Golota is ready to seek treatment

Andrew Golota, the Polish heavyweight, has said that he thinks he should undergo psychoanalysis after squandering his chances of victory over Riddick Bowe because of low punches for the second time in five months.

A Polish sports daily asked him the crucial question about the ninth- round blows that led to him being disqualified just one round away from near-certain victory on Saturday: "Why?"

"I don't know, I really don't know," the 28-year-old Golota told Przeglad Sportowy in an interview published yesterday.

"It was supposed to be a combination of punches to the stomach, after which Bowe would have had to straighten out and give me a chance for a final knockout," Golota was quoted as saying.

Asked to comment on his co-trainer Lou Duva's suggestion of psychoanalysis, Golota said: "Why not? Maybe he's right. I don't know."

Golota was first disqualified for low blows during a July fight against Bowe in New York and said then that he had been desperate because he could not flatten the American, despite being ahead.

Golota said the two fights were different. "I just wanted to win the [New York] fight. In Atlantic City I wanted to kill Bowe," the Pole claimed.

Golota, who is nursing a burst eardrum from the fight, which he said had made him feel like he was boxing in a silent movie, said he was trying to forget the outcome of Saturday's bout.

"What am I supposed to do? Shoot myself? Boxing is a sport for tough guys," he said.

He suggested he would welcome a chance to fight the former world heavyweight champion Tim Witherspoon, possibly in Poland.

"I want to fight the best and not waste time on those who are just climbing the rankings," Golota said.