One-eyed Golota beats Mollo in slugfest

Scott Shaffer @ ringside

19/01/2008

One-eyed Golota beats Mollo in slugfest

Andrew Golota W12 Mike Mollo... In a heavyweight fight that was both meaningful and entertaining, a one-eyed Andrew Golota outgunned Mike Mollo by scores of 116-110, 116-112 and 118-109. Given the state of today's heavyweights, the win should put Golota at least among the top twenty. Golota won the early rounds, appearing to hurt Mollo, but the smaller Mollo turned things around in the fourth, landing shots that had sweat flying off Golota's head. By the end of the fifth, one of Golota's eyes was bruised and swollen. Mollo was confident enough to taunt Golota. By the sixth, it was a virtually even fight, and surprisingly, Mollo was using more borderline illegal tactics than Golota. Then the momentum swung back to Golota. By the eighth, Golota's eye looked nearly shut but he was using his size and strength to bully Mollo around. The ninth round was a thriller, as Golota's eye closed completely even as he hurt Mollo to the point where Mollo was hanging on for dear life. The tiring Mollo fought gamely but not wisely, throwing too few rights at Golota's closed eye. By the twelfth, Golota had Mollo nearly out on his feet. It was a rare heavyweight fight that had not only drama and ebbs and flows, but also sustained action throughout twelve rounds.Â