Strange things are always on the menu in boxing. I expected Andrew Golota (38-6-1-31 KO’s) to put on a solid performance and win by decision over a fighter who recently proved the WBO Heavyweight Title to be the meaningless property of the undeserving. Kali Meehan is the rightful owner of that Title.

WBO Champion, Lamon Brewster (32-2-0-28 KO’s) of Indianapolis Indiana was a great example of how boxing is truly the theater of the unexpected, as he destroyed Andrew Golota with left hooks Saturday night at the United Center in Chicago.

Lamon Brewster got his comeuppance when he shocked everyone with a TKO 5 victory over Vladimir Klitschko in April of 2004 in a fight intended to return the WBO Title to Vladimir -without him having to earn it back- from the man who took it away from him, Corrie Sanders—a Journeyman from South Africa who came out of retirement to fight him. Brewster was the number one contender in the WBO at a time when the WBO found reasons to strip Sanders and enable Vladimir redemption the easy way—via Lamon Brewster.

Vladimir fought Brewster at a blistering pace, knocking him down and battering him all over the ring until punching himself out of energy in the fifth round. Brewster capitalized on the opportunity and landed a big uppercut that saw Vladimir fall apart immediately. Vladimir’s TKO loss to Brewster lead to a series of conspiracy theories that were nothing short of ridiculous. To his credit, Brewster showed that he could take a licking and keep on ticking.

In Brewster’s last outing, he looked like he was in the wrong business as he was beaten in almost every round by a marginally skilled, former sparring partner of his, named Kali Meehan.

Brewster got a gift decision that night and pissed a lot of people off who are disgusted with bogus decisions already—like the one we saw Friday night when Cruiserweight, O’Neil Bell lost the boxing match but still got the nod from the Judges over Dale “The Cowboy” Brown, who looks like he could play Russell Crowe in the movie, “Cinderella Man.”

Bell was almost knocked out in the third round after being rocked against the ropes by Brown. Bell was losing most of the rounds in a fight that featured Brown consistently landing the cleaner punches and Bell fighting erratically and often, ineffectively. But, though Bell lost the boxing match, he won an interesting Unanimous Decision, with official scorecards of 115-113, 116-112 117-111 all in favor of O’Neil Bell. I had Brown up 116-112. Bell walked away with the IBF Title. Garbage like that turns fight fans into former fans.

Anyway, not many were expecting much from Brewster against the potentially dangerous, Andrew Golota, who was the betting favorite to win. After all, Golota has decent enough boxing skills to win a points decision over a man who recently demonstrated a reluctant offense and not much of a defense, as evidenced by the pummeling he sustained against Vladimir Klitschko.

Brewster didn’t look very confident as he stepped between the ropes. Brewster’s nickname is “Relentless” and considering his last couple of fights, I have been wondering why.

The Challenger, Andrew Golota entered the ring to loud cheers and Polish fans waving banners that said, ‘Polska.’ The crowd booed as Brewster made his way into the ring—even the ones not waving Polska banners.

The Fight

The bell sounded and Brewster attacked Golota like a buzz saw, throwing hooks to the body and face. Golota got caught with a left hook to the head that put him down. He got up at the count of 8.

Brewster bull rushed him again and landed a series of punches to the body followed by another left hook to the head that spilled Golota awkwardly through the ropes and onto his seat. Golota struggled to beat the count, as he had to negotiate boxing gloves on ropes to pull himself up.

Golota looked stunned as he put up his guard. Brewster rushed in to finish him off with relentless punches. Another left hook broke through the guard and onto the right cheek of Golota—and down he went for a third time. Golota got up quickly but it was too late, the referee, Geno Rodriguez, was already waving it off.

Brewster won by TKO in 53 seconds of Round One.

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This could signal the end for Andrew Golota. He’s had three consecutive shots at Heavyweight Titles recently and with the division as weak as it is—he still hasn’t managed to win one. His recent loss to Chris Byrd (IBF Champ) was controversial and some argue that he was robbed against John Ruiz (WBA Champ), who was the only man to hit the canvas in their fight last November.

Fights that go the distance are always going to be subject to the whims of unaccountable Judges, but had Golota been more aggressive against Ruiz in the late rounds, he might have gotten the win. Instead, he allowed Ruiz be the busier man and show the stronger desire to win.

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Considering this newest ripple in the HW landscape, the most exciting match up on the horizon has to be Lamon Brewster vs. Vitali Klitschko. Crazy as that sounds, it's true.

The Klitschko’s are big on avenging each other’s losses so the drama is already built in—especially now that Brewster showed a little ferocity that lends some legitimacy to his WBO Title and a reason for fans to understand why he calls himself, “Relentless.” Vitali has a Title and Brewster has a Title so there’s plenty of justification for this match up. All the guys with belts should be fighting each other and pare things down to ONE Champion.

Before Saturday night, my thoughts on Lamon Brewster could be summed up with a yawn. Either Andrew Golota is completely irrelevant or Brewster is a lot better than I ever thought he was.

Vitali Klitschko is no Andrew Golota. It would take more than a heroic effort from Brewster to walk through him. Vitali jabs constantly and uses his length to his advantage. Can he take a big shot? Yes. He proved that against Lennox Lewis. But he does cut easily and that could be his Achilles heel. Could Lamon Brewster get underneath Vitali’s defense and exploit his possible weakness? I doubt it, but you never know until they face each other in the ring. Brewster packs good power and if he were to catch Vitali with the right shot, he might hurt him.

Suddenly, Brewster is a ‘somebody’ and with the right motivation and focus, who knows how far he can go. Vitali may not be available to Brewster for a while so a fight with upstarts like Sam Peter or Calvin Brock would be an interesting way to stay busy. It would give those guys a chance to get a World Title Belt and give Lamon a chance to prove that his last win wasn’t just a fluke.

Congratulations to Lamon Brewster, who did his homework and noted Golota’s vulnerability to pressure. He executed his game plan accordingly and got the job done quickly and without controversy. Success in the ring is usually the result of a combination of things, like speed, power, heart, boxing skills or stamina. Saturday night for Lamon Brewster, it was relentlessness. Lets hope Brewster can build on this victory and be the spark that revs up a sleepy division.


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