IN CAMP WITH LEGENDS

BY October of 1997 it seemed that the natural order of the heavyweight division had been restored. Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield were champions again. They had beaten Oliver McCall, Mike Tyson and Michael Moorer between them to emerge as the world’s dominant heavyweights. The only real remaining threat to their supremacy was Riddick Bowe, and he had been fortunate to escape with two disqualification victories against Andrew Golota the year before. “Big Daddy” looked completely shot in the rematch, being pummelled throughout and sustaining permanent damage. He wouldn’t fight again for another 18 years.

But what of Golota? His reward for his two moral ‘wins’ was a shot at Lewis and the tantalising prospect of heavyweight superstardom. In August 1997 I received a call from Lou Duva’s representatives to explore whether I would be interested in helping Golota prepare