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Thursday, June 15
 
Fighters' careers could use positive spin

Associated Press

LAS VEGAS -- Two fighters who were involved in bizarre bouts in the weird world of heavyweight boxing in the 1990s now battle each other.

Andrew Golota, who battered former undisputed champion Riddick Bowe in two fights only to lose both by disqualification, meets Orlin Norris, last seen limping to his corner after Mike Tyson slugged him after the bell in the first round of their match.

Golota, whose low blows cost him both fights against Bowe in 1996, brings a 35-4 record, with 29 knockouts, into Friday's scheduled 10-rounder at Mandalay Bay.

Norris, whose bout with Tyson was ruled a no-contest, is 50-5-1, with 27 knockouts.

"As far as I am concerned, I have lost just once," said Golota, who was knocked out by WBC champion Lennox Lewis in 1997. "My other three losses, I just gave away. I wish I could change things, but what has happened is over."

Michael Grant stopped Golota in 10 rounds last Nov. 20, the only other defeat for the scrappy 32-year-old Pole, who fled his homeland for Chicago after a bar brawl in Warsaw in the late 1980s.

Norris, 34, from Lubbock, Texas, is still smarting from the fiasco with Tyson last Oct. 23. Tyson's late blow caused Norris to spin around and injure his leg as he was going down, rendering him unable to continue. The referee ruled that Tyson's punch was accidental, thus the no-contest.

"The one thing I want to do is quiet all my critics who accused me of taking a dive against Mike Tyson, which, of course, is ridiculous," Norris said. "Everybody was disappointed with the way the fight ended -- but none more than me."

Norris doesn't seem concerned with Golota's tendency to hit below the belt. Golota even bit one opponent, but still won that fight.

"Whatever happened to the other boxers Golota fought makes no difference to me," Norris said. "I don't worry about anything he does that may be illegal. I have to focus on fighting my fight."

Also on the Mandalay Bay card is a 12-round bout between James Leija and Juan Lazcano for the vacant NABF lightweight title.




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