Frans Botha: Will He End Evander Holyfield?
By Geno McGahee
On April 10th, Frans Botha, 47-4-3, 28 KO’s, will step into the ring with former Heavyweight Champion, Evander Holyfield, 42-10-2, 27 KO’s, in a 12 round showdown for the WBF Heavyweight Title. Botha is 41 years old and has been in the ring with some of the best fighters in world and has fared well with the exception of his knockout defeat to Lennox Lewis, when he was launched out of the ring from a combination.
This is a pay per view, and it’s a better buy than Roy Jones – Bernard Hopkins. At least here you know you will get some action and possibly a knockout. Holyfield still maintains his vow to become the champion again, despite his age and recent track record. Never underestimate his ego though or his poor money managing…he must fight, and he must win the title to soothe that ego and put some much needed cash in his pockets.
Although Holyfield is the headliner here, don’t count Botha out. This is a very winnable fight for him. Let’s look at the career of Botha:
Frans “The White Buffalo” Botha
The Beginning: 1990 – 1995
Botha started his career with 35 straight wins, earning a title shot against Axel Schulz with the vacant IBF Crown hanging in the balance. Botha would get the victory via split decision and become world champion, only to have the bout turned into a no contest due to a positive test for steroids.
35-0, 1 NC, 21 KO’s
The Middle: 1995 – 2002
Michael Moorer would go on to win the IBF Title and defend it against Botha on November 9th, 1996. Botha showed he belonged by roughing up Moorer and rattling him with some decent right hands. In the later rounds, Botha would tire badly and get pinned against the ropes, stopped in the final round.
In 1999, a returning Mike Tyson would select Botha for his opponent, but he was in for a surprise. Botha’s arrogance and confidence before the fight transitioned into the fight itself. He boxed and played with Tyson, landing the right hand often and showing no fear. Frustrated, Tyson fouled, trying to break Botha’s arm on two occasions. Botha kept his cool, but would run into a straight right hand in round five and lose via KO.
Seven months after the Tyson fight, he landed another high profile bout against the popular contender, Shannon Briggs. Although most spectators felt Botha had done enough to win, the bout was declared a majority draw.
In 2000, Botha would get another crack at the heavyweight title, but would meet Lennox Lewis on the wrong night. Lewis hit Botha with a vicious combination, stopping him in the second round and nearly launching him out of the ring. It was Botha’s worst defeat.
In 2002, Botha would take on Wladimir Klitschko for the WBO Title, losing via TKO in round 8. Botha would later comment that he was not impressed with “Dr. Steelhammer.”
His last fight in 2002 was a showdown with Clifford Etienne. The Black Rhino versus the White Buffalo was too tempting for the promoters not to put together and there was an added incentive to the winner. Who ever won was promised a shot at Mike Tyson. Botha wanted to face Iron Mike again, and went on to defeat Etienne, in a fight that was scored a draw. Etienne would go on to face Mike, and Botha would leave boxing.
9-4-2, 7 KO’s
The End: 2007 – Present
After stepping into the world of Mixed Martial Arts and having mixed results, Botha returned home to boxing, winning a decision over Bob Mirovic for the interim WBF Heavyweight Title. He would decision Ron Guerrero for the vacant WBF Title, eke by Timo Hoffman via split decision to hold onto it and fight to a majority draw with Pedro Carrion in his last fight. These four fighters are mediocrities and say a lot about the current place of Frans Botha. He is at the end of the road, but still may have enough to beat Holyfield.
3-0-1
Evander “Real Deal” Holyfield
The Beginning: 1984 – 1993
Holyfield won the Olympic Bronze in 1984, and would debut as a professional that year. He would be moved along very quickly, winning eleven fights and then challenging for the cruiserweight title against the much more experienced Dwight Muhammad Qawi. In a fight of the year, Evander walked away with a 15 round split decision and the title. He would go on to defend it five times, including a knockout of Olympic teammate Henry Tillman and a stoppage of Qawi in a rematch. In 1988, he would fight for the last time as a cruiserweight, eying bigger money in the heavyweight division. He would score an 8th round stoppage of Carlos De Leon, and then vacate the title and move up.
Holyfield moved up to the heavyweights with Mike Tyson on his mind. They were amateur rivals to a certain degree and had sparred in a heated session that was halted by their trainers. He would begin with grizzled veteran, James “Quick” Tillis (TKO 5), follow up with former champion, Pinklon Thomas (TKO 7), have a memorable battle with another former champion, Michael Dokes (TKO 10), and stop three contenders: Alex Stewart (TKO 8), Adilson Rodrigues (KO 2), and Seamus McDonagh (TKO 4), before getting a shot at the heavyweight title, but it wouldn’t be against Iron Mike.
James “Buster” Douglas pulled the upset of the century with a 10th round stoppage of Tyson, and agreed to the “Moment of Truth” with the #1 contender, Evander Holyfield. The truth of the fight was that Douglas was unprepared at 246 pounds and the aggressive Holyfield made short work of him and became a 2-division champion. Holyfield would follow up with defenses against George Foreman (UD 12), Bert Cooper (TKO 7), Larry Holmes (UD 12), before losing to Riddick Bowe (UD 12).
27-1, 21 KO’s
The Middle: 1993 – 2004
Holyfield would regroup and rebound with a win over Alex Stewart in a rematch (UD 12), and avenged his loss to Bowe via majority decision. Holyfield would lose the title in his very first defense against former Light Heavyweight Champion, Michael Moorer, and claim a heart problem as the reason why.
After a supposed healing from a TV evangelist, Holyfield returned in 1995, colliding with Ray Mercer on PPV in a 10 round event. It was a war that could have gone either way when the dust settled, and Holyfield would walk away with the win. He would take on Bowe in the third and final encounter and suffer his first stoppage loss. After knocking Bowe down, Holyfield was pummeled into submission in the 8th round. It looked like the end of the road for the “Real Deal.”
In 1996, Tyson the WBA/WBC Champion at the time, gave up his WBC crown to avoid Lennox Lewis and opted to defend his WBA Title against Holyfield, a fighter deemed by most to be shot. Holyfield shocked the world, stopping Iron Mike in 11 and claiming the title. In a foul-filled rematch, Tyson would be disqualified by Mills Lane after two ear bites. Holyfield persistent use of his head as a weapon went unpunished, as usual.
Holyfield, possibly at the peak of his marketability, scored an 8th round stoppage of Michael Moorer, avenging another defeat, but struggled to get past mediocrity Vaughn Bean in another defense. This would put him into the ring with the man that had been waiting a long time to prove himself: Lennox Lewis.
On March 13th, 1999, they would meet and Lewis clearly won, but the judges were either bought off or fell asleep, scoring it a draw. The rematch would take place in November of 1999, and Lewis would win by decision.
Lewis was stripped of the WBA Title for refusal to face John Ruiz, prompting the sanctioning body to make Holyfield – Ruiz. Holyfield lost again, yet won on the cards and was once again a title holder. Ruiz would win in a rematch, and then the two would draw in what could easily be the ugliest trilogy in the history of boxing.
In 2002, Holyfield was given yet another title shot, easily beaten by Chris Byrd. James Toney would dominate and destroy him inside of nine rounds in his next fight, and then Larry Donald would play with him en route to a wide decision. It was the end of the road for Holyfield.
10-8-2, 3 KO’s
The End: 2006 – Present
After the three straight defeats to Byrd, Toney, and Donald, most thought that we had seen the last of Holyfield. He returned to face Jeremy Bates, a no hoper, and stopped him in two rounds. He would face Fres Oquendo in a terrible fight that seemed to go the way of Oquendo, but Holyfield would benefit from his name value again and get the nod via UD. He would put together two more wins against mediocre opposition before landing a shot at WBO Champion, Sultan Ibragimov.
Ibragimov had little problem controlling Holyfield and winning a lopsided UD. As usual, Holyfield was granted yet another title opportunity, losing to WBA Champ, Nikolay Valuev by majority decision. Some contend that Holyfield won, but his clutching, head-butting, running style in that fight was not championship worthy.
4-2, 2 KO’s
Evander Holyfield was a great fighter and is an all time great, but his ego and hypocritical ways make him a hard guy to like. The recent confirmed report that he is a wife beater should have driven away supporters but most have apparently turned a blind eye to it. His contention that he will once again be heavyweight champion is laughable, especially when you consider his recent track record. He has only won 4 of his last 9 fights, should have lost to Oquendo, and has little left outside of a head butt and a dream.
Botha doesn’t have much left either, but is underrated, and has been his entire career. He has only lost to world champions and he is fighting a former champ in Holyfield. This bout is a pick’em fight. Holyfield has taken on the better competition recently, Botha has been more successful recently…who knows? Hopefully Botha takes it.