouthpiece, the fighter refused to open his mouth and the fight was over. It goes in the record book as a third-round technical knockout.

"Listen, boxing is a difficult sport," said the 32-year-old Golota, who complained that he was being butted and Garza wasn't doing anything about it. "I am sorry to all my fans who counted on me, but it wasn't my day."

There were a couple of butts, but none of the dirty tactics both fighters have used in some past fights.

As for whether he will continue boxing, the native of Poland who lives in Chicago said, "I will have to give heavy thought about it. I don't know."

His decision to quit, however, almost certainly finishes him as an attraction, coming just three fights after he quit after being knocked down by Michael Grant in the 10th round of a fight he was winning last Nov. 20.

As for the 34-year-old Tyson's future, he said Thursday that this would be his last fight, and Finkel said, "At this moment that holds true."

It wouldn't be surprising, however, if Tyson fights again. He probably wouldn't want his career to have such a sorry ending as Friday's night fight would be. Also, although he made dlrs 10 million, he still has financial problems.

Golota's purse was $2.2 million.