Andrew Golota, once boxing’s super eccentric, is getting another shot at the big time he didn’t expect, considering he almost took up tennis as a sport.

Until last year, the 32-year-old Polish import nowan American via Chicago, was in virtual limbo with two
mediorce wins. Promoter Don King, in a nothing to lose move, was willing to take a chance on Golota, who turned off the public when he walked out of the ring on Mike Tyson in 2000.

Golota proves his saga outstrips fiction when he steps into Madison Square Garden Saturday to challenge
for Chris Byrd’s IBF heavyweight crown, the main event in King’s presentation of four title bouts which includes WBA heavyweight ruler John Ruiz defending against Fres Oquendo in a TV pay-per-view package.

Byrd, out of Flint, MI., with 37-2, 20 KO credentials, surprised some of his colleagues when he aggressively accepted King’s offer to fight Golota.

“I wanted to fight Golota since 1997. This is a dream fight come true. I’m getting to fight a guy I have always wanted to fight. You have to be alert for a guy like Golota who is dangerous and can punch hard. He’s been there and knows what to do, but he is not going to beat me.I don’t want to sound overconfident. Yet I’ll admit I have an inner cockiness about this fight that I haven’t always had. I don’t want to sound arrogant, I know better than that.”

Despite Golota’s limited activity, the 242-pound TNT guy, has parlayed those two TKOs into the IBF’s No.15 ranking plus a return to the Garden where in 1996 Golota”s infractions below the belt cost him two scores over Riddick Bowe.

Golota convinced the authorities “there will be no low blows because I want a clean fight and the title.”

The erstwhile “Foul Pole” enjoys talking boxing, but he has a pretty good hype piece in reflecting how that tennis gig might have detoured his return to boxing.

“Nothing was happening in boxing for me, and I started playing sports. I ran into an old friend of mind in Chicago. I said, “Tennis? Why not?’ I didn’t have anything to do anyway. I got to be pretty good with the racquet,” Golota said.

“I came to the realization I’m getting older and couldn’t keep fooling around. I had to get on with my life. I liked tennis but I wasn’t going to make any money with it unless I whacked someone over the head with the racquet. Of course, I’m only kidding.”

Golota, with a 38-4, 31 KOs resume, has faced some big names over the years like Lennox Lewis, Corey Sanders, Michael Grant, Tim Witherspoon, and Jesse Ferguson. However, his double-header with Bowe, who had a title trilogy with Evander Holyfield, was the most controversial of all.

Golota’s first fight with Bowe was in the Garden July 11, 1996. Obviously, a more matured fighter today, the personable Warsaw native may have a hard time explaining to himself why he started punching low with a commanding lead in New York and Atlantic City.

“For the first fight, there was so much going on with the hype leading up to the fight. First they were talking 10 rounds, then it was 12 rounds. For me, I had never
fought 12 rounds and I wasn’t ready then for 12 rounds.

They were trying to play with my mind. I had signed a contract for 10 rounds, then I find out that it’s 12. That’s something different than what I trained for. I was ready to quit the fight and go home. It was an ongoing debate, whether I should fight or not,” Golota recalled.

“I feel I was building up points against Bowe, but I still don’t know why I hit him low. In the heat of the action, things like that happen. I was disqualified in the seventh round for repeatedly punching low. It was really nothing personal. Riddick’s a good guy. I know he was ready to go before the seventh. His stomach looked weak and I saw an open spot, so I tried to hit it. And I did land some combinations many times, but some were low.”

The rematch was a sellout Dec.14,1996 in Atlantic City with the fight buffs debating whether a wiser Bowe could keep the unpredictable Golota at bay. The scenario was a carbon copy of the original.

Golota dropped Bowe twice in the early rounds and was headed for a unanimous decision. Andrew was in command with some good body punching but he was penalized in the fourth round for low blows.

“Looking back on the second fight, it was so hard I can’t really remember. But I do remember I put Bowe down in the first or second rounds. I felt very confident that I would finish him off early. Then there was the
referee’s long count and the fight was suppose to be over,” Golota reminisced.

“It was the longest count in boxing history. Bowe grabbed my feet as he went down. The rule says you can’t start a knockdown count as long as there is body contact between the fighters. Riddick wouldn’t let go and I was disqualified in the ninth round.”

Trainer Sam Colona said the former European
heavyweight champion is fully aware of his obligations
in the ring.

“We’re always talking about Andrew’s behavior in a fight. He has come to realize how important this fight is and not to get into a position where he can get fouled out. Just the other day Golota said to me ‘there’s always a risk that something is going to happen. But this time is the time and it’s now or never because I want to be champion.”

In the co-featured semi-windup. two-time WBA
heavyweight champion John Ruiz (39-5-1, 27 K0s),
Chelsea, Ma., defends against Fres Oquendo (24-2, 15 K0s),Chicago, Ill. This 12-rounder is the first time twofighters of Puerto Rican heritage have ever met for a portion of the splintered heavyweight championship.

WBA welterweight champion Jose Rivera, (37-3-1, 27 K0s) Worcester, Ma., puts his title on the line against
Ricardo Mayorga (25-4-1, 23 KOs) former WBC / IBF
147-pound champion. Managua, Nicaragua.

In the TV pay-per-view opener, Wayne Braithwaite, (20-0,17 KOs), Brooklyn, N.Y., risks his WBC cruiserweight belt, opposite Louis Azille, (18-2-2, 15 KOs) Jersey City, N.J.

(Jack Welsh is a syndicated columnist headquartered in Las Vegas and a regular contributor to Ringsports.com and other sports publications.)