BOWE BREAKS WHEN GOLOTA GOES TOO LOW : RIOT IN RING ERUPTS, DUVA INJURED.

Byline: Ed Schuyler Jr. Associated Press 

In a bout that ended in a wild, chair-swinging riot, Riddick Bowe - taking a beating from underdog Andrew Golota - won on a seventh-round disqualification Thursday night.

After Bowe was knocked down for the second time by a low blow, one of Bowe's handlers charged into the Madison Square Garden ring and attacked Golota, who suffered a gash on the back of his head.

As Bowe writhed on the canvas, the ring filled with people punching and kicking while debris and chairs were thrown from the crowd.

Thirty-five minutes after the bout, Garden authorities ordered the building evacuated.

Police spokeswoman Kathleen Kelly had no information on injuries or arrests but said: ``There was a confirmed riot there, that's all I know.''

Lou Duva, Golota's 74-year-old trainer, was carried from the ring after being hit by a walkie-talkie. An oxygen mask was on his face while he was removed by stretcher while suffering chest pains.

Kathy Duva, Duva's daughter-in-law, said he was resting comfortably at NYU Medical Center. ``He's stable,'' she said.

She did not indicate if he had suffered a heart attack or any other ailment.

As soon as the fight ended, Bowe's promoter, Rock Newman, came into the ring and started gesturing at Golota at the other end of the ring. One of Bowe's followers sprinted across the ring and hit Golota at least once. The Polish heavyweight was bleeding from the back of his head as he left the ring.

Garden security couldn't keep spectators from storming the ring. Fights then started in stands, mostly African-American vs. white. Security officers would gather at one side of the stands but fighting would break out again on the other end.

Golota, as he left the ring, pawed at a man gesturing at him, but bystanders got between the two.

The initial chaos lasted about 15 minutes, subsided, then started again. A young African-American 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.

No major boxing cards had been held at the Garden from 1982 until Oscar de la Hoya defended his WBO lightweight title there on Dec. 15, 1995. No boxing at all had been held there since 1993.

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.''

Golota was controlling the fight and had Bowe, the former undisputed heavyweight champion, in trouble on several occasions. 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.''

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 he landed another low left hook. Bowe didn't go down but he was given a break.

Golota was penalized another point for low blows in the seventh round. Then, with about 20 seconds left in the round, he landed a left hook far below the belt line. Bowe went down - his face a mask of pain.

At that point, referee Wayne Kelly signaled the fight was over. As Kelly was signaling, Newman climbed into the ring and gestured at Golota.

Bernard Brooks, a friend of Bowe's, approached Golota and said, ``Take it easy, take it easy,'' and went to take hold of the fighter. Golota tried to throw a punch at Brooks. Brooks' son then attacked Golota, hitting him several times in the head with a walkie-talkie, drawing blood.

It was the first fight in eight months for Bowe, and he showed the effects of the layoff as well as his weight of 252 pounds, highest of his career.

Bowe, 6-foot-5, landed 143 of 361 punches, according to a computer analysis, while Golota landed 243 of 440 punches.

Bowe came out jabbing, but Golota was soon outjabbing him and often landed the harder blows, repeatedly beating Bowe to the punch with a right lead and a short left hook.

Golota had Bowe in real trouble in the fifth round. He landed a right and left to the head that stunned Bowe at midround. He followed that with a hard right and left. Later in the round, he wobbled Bowe with a flurry of punches to the head, climaxed by a big right.

At the end of six rounds, the AP card had Golota ahead by three points; it would have been five but for the penalty points assessed against Golota.

The fight was advertised as being 10 rounds, but the contract had called for 10 or 12. Earlier in the day, Newman insisted that the fight be for 12.

The sides argued most of the day and at one time Golota threatened not to fight. But the disagreement was resolved about 5:35 p.m.

Although Bowe holds no titles, Newman said he wanted the fight to be for 12 rounds because ``it's for the real heavyweight championship of the world.''

Newman, who has been unsuccessful in trying to get a fight against Mike Tyson, the WBC champion, has boasted that Bowe is the people's champion.

If it hadn't been for Golota's fouls, Bowe likely would have been a beaten fighter on this bizarre night.

Bowe, who earned $5 million, now 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.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

Photo: (1--color) Andrew Golota fends off security and p ersonnel from Riddick Bowe's corner who charged into the ring after the disqualification.

(2--color) Riddick Bowe sinks to the canvas after the final low blow from Andrew Golota, while referee Wayne Kelly tries to help him.

Associated Press