Deon Potgieter Boxing
South Africa’s self-made heavyweight hero Francois Botha returns to big league action on Saturday when he takes on the highly rated American boxer Shannon Briggs in Atlantic City.
Will the “White Buffalo” be going into the ring with a realistic chance of winning against one of the few men ever to beat the legendary George Foreman, or is this fight another big pay day, the culmination of a brilliant business plan by Botha?
Realising from the start that boxing is a business, Botha set out to make himself a marketable property in one of the toughest sports around. Given his lack of a big punch, he has done remarkably well.
First aligning himself with former World Boxing Association heavyweight world champion Gerrie Coetzee, then with Don King, Botha made sure he got to know the right people and that they knew him. The next marketing step was to get a nickname and a good record and so the “White Buffalo” was born.
After a string of 35 victories with 19 knockouts, albeit against no-name brand opponents, Botha got a crack at and won the International Boxing Federation (IBF) heavyweight world title in December 1995 by out-pointing Axel Schultz over 12 rounds.
Botha was stripped of the title a few months later due to alleged steroid usage, but got a second chance a year later when he challenged Michael Moorer for the IBF heavyweight title.
Although Botha lost on a 12-round stoppage – his first loss – it was probably the finest performance of his career. He scored another four victories and then got his $2- million pay day against Mike Tyson in January of this year.
Again Botha received acclaim in defeat. Although he has now won 39 fights with 24 knockouts, his two losses have given him more credibility than any number of victories against unknown opponents. The reason is that you can only judge a fighter by the calibre of the men he fights.
His opponent on Saturday night, although not as high profile as Tyson, is a legitimate contender who came close to knocking out Lennox Lewis in March of this year, for the latter’s World Boxing Council heavyweight world title.
Briggs had Lewis in trouble in the first and second rounds, but was unable to finish the job. Lewis later stopped him in the fifth.
“Botha is the perfect opponent for me to show off all my skills,” says Briggs whose record reads 31 wins, two losses with 25 knockouts.
“I’m not underestimating him [Botha], but I’m better than I’ve ever been and I intend clearing up the heavyweight division.”
The United States media feels confident of a Briggs victory. One reporter wrote: “If Botha had more power or more stamina, he’d have a good chance, but he doesn’t have either.”
Locally, however, feelings are divided. “I can’t see Botha beating Briggs,” says fight analyst Terry Pettifer. “He [Briggs] is just too good.”
Boxing World editor Bert Blewett disagrees: “I pick Botha to win on points. If he [Botha] hadn’t got cocky he would have beaten Tyson and although he [Botha] has limited ability, he uses what he does have, very well.”
Whatever one thinks of the “White Buffalo” you have to respect the man for what he’s achieved and other fighters should take note.
Boxing is business. If you want to get anywhere in the sport, talent is not enough. You need publicity and you need to be a commercial product.
Botha’s boxing ability may be questionable. But he’s making the big bucks.
ENDS