Just a quick personal anaylisis on the fight, I wanna get you're take on it To me, Tyson Botha was one of Mike's greatest fights. Botha, a hard headed, South African beast, dubbed "The White Buffalo" (45-4-2). Goes up against IRON Mike Tyson(50-6-0), a fierce tiger, with no remorse what so ever. The battle goes 5 rounds and Mike knocks Botha out for the win. This has to be one of the more enjoyable matches by Tyson after his 90' lose to Buster Douglas. Both men use great defense and awesome offense, making it a very enjoyable match. I was hoping it would go a little longer, but it was very very entertaining. :bbb
Mike Tyson was being out boxed and beaten by Francis Botha....the same fighter who Michael Moorer nearly killed with a sustain beat down. It was not one of Mike Tyson's greatest fights.
Tyson looked washed-up and spent half the fight trying to pop Botha's shoulder out or break his arm at the elbow. I guess you have to be a BIG Tyson fan to appreciate ...... The finishing punch was a good one though. Didn't Botha go on to fight a draw with Clifford Etienne (White buffalo v. Black Rhino) ? And then got rewarded for these marvellous efforts with a shot at Lewis's title !
No, the Etienne draw wasn't until about 2003. And Botha should've got the nod there methinks. It was another controversial draw that got him the Lewis fight - against Shannon Briggs in '99 - combined with his good efforts against Moorer and Tyson. As for Tyson-Botha, well, Tyson really looked rusty as hell. Combined with Botha's crude but effective Ruiz-style smothering and potshotting, Botha was seconds away from winning his fifth round in a row in my book until Tyson summoned up that vintage punch.
Ya Tyson looked very rusty for that fight. Definitely not one of his better performances. He even tried to break Botha's arm twice I believe.
when i now think about it, it was deffinetley a crucial clue toward things to come. the reality was in the ring, tyson was getting outboxed and out unable to grind the gears in the clinch. i think tyson, like roy jones, made adjustments to his fighting style. whether he was physically past his prime or just lazy, he could not sustain a buzz saw rate that he could when he 20. he did initiate what i believe was his best chance to win, which was fight dirty, rough up botha and land the big shot... in a weird perceptive, it was brilliant! botha thought that he was frustrating tyson (which he was), then became over confident. i guess its a sign of a great fighter to convert into a style that will make him a good fighter before people start thinking he is shot.
