NEW YORK -- Riddick Bowe, the winner, was on his back writhing in pain. A friend was hitting Bowe's opponent, Andrew Golota, over the head with a walkie-talkie.
With Bowe on the canvas and the referee raising his hand to signal victory, the ring filled with people punching and kicking while debris and chairs were thrown from the crowd.
That was the wild, riotous scene at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night when Bowe -- taking a beating from a heavy underdog -- won on a seventh-round disqualification.
Lou Duva, Golota's 74-year-old trainer, was carried from the ring after also being hit by a walkie-talkie. An oxygen mask was on his face while he was removed by stretcher. A relative said he was in stable condition.
Michael Buffer, the ring announcer, said tensions heightened between the sixth and seventh rounds.
"You could hear people yelling 'You're hurting my fighter.''' he said. "When it ended there was a wave of humanity. I didn't even try to get in the ring. There was no security ringside.''
Thirty-five minutes after the bout, Garden authorities ordered the crowd of 11,252 to evacuate the building.
"This was the product of a few people who acted like criminals,'' Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said.
The mayhem raised questions about security at the Garden, which has been trying to revive a sport that once flourished in New York. There were no bouts in the Garden from March 6, 1993, to Dec. 15, 1995.
The Polish-born Golota was controlling the fight and had Bowe, the former undisputed heavyweight champion, in trouble several times. He had already been penalized three points for low blows before landing the low blow that led to his disqualification.
"Andrew has a habit of looping his punches and Bowe kept pulling his hands down,'' said Roger Bloodworth, one of Golota's cornermen.
"He [Bowe] hit Andrew behind the head three or four times and was warned only one time. ... I'm not going to argue who started it. It happened. This is a disgrace," said Bloodworth.
Golota knocked Bowe down with a low left hook that caused an 81-second delay and cost Golota a point in the second round. Golota also was penalized a point in the sixth when Golota landed another low left hook. Bowe didn't go down but he was given a break.
"He's a decent fighter," Rock Newman, Bowe's promoter, said of Golota, "but he's a dirty and nasty fighter.'' With about 20 seconds left in the seventh round, Golota landed a left hook far below the belt. Bowe went down, his face a mask of pain.
At that point, referee Wayne Kelly signaled the fight over. As Kelly was doing so, Newman climbed into the ring and gestured at Golota.
Bernard Brooks, a friend of Bowe's, claimed he approached Golota and said, "Take it easy, take it easy,'' and went to take hold of the fighter.
Golota tried to punch Brooks. Brooks' son, Bernard Brooks Jr., then attacked Golota, hitting him several times in the head with a walkie-talkie, drawing blood.
Garden security couldn't keep spectators from storming the ring. Fights started in stands. The initial chaos lasted about 15 minutes, subsided then started again. A young man in a wheelchair was knocked over.
Riot police with helmets and nightsticks arrived but another fight broke out almost 30 minutes after the bout had ended. The boxers scrapped their postfight news conference.
Bowe said he was OK after the fight.
"I'm fine,'' he said.
When asked if he had been hit after the fight, Bowe smiled and said, "Was I hit? What fight were you watching?''
Golota was not available for comment.
It was the first fight in eight months for Bowe, and he showed the effects of the layoff as well as his weight of 114 kilograms, highest of his career.
Bowe, Brooklyn-born and fighting in the Garden for the second time, came out jabbing, but Golota was soon outjabbing him and he often landed the harder blows.
Golota had Bowe in real trouble in the fifth round. He landed a right and left to the head that stunned Bowe. He followed with a hard right and left. Later in the round, he wobbled Bowe.
At the end of six rounds, The Associated Press had Golota ahead by three points, but it would have been five but for the penalty points assessed against Golota.
Bowe, who earned $5 million, has a 39-1 record with 33 knockouts. Golota, 28, who emigrated from Poland to the Chicago area in 1991, lost for the first time after 28 victories, 25 by knockouts.
With Bowe on the canvas and the referee raising his hand to signal victory, the ring filled with people punching and kicking while debris and chairs were thrown from the crowd.
That was the wild, riotous scene at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night when Bowe -- taking a beating from a heavy underdog -- won on a seventh-round disqualification.
Lou Duva, Golota's 74-year-old trainer, was carried from the ring after also being hit by a walkie-talkie. An oxygen mask was on his face while he was removed by stretcher. A relative said he was in stable condition.
Michael Buffer, the ring announcer, said tensions heightened between the sixth and seventh rounds.
"You could hear people yelling 'You're hurting my fighter.''' he said. "When it ended there was a wave of humanity. I didn't even try to get in the ring. There was no security ringside.''
Thirty-five minutes after the bout, Garden authorities ordered the crowd of 11,252 to evacuate the building.
"This was the product of a few people who acted like criminals,'' Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said.
The mayhem raised questions about security at the Garden, which has been trying to revive a sport that once flourished in New York. There were no bouts in the Garden from March 6, 1993, to Dec. 15, 1995.
The Polish-born Golota was controlling the fight and had Bowe, the former undisputed heavyweight champion, in trouble several times. He had already been penalized three points for low blows before landing the low blow that led to his disqualification.
"Andrew has a habit of looping his punches and Bowe kept pulling his hands down,'' said Roger Bloodworth, one of Golota's cornermen.
"He [Bowe] hit Andrew behind the head three or four times and was warned only one time. ... I'm not going to argue who started it. It happened. This is a disgrace," said Bloodworth.
Golota knocked Bowe down with a low left hook that caused an 81-second delay and cost Golota a point in the second round. Golota also was penalized a point in the sixth when Golota landed another low left hook. Bowe didn't go down but he was given a break.
"He's a decent fighter," Rock Newman, Bowe's promoter, said of Golota, "but he's a dirty and nasty fighter.'' With about 20 seconds left in the seventh round, Golota landed a left hook far below the belt. Bowe went down, his face a mask of pain.
At that point, referee Wayne Kelly signaled the fight over. As Kelly was doing so, Newman climbed into the ring and gestured at Golota.
Bernard Brooks, a friend of Bowe's, claimed he approached Golota and said, "Take it easy, take it easy,'' and went to take hold of the fighter.
Golota tried to punch Brooks. Brooks' son, Bernard Brooks Jr., then attacked Golota, hitting him several times in the head with a walkie-talkie, drawing blood.
Garden security couldn't keep spectators from storming the ring. Fights started in stands. The initial chaos lasted about 15 minutes, subsided then started again. A young man in a wheelchair was knocked over.
Riot police with helmets and nightsticks arrived but another fight broke out almost 30 minutes after the bout had ended. The boxers scrapped their postfight news conference.
Bowe said he was OK after the fight.
"I'm fine,'' he said.
When asked if he had been hit after the fight, Bowe smiled and said, "Was I hit? What fight were you watching?''
Golota was not available for comment.
It was the first fight in eight months for Bowe, and he showed the effects of the layoff as well as his weight of 114 kilograms, highest of his career.
Bowe, Brooklyn-born and fighting in the Garden for the second time, came out jabbing, but Golota was soon outjabbing him and he often landed the harder blows.
Golota had Bowe in real trouble in the fifth round. He landed a right and left to the head that stunned Bowe. He followed with a hard right and left. Later in the round, he wobbled Bowe.
At the end of six rounds, The Associated Press had Golota ahead by three points, but it would have been five but for the penalty points assessed against Golota.
Bowe, who earned $5 million, has a 39-1 record with 33 knockouts. Golota, 28, who emigrated from Poland to the Chicago area in 1991, lost for the first time after 28 victories, 25 by knockouts.
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