{"id":1892,"date":"2010-04-01T00:00:33","date_gmt":"2010-04-01T04:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ringsidereport.com\/?p=1892"},"modified":"2010-04-01T00:00:33","modified_gmt":"2010-04-01T04:00:33","slug":"frans-botha-will-he-end-evander-holyfield","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=1892","title":{"rendered":"Frans Botha: Will He End Evander Holyfield?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>By Geno McGahee<\/strong><\/p>\n

On April 10th, Frans Botha, 47-4-3, 28 KO\u2019s, will step into the ring with former Heavyweight Champion, Evander Holyfield, 42-10-2, 27 KO\u2019s, in a 12 round showdown for the WBF Heavyweight Title.\u00a0 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This is a pay per view, and it\u2019s a better buy than Roy Jones \u2013 Bernard Hopkins.\u00a0 At least here you know you will get some action and possibly a knockout.\u00a0 Holyfield still maintains his vow to become the champion again, despite his age and recent track record.\u00a0\u00a0 Never underestimate his ego though or his poor money managing\u2026he must fight, and he must win the title to soothe that ego and put some much needed cash in his pockets.<\/p>\n

Although Holyfield is the headliner here, don\u2019t count Botha out.\u00a0 This is a very winnable fight for him.\u00a0 Let\u2019s look at the career of Botha:<\/p>\n

Frans \u201cThe White Buffalo\u201d Botha<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Beginning: 1990 \u2013 1995<\/strong><\/p>\n

Botha started his career with 35 straight wins, earning a title shot against Axel Schulz with the vacant IBF Crown hanging in the balance.\u00a0 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

35-0, 1 NC, 21 KO\u2019s<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Middle: 1995 \u2013 2002<\/strong><\/p>\n

Michael Moorer would go on to win the IBF Title and defend it against Botha on November 9th, 1996.\u00a0 Botha showed he belonged by roughing up Moorer and rattling him with some decent right hands.\u00a0 In the later rounds, Botha would tire badly and get pinned against the ropes, stopped in the final round.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 1999, a returning Mike Tyson would select Botha for his opponent, but he was in for a surprise.\u00a0 Botha\u2019s arrogance and confidence before the fight transitioned into the fight itself.\u00a0 He boxed and played with Tyson, landing the right hand often and showing no fear.\u00a0 Frustrated, Tyson fouled, trying to break Botha\u2019s arm on two occasions.\u00a0 Botha kept his cool, but would run into a straight right hand in round five and lose via KO.<\/p>\n

Seven months after the Tyson fight, he landed another high profile bout against the popular contender, Shannon Briggs.\u00a0 Although most spectators felt Botha had done enough to win, the bout was declared a majority draw.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2000, Botha would get another crack at the heavyweight title, but would meet Lennox Lewis on the wrong night.\u00a0 Lewis hit Botha with a vicious combination, stopping him in the second round and nearly launching him out of the ring.\u00a0 It was Botha\u2019s worst defeat.<\/p>\n

In 2002, Botha would take on Wladimir Klitschko for the WBO Title, losing via TKO in round 8.\u00a0 Botha would later comment that he was not impressed with \u201cDr. Steelhammer.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

His last fight in 2002 was a showdown with Clifford Etienne.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Who ever won was promised a shot at Mike Tyson.\u00a0 Botha wanted to face Iron Mike again, and went on to defeat Etienne, in a fight that was scored a draw.\u00a0 Etienne would go on to face Mike, and Botha would leave boxing.<\/p>\n

9-4-2, 7 KO\u2019s<\/strong><\/p>\n

The End: 2007 \u2013 Present<\/strong><\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 These four fighters are mediocrities and say a lot about the current place of Frans Botha.\u00a0 He is at the end of the road, but still may have enough to beat Holyfield.<\/p>\n

3-0-1<\/strong><\/p>\n

Evander \u201cReal Deal\u201d Holyfield<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Beginning: 1984 \u2013 1993<\/strong><\/p>\n

Holyfield won the Olympic Bronze in 1984, and would debut as a professional that year.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 In a fight of the year, Evander walked away with a 15 round split decision and the title.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 In 1988, he would fight for the last time as a cruiserweight, eying bigger money in the heavyweight division.\u00a0 He would score an 8th round stoppage of Carlos De Leon, and then vacate the title and move up.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Holyfield moved up to the heavyweights with Mike Tyson on his mind.\u00a0 They were amateur rivals to a certain degree and had sparred in a heated session that was halted by their trainers.\u00a0 He would begin with grizzled veteran, James \u201cQuick\u201d 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\u2019t be against Iron Mike.<\/p>\n

James \u201cBuster\u201d Douglas pulled the upset of the century with a 10th round stoppage of Tyson, and agreed to the \u201cMoment of Truth\u201d with the #1 contender, Evander Holyfield.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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).\u00a0<\/p>\n

27-1, 21 KO\u2019s<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Middle: 1993 \u2013 2004<\/strong><\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After a supposed healing from a TV evangelist, Holyfield returned in 1995, colliding with Ray Mercer on PPV in a 10 round event.\u00a0 It was a war that could have gone either way when the dust settled, and Holyfield would walk away with the win.\u00a0 He would take on Bowe in the third and final encounter and suffer his first stoppage loss.\u00a0 After knocking Bowe down, Holyfield was pummeled into submission in the 8th round.\u00a0 It looked like the end of the road for the \u201cReal Deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 Holyfield shocked the world, stopping Iron Mike in 11 and claiming the title.\u00a0 In a foul-filled rematch, Tyson would be disqualified by Mills Lane after two ear bites.\u00a0 Holyfield persistent use of his head as a weapon went unpunished, as usual.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 This would put him into the ring with the man that had been waiting a long time to prove himself: Lennox Lewis.<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 The rematch would take place in November of 1999, and Lewis would win by decision.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lewis was stripped of the WBA Title for refusal to face John Ruiz, prompting the sanctioning body to make Holyfield \u2013 Ruiz.\u00a0 Holyfield lost again, yet won on the cards and was once again a title holder.\u00a0 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2002, Holyfield was given yet another title shot, easily beaten by Chris Byrd.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 It was the end of the road for Holyfield.\u00a0<\/p>\n

10-8-2, 3 KO\u2019s<\/strong><\/p>\n

The End: 2006 \u2013 Present<\/strong><\/p>\n

After the three straight defeats to Byrd, Toney, and Donald, most thought that we had seen the last of Holyfield.\u00a0 He returned to face Jeremy Bates, a no hoper, and stopped him in two rounds.\u00a0 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.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He would put together two more wins against mediocre opposition before landing a shot at WBO Champion, Sultan Ibragimov.<\/p>\n

Ibragimov had little problem controlling Holyfield and winning a lopsided UD.\u00a0 As usual, Holyfield was granted yet another title opportunity, losing to WBA Champ, Nikolay Valuev by majority decision.\u00a0\u00a0 Some contend that Holyfield won, but his clutching, head-butting, running style in that fight was not championship worthy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

4-2, 2 KO\u2019s<\/strong><\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 His contention that he will once again be heavyweight champion is laughable, especially when you consider his recent track record.\u00a0 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Botha doesn\u2019t have much left either, but is underrated, and has been his entire career.\u00a0 He has only lost to world champions and he is fighting a former champ in Holyfield.\u00a0 This bout is a pick\u2019em fight.\u00a0 Holyfield has taken on the better competition recently, Botha has been more successful recently\u2026who knows?\u00a0\u00a0 Hopefully Botha takes it.<\/p>\n

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Watch The Trailer For Family Secret<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Geno McGahee On April 10th, Frans Botha, 47-4-3, 28 KO\u2019s, will step into the ring with former Heavyweight Champion, Evander Holyfield, 42-10-2, 27 KO\u2019s, in a 12 round showdown for the WBF Heavyweight Title.\u00a0 Botha is 41 years old and has been in the ring with some of the best fighters in world and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[245,272,279,319,503],"class_list":["post-1892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-boxing-news","tag-evander-holyfield","tag-former-champions","tag-frans-botha","tag-heavyweight","tag-mike-tyson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1892\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}