Amid extraordinary scenes, the Polish fighter refused to put his gumshield back in during the 90 second interval between the second and third round.

The giant Golota pushed away his past cornerman and referee Frank Garza and stormed out of the Aubern Hills arena in Michigan, being pelted by debris and other items by dissatisfied customers.

Golota, who has a history of instability in and out of the ring, is almost certain to face an inquiry regarding his performance and his actions and may lose a portion of the estimated $2.2m he was paid for the fight.

He has been disqualified twice before for repeated fouling and last year quit in similar circumstances whilst ahead on points against American Michael Grant, who unsuccessully challenged Lennox Lewis in April of this year.

Impeccable behaviour

Tyson, for his part, cannot be blamed for anything that took place, with the former champion for once behaving impeccably. In fact, the fight had been remarkably clean with referee Frank Garza acquitting himself very well.

But he was denied the chance when Golota astonishingly walked off.

The 32-year-old explained his actions to an American television interviewer shortly after the fight.

"It wasn't my day today. I got a headbutt and the referee did not respond as he ought to," said Golota in faltering English.

"Boxing is a very difficult sport. I'm sorry for all my fans who count on me. Today was not my day.

"I will give myself a very heavy talk about it. Somebody headbutted me. Nobody took care of this. He should have got a half warning, you know."

Golota, who was taken to hospital after the fight, said he did not know if he was going to retire.

His trainer, Al Certo later revealed Golota wanted to quit after the first round.

"I said, 'No, you're going to win this fight', but he wanted to stop it," Certo explained.

Satisfaction

Tyson declined to speak to the media, although his trainer Tommy Brooks expressed satisfaction at his charge's performance.

"I think he fought well. Mike put in his work and did what he was supposed to do."

"I never would have guessed that from Andrew. I truly believe that he is not a coward but suffers from anxiety attacks and I think he suffered from one then."

Tyson's manager Shelly Finkel refused to confirm or deny rumours that the 34-year-old had fought for the last time, as had been hinted during the build-up to the fight.

"I think he'll take off for a couple of weeks and work out what he wants to do.

Responsible

"He cant be responsible for a guy he hits and the guy just quits. Now it's up to Mike if he wants to fight again. If he does want to fight, the world is his. If he doesn't, I wish him well."

The fight started at a hectic pace with both fighters throwing bombs.

Considering what would happen, Golota did not seem at all intimidated by his notorious opponent.

But within the final 30 seconds of the round, Golota was cut under the left eye from what seemed like an accidental headbutt and then felled by a tremendous right hand.

Landing on the seat of his pants, Golota easily beat the count and was not forced to take any more punches as the bell sounded for the end of the round.

Tyson did not look especially sharp, but he seemed to be putting more power into his formidable blows.

The second round was quieter by comparison, with Tyson looking more cumbersome but dominant nonetheless.

There was certainly no hint that Golota was about to quit, as he was fighting back at all points and looking competitive.