By Bryan A. Bushemi, Managing Editor

 

With the Jumbotron hanging over the ring like a blazing UFO about to descend, more than 20,000 fans fixed their eyes on the biggest boxing stage that Chicago had seen in a quarter of a century. Grim-faced and towering, Chi-town’s own Andrew Golota stalked to the ring surrounded by his entourage. The big man looked tight and surprisingly dry as he stood impassively, broad shoulders seemingly about to burst the satin of his robe, awaiting the arrival of the WBO Heavyweight Champion, Lamon “Relentless” Brewster.

The champ, in contrast, looked relaxed. Almost too relaxed. Was this going to be another fight for Brewster like his previous bout, with his friend Kali Meehan, where the WBO titleholder was too nice for his own good and almost lost? Or did Brewster and his crew coming to the ring in yellow-flashed urban camouflage bespeak a confident warrior ready to do battle?

From the opening bell, Brewster thundered out of his corner like a blitzkrieg-ing tank, firing volleys of punches that landed like a barrage of cannon-fire. It was hard to tell who was more stunned, the crowd or Golota, when not a baker’s dozen of seconds into the fight, the challenger hit the canvas on his back with a boom. Once the big Polish contender regained his feet, Brewster was not only “Relentless,” but well-nigh overwhelming as he continued the bombardment, knocking Golota through the ropes nearly as quickly as the first knockdown. Finally, not even a minute into the bout—53 seconds to be exact—the WBO champ floored the hometown favorite once again, and referee Gino Rodriguez waved the bout to a close. Brewster (32-2, 28 KOs) had blasted off 26 punches, landing 15 of them, to Golota’s 3-for-11, in the display of shockingly unexpected dominance.

Luckily for United Center owner Bill Wirtz and Don King, the UC crowd had been treated to a plethora of worthy and exciting battles within the squared circle earlier in the evening, including a blood-soaked, fight-of-the-year-caliber match between Poland’s Tomasz Adamek and Australian Paul “Hurricane” Briggs. Fighting for the vacant WBC Light-heavyweight World Championship, the two men brawled from the opening bell until the fight’s end. In the second round, an accidental clash of heads opened a nasty gash beside Briggs’ left eye from which gore flooded for the remainder of the fight. Adamek lost his fair share of blood, as well, from a nose that ran red from the sixth round on. (It was later revealed that Adamek had broken his nose a month earlier, but refused to pull out of the fight, keeping the injury secret from King.) Both fighters tore at each other with slaughterhouse intensity to match their gruesome appearance, Adamek raking jabs and hooks to Briggs’ body and jaw, while the rock-tough Australian bombed right hands and left hooks off his stiff left jab.

The eighth round was a golden moment for both of these warriors, the highlight of a beautifully brutal fight. Briggs (23-2, 17 KOs) rocked Adamek with a right that sent a spray of blood and sweat from the taller, lankier Pole, but much to his credit, his iron-chinned foe battled back with a potent flurry. A second right, a hook, stung Adamek at the bell, but there was no stopping either of them. The two pounded each other until the final bell, which heralded a majority-decision victory for Adamek. Judge John McCarthy scored the bout 115-113 and Judge John Keane 117-113, both for Adamek. The third judge, Nobuaki Uratani, scored it as a 114-114 draw.

“This is the best fight I ever had,” Adamek said. “Briggs was a strong and a hard fighter, but I was never going to give up.” The newly crowned light-heavyweight champ added, “I know I made my country and family proud.”

Said Briggs, “I felt I rocked him every other round. I caught a lot of his power shots with my gloves. He was a good fighter; he put together good combinations. Of course I thought I won, but that’s the way it goes. It was a fair decision.”

The night also featured Alejandro Garcia (24-1, 23 KOs) finishing off a nail-biting, action-filled bout by flooring Rhoshii Wells (18-2-2, 11 KOs) with a left hook in the ninth round after driving him to the ropes with a brutal, four-punch combination. Although Wells found his feet before the 10-count, referee Pete Podgorski stopped the fight at 2:52 in the round. Garcia’s victory secured for him the interim WBA Super Welterweight Championship.

After having fulfilled his promise to end the fight before the 10th round, Garcia announced, “I want to fight Cory Spinks, because he said he was going to move up in weight. I would also like to fight Daniel Santos or any other top challenger. I showed my promoter Don King that I am skilled and strong; I just need more fights to be in the top of the boxing world.”

Wells, on the other hand, had other thoughts. “I didn’t like how the referee stopped the fight. He should have let it go. I want to fight Garcia for a third time.”

Also notable on the card was the WBC Welterweight Championship elimination bout between WBC Contender Americas Champion Miguel Rodriguez (26-2, 21 KOs) and the WBC International Champion, Carlos Baldomir (41-9-6, 12 KOs). After 12 rounds, Baldomir took the unanimous decision, saying, “I don’t care who I fight next; bring them on.”
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But the show didn’t only go on in the ring on May 21, 2005. When Don King is involved, that’s a given and a guarantee. The post-fight press conference was nearly as entertaining as the night’s bouts, with King holding court resplendent in a black tuxedo and his customary cascade of gems and jewelry. In his typical waterfall of words fashion, King went on at length about the night and its events, and his ecstasy at returning big-time boxing to the Windy City.

“We’re definitely coming back to Chicago!” King crowed, bringing Bill Wirtz up with him to magnanimously spread the glory. “This was an amazing turnout.” He went on to list the previous Don King Promotions events already held during the year across the country, tallying up an astonishing total of nearly 75,000 fans that attended.

After this trademark verbal extravagance, which had the assembled press eating out of King’s be-ringed hand, the WBO Heavyweight Champion took the podium alongside the man he named “the greatest promoter of all time” for some words of his own. Calling himself a “Midwestern fighter,” thanking the crowd and God, Brewster said, “I think this fight illustrated the strong support we have here.” He talked about his fight with Wladimir Klitschko, pointing out, “That was the style I had to pick in order to win the fight. It didn’t look good, but that’s what I had to do.” In reference to the sluggish victory in his last fight prior to the Golota bout, the champ laughed. “I gave it my best, but I learned I do have a weakness. Like Superman and Kryptonite, my weakness is that I can’t fight a friend . . . other than that, I plan on knocking everyone else out!”

And speaking of ending fights quickly, affable “nice guy” Brewster revealed a conversation he’d had before facing Golota: “As I was leaving the room, my mama said, ‘Knock ‘im out!” At that, the pressroom erupted in cheers, applause, and laughter. Nice guy? Damn straight, and you can’t fault the man for that. And we’re looking forward to having Lamon Brewster and Don King back in Chi-town for more big-time fights. Damn straight!