Prime Frans Botha - where does he rank among ATG Heavies?

:good:deal

 

Hardly at all. If we're talking a genuine top 10, not the alphabet lists.

Perhaps in 1995 -'96 but that's debatable because he tested positive after the Schulz win and it was changed to an "NC".

Botha is being overrated because he's remembered for fighting big names, Tyson and Lewis, as well as Moorer.

He was barely a top 10 fighter at any time in his career, nevermind being "top 20 of an era".
Top 20 ATG was clearly a joke.

Botha was about on a par with the likes of David Izon, Shannon Briggs, Jorge Gonzalez in the 1990s, fringe contenders.
Even Larry Donald has a better record in that decade.

 

Top 100

 

Let me try talk ol' Francois up a bit.

His career was quite long lived. 24 years is not a bad stretch by any means. Even in his twilight he was hanging 10 rounds with big boys like Grant, Takam and to a lesser extent Pianeta.

He faced Holyfield, Tyson, Lewis, Klitschko and Moorer, and yes, though he lost all of them, he put up some credible performances while doing so, particularly against Tyson. I had him leading before the KO.

He's got some fairly good wins as well.

Mike Hunter is a Botha scalp, and he has McCall, Qawi, Pinklon Thomas, Biggs and Ocasio as wins on his record, nothing to be sneezed at. Bostice, Mirovic and especially Hoffman are 'ok' wins as well, which I would say elevate him above the common rabble.

Shannon Briggs is a fighter that I always found entertaining, and not to mention quite powerful. He also was a one-time lineal HW title holder. Nevermind that he won it from "old" Foreman ... he did still win it. Botha managed a draw against lineal champ Briggs which is quite respectable.

As stated previously, he was a pretty rugged guy, he always came to fight, and he had a decent if not shattering punch. He could, imho, give a greater fighter an upset if they didn't take him seriously - eg, the Tyson fight.

I think that if you combine these factors, you could certainly consider him as a top 20 for his era.

 

Yeah but he's the "white" buffalo. Let's not get sidetracked here

 

Ok , makes sense.

 

Still to high, no insult though. If you rank him that someone more deserving doesnt make it.

 

But he lives in Newport Beach and is technically an African-American.

 

If you ****yze what you say above in the proper context - NO

 

I don't think he' beat the 1985-1989 Douglas either.

 

Nice post.

 

5th best African heavyweight, all time? I think he might edge out Kallie and Du Plooy.

 

He blows those two out of the water.

 

Yeah, I think he'd take them too. They both would be live underdogs, but frankly I think he would wear them out and probably outbox Knoetze quite handily. Du Plooy could pour it on when he needed to, he's got some big KO's over some tough dudes - but he didn't react well to getting hit and could lose a bit of heart if the other guy kept chugging away, which Botha would likely do.

 

Correct pronunciation is "boat-ha"