When Mike Tyson walked from the baying crowd at the Auburn Hills Palace here on Friday night, he may have felt briefly at peace with his world, knowing in his own tortured mind that a 15-year-journey through the most analysed boxing career since that of Muhammad Ali was over.

He had said on the eve of his fight against Andrew Golota that it would be his last and, after the Pole had surrendered in his corner after only two rounds of a contest fought at a fierce pace while it lasted, nothing in Tyson's words or actions suggested to his entourage, management and trainers that he was contemplating a speedy change of heart.

Golota's career at the highest level is surely over. Vilified by his own trainer and jeered by the crowd, his would now be an impossible act to sell even though his injuries may have been genuine enough. He spent a second day in hospital suffering from nausea and a fractured cheekbone.

For Tyson, the question now is whether or not the lure of $50 million or so which he could earn from fights against Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis for world titles next year proves irresistible. However, his ever-bleaker outlook towards those he believes are seeking to humiliate him might indicate that he will stick to his decision.

Showtime Television, the American company which bailed Tyson out of a $113m tax debt and continues to underwrite his monstrously extravagant lifestyle by paying him multi-million dollar sums to face the likes of Julius Francis and Lou Savarese this year, will put pressure on Tyson to play his part in a contract which can only properly return its investment if he faces Lewis or Holyfield.

In all probability, Tyson will be persuaded to change his mind, but the TV executives must have listened anxiously to Tyson's manager after the 34-year-old former champion had left the arena, furious that Golota had denied him what he perceived as his rightful opportunity to end matters through his own endeavours.

Cynics had suggested Tyson's "retirement" was a publicity stunt, but his manager Shelly Finkel was saying: "Could this be the end? Absolutely. The first thing I will do now is give Mike some breathing space. But in the next week or so I will find out if what he feels today is what he still feels. Perhaps I will have to see what else he wants to do. People change careers. He was pretty emphatic in what he was saying.

"What he has to put up with is a continuous water-torture, a pounding. I'm not saying he is right, but Mike says whatever is on his mind and the candour is offensive to a lot of people. As a result, an article comes out and when he is attacked in the press the headlines can be devastating.

"His children get to read it and Mike's very sensitive. You may not think so, but he is. And he says: `Hey, what do I need this for?"'

Tyson's trainer Tommy Brooks deserves credit for what was briefly seen of Tyson the fighter before Golota quit. The old champion had been told in no uncertain terms what the consequences could be of any rules transgression and, apart from some bumping of the head inevitable when a short fighter (Tyson is just five foot 11) faces someone significantly taller, he performed to the letter of the law.

Bobbing and weaving effectively, Tyson created openings for his powerful hooks including the right thrown shortly before the end of the first round which sent Golota to the canvas. The fearful Pole told his astonished cornermen he wanted the fight ended then, but was persuaded to face the further three minutes which would be his last.

As Golota walked to a neutral corner during the break after the second round, he was pursued by his trainer Al Certo in a bizarre scene with Certo trying to push the gumshield back into his fighter's mouth, imploring him to continue to no avail.

"He could have won, but he just didn't want to do it. Some guys have the guts and some don't. I can't make any excuses for him," said Certo.

For once, Tyson was blameless.