I don't know, Botha gave rough fights to some big names, whereas Coetzer tended to get his ass kicked when he stepped up in class. I'm picking the White Buffalo.
I reckon Botha puts up a tough war for a while, but Coetzer breaks him down & gets the stoppage in the middle rounds. Coetzer has advantages of chin, power & conditioning, & i don't think Botha will survive his aggressive pressure.
Not sure if Coetzer had a better chin. Botha was pretty good at taking punishment. He took a 11 round beating from Moorer, and was hit and badly bussted up by Wlad in 8 rounds. The best South African heavies to me are Sanders > Cotezee > Coetzer > and Botha.
Coetzer & Botha were very durable, but Coetzer had a tougher chin, because he was harder to get off his feet. I would've liked to have seen Vitali-Sanders in '00, a whole 4 years earlier than their actual fight. I'd still confidently pick VK to win, but it would be a much tougher fight, because Sanders had a lot more stamina around the time he fought Rahman in a superb slugfest. By '04, Old Sanders was 38 years old, flabby, rusty & undertrained, with only 2 rounds of stamina. Corrie gave Vitali hell for those 2 rounds, before gassing badly & taking a brutal beating like a warrior. Although, i agree that Old Sanders was a worthy opponent for the vacant WBC title, because of his shocking demolition job upset of Wlad 13months earlier in his previous bout.
Either one could win. Botha was suprisingly awkward for his sloppy style. Botha was never blown out by a guy of this level. It was the big accurate punchers that took care of him pretty easily.
Great match-up. Coetzer was game as the day is long and had excellent stamina. He was giving Bowe fits until Bowe was allowed to go south of the border to fulfill the script that everyone was in on. Botha was a fine, tough fighter, limited but with a strong right to the body and a disposition to fight. Ask Moorer and his dislocated jaw how things went.
