Glorify a fighter

.............Of course; he's a legend. :bart

 

..............I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for that. :rofl :rofl

 

.............I don't know anything about him really, only that he lost to some top-flighters.

 

I wanted to know if anyone remembered him...he gets little to no recognition anymore!

 

a truely fearless warrior, standing an impressive 6 feet 2 inches, this former world champion has one of the ring's best nicknames, he is of course 'the white buffalo' frans botha. botha combined his never say die attitude, remarkable sense of timing and suspect conditioning to turn most of his major fights into can't miss spectacles.

he started off his career impressively, winning the traansvaal title in only 10 fights, and 8 fights after that beating future wbo title challenger mike hunter, who had already beaten oliver mccall, pinklon thomas, and ossie occasio, and after losing to botha defeat contenders tyrell biggs, buster mathis jr and title challenger alexander zolkin. beating well known trial horse ken lakusta earned botha a shot at the ibf title against axel shulz which botha won in shulz's home country of germany, but a failed post fight drug test stripped him of his well earned title.

no longer considered a champion, botha had arrived however and had tremendous fights against some of the top guys in the division, losing a tough bout against a prime michael moorer for the ibf title, and outboxing mike tyson before growing careless and walking into a crushing right hand. botha's next big fight, a tremendous all action brawl with shannon briggs which was controversially scored a draw along with a solid win over the tough steve pannell earned botha a chance against lennox lewis. botha did well the first round but was hit so hard by one of the heavyweight divisions' hardest hitters ever that he was literally knocked through the air and went down to defeat. a four fight winning streak, including one over the dangerous david bostice led to botha's last chance at a world title, against the larger, faster, younger, and harder hitting wladimir klitschko. botha fought well, but klitschko's physical advantages, along with a illness by botha that sapped his strength led to his falling valiently in the 7th round. botha's last major fight came against the young aggressive clifford ettienne, where the 'white buffalo' knocked down the 'black rhino' twice but was shafted with a draw.

botha retired for five years afte this bout where he fought in kickboxing and mma but his true legacy as a fighter was as a defrocked former world heavyweight champion. frans botha never had the most skill, power or stamina, but he was incredibly well managed and had a very solid career. botha would use his incredible sense of timing to continually land his thunderous right hand, and made a name for himself despite a somewhat basic style of a jab and right hand, although as the tyson fight showed he was capable of stick and move boxing, he was more comfortable brawling with his opponents and he went much farther than most observors ever thought possible.

 

I remember watching Botha vs Lennox Live.......July 2000 right? I was down in cape cod, 13 years old watched it with my grandad and father. I remember being Very Very unimpressed with Botha.

 

I know, I thought the idea was to glorify a fighter, and even I couldn't put a positive spin on that fight for my 'white buffalo'