Thursday, April 15, 2004 | 9:25 a.m.
Boxing fans laughed, or at least chuckled, when promoter Don King announced that International Boxing Federation heavyweight champion Chris Byrd would fight Andrew Golota in New York's Madison Square Garden.
Byrd vs. Golota? The crafty, elusive southpaw vs. the stiff, quick-tempered Foul Pole?
If Golota didn't have the patience to finish fights with Riddick Bowe, Michael Grant and Mike Tyson, how can he possibly be expected to chase Byrd around for 12 futile rounds without losing his cool?
"When Don threw Golota at me, I was so excited I went straight downstairs and began to train," said Byrd, a Las Vegas resident who hosted a small group of reporters at his home last Saturday. "I'm looking for fights like that.
"I'll always fight the crazy guys."
Byrd vs. Golota tops a Saturday pay-per-view card that includes a handful of other significant fights. Station Casinos makes Byrd a 12-1 favorite for his bout.
"Don knows how hard it is to match me," said Byrd, who is coming off a points win against Fres Oquendo Sept. 21 in Uncasville, Conn. "But he also knows I want to walk the tightrope."
That tightrope could be stretched taut if Golota provides a serious challenge. He's 38-4-1 with 31 knockouts and claims to have put his past ring troubles -- two DQ losses to Bowe, quitting in fights against Grant and Tyson, biting Samson Pouha, and head butting Danell Nicholson -- behind him.
"I decided I'd better get on with my life, because I won't make any money playing tennis," Golota said during a conference call, referring to how he spent the bulk of his time during a two-year absence from the ring that concluded last year. "I got to be pretty good (at tennis) but I came to the realization that I've got to do something else.
"I can't fool around anymore."
His trainer, Sam Colona, agrees.
"He's come to realize how important this fight is," Colona said. "It's now or never."
Golota, 36, got this fight in part because he went to King looking to resurrect his career, and in part because Derrick Jefferson -- who was initially pencilled in to fight Byrd -- suffered a cut in a recent fight.
It was a change for the better from Byrd's perspective.
"It should be an entertaining fight," he said. "Golota's certainly dangerous and he will hit you hard. He's been there and he knows what he's doing.
"He probably looks at me and wonders 'How did this little guy get the title?' but everyone knows what I bring to the table.
"He's not going to beat me. I'll be on top of my game."
Byrd, 33, is 37-2 with 20 KOs and became the IBF champion Dec. 14, 2002, when he gained a decision victory against Evander Holyfield in Atlantic City. He owned earlier victories against Vitali Klitschko and David Tua, and he defeated Oquendo by 6, 4 and 2 points on the judges' cards in his most recent outing.
His losses came at the hands of Ike Ibeabuchi in 1999 and Wladimir Klitschko a year later.
"I'm a little cocky, maybe even overconfident," Byrd said. "I've got an inner cockiness for this fight that I haven't always had.
"But it isn't arrogance. I know better than that."
It turns out Golota is someone he always wanted to fight.
"In 1997 I signed with Main Events just because they had Tua and Golota," he said of the promotional firm that handled his career for a while. "I wanted to fight both of them, but Main Events actually held me back from them. I got further away from fighting them instead of closer to fighting them."
Signing with King changed that and Byrd disposed of Tua by decision three years ago.
"Now I get Golota, maybe a little late but better than never," Byrd said. "It's exactly the kind of fight I like and the kind of fight that Don likes to make.
"People may criticize him a lot, but he does things like this to bring the house down."
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