There was only ever one way Mike Tyson vs. Andrew Golota could have ended, and that was abruptly, with some kind of controversy. Getting beyond faux exasperation and virtue signaling, it’s what most people wanted and what many tuned in to see.

Expecting anything but chaos from a Tyson or Golota fight on Oct. 20, 2000 would have been certified insanity. They each had disqualification losses in their past, and each could have had a few more. But Tyson and Golota were heavyweights who perpetually stood on the edge of a cliff, needing but a whisper to send them tumbling over the edge, clawing at everything around and taking it down with them.

Going by their ledgers and nothing else, both fighters were technically on win streaks. The various asterisks on their fights, however, suggested they were simply maintaining composure long enough to get a big payday.

By the 2000s, Tyson’s misdeeds were legion. He was accused of inappropriate sexual conduct by multiple women and punched his way through various street skirmishes. Then there was the ring, where Tyson consistently trashed opportunities to restore his honor. His implosion against Evander Holyfield in their infamous 1997 rematch overshadowed what he did in subsequent fights: trying to break Francois Botha’s arm in the clinch, punching Orlin Norris after the bell and going after Lou Savarese (and the referee) when the fight was already over.

Tyson’s name became synonymous with the general human inability to turn away from a trainwreck. Everyone knew they were paying to watch a bomb that could explode at any moment, did it anyway, complained about it and did it some more.

Golota wasn’t much better. In the span of three years, he bit fellow contender Samson Po’uha in a fight he was clearly winning, headbutted Danell Nicholson in a fight he was winning, lost to Riddick Bowe by disqualification for repeated low blows two fights in a row and was easily mopped up by Lennox Lewis in less than one round.

The Polish heavyweight’s expertise in snatching defeat from the jaws of victory was almost something to be admired. To his credit, he somehow found the resolve to continue as a fighter despite becoming a laughingstock. When Golota bounced back from the Lewis knockout and scored his first victory in two years, he reportedly told his team, “I’m glad I got through with this. Now I know I want to fight.”

Nevertheless, oddsmakers didn’t trust Golota and he was an underdog from the moment the fight was pushed forward in July 2000. The only events he appeared at were the official press conference, the weigh-in and a last-minute open workout four days before the fight that he attempted to leave shortly after arriving.

Tyson declared the fight, promoted by America Presents, Main Events and former champ Thomas Hearns, would be his last, but nobody believed it. “A pig just flew over,” responded Showtime’s boxing honcho Jay Larkin.

A crowd of about 14,000 crammed into the Palace in Auburn Hills, Michigan, to see two of the world’s top heavyweights, both of whom openly discussed not wanting to fight anymore and, in retrospect, demonstrated it time and again.

Tyson opened the fight chucking overhand rights as Golota struggled to find his distance. The first few punches Golota landed were body shots, and Tyson’s early-rounds head movement made him difficult to time. In the second minute, however, Golota connected with a handful of snappy punches that made sure the former champ knew his opponent would throw back.

The right hands from Tyson opened a cut on Golota’s eyebrow and the big man quickly became distracted. With about 15 seconds left, Tyson reached out with another right hand that folded Golota backwards and sat him on the canvas. Golota rose with one thought in mind: Getting out of the ring. The bell rang and Golota went to his corner and asked for the fight to be stopped.

This time Golota’s team negotiated their heavyweight out of the corner to fight another round.

Golota blunted Tyson’s offense with clinches before he was forced to fight in the second minute of Round 2. Tyson connected with some vintage shots but leapt forth head-first, both of which left Golota with marks on his face. Golota landed a good body shot and a low blow just before the bell.

Before Round 3 could begin, Golota refused to continue fighting. His trainer Al Certo tried to jam Golota’s mouthpiece into his mouth and force him out for another round, but he just paced around the ring. Tyson had to be restrained from heading toward his opponent, but Golota was escorted from the ring by security who’d obviously learned the lesson from the massive riot that Bowe-Golota I caused.

The crowd pelted Golota with drinks as he walked toward the arena’s exit, and Tyson quickly left the ring, too, perhaps to avoid inflaming the situation.

During Golota’s interview with Showtime in his locker room, he complained of dizziness and said he was headbutted, but apologized for quitting. Days later, physicians reportedly diagnosed him with a concussion, a fractured left cheekbone and a herniated disk, complicating the discussion.

Tyson found a way to sully what would have been his last victory over an arguable contender when the state of Michigan changed the TKO to a no-contest after revealing he'd tested positive for marijuana. Worse, Tyson had actually refused to participate in pre-fight testing and only took the post-fight test.

After eating yet another suspension and fine, Tyson returned one year later with a fluff win over Danish heavyweight Brian Nielsen, and then sacrificed himself to Lennox Lewis. Everything after that was a version of Tyson few wanted to admit existed.

Oddly, Golota recharged himself over the next three years before returning and nearly winning two world titles against Chris Byrd and John Ruiz. It took yet another first-round clobbering, this time at the hands of Lamon Brewster, to end Golota’s time as anything resembling a top heavyweight.

Give Tyson and Golota more fortitude in the ring and their clash could have gone a few other ways. Throughout their careers, both of these talented and skilled heavyweights showed glimpses of what they could have been had they just been able to cope with the weirdness of the sweet science.

Tyson-Golota doesn’t go down as a battle or brawl, and not even a win or loss, really. Like so many heavyweight clashes of the 1990s and 2000s, it just gets shuffled into all the chaos.