DEON POTGIETER, Johannesburg | Monday 4.00pm
It’s official. South Africa’s Frans Botha will climb through the ropes to face Lennox Lewis on July 15.
Lewis’s promoter, Panos Eliades confirmed that Botha will face Lewis for the undisputed heavyweight world title in London.
“He’s alright as a fighter, he should give me an interesting fight,” said Lewis of his opponent, known as ‘White Buffalo.’
Emmanuel Steward, Lewis’s trainer, said: “Botha has great guts, but Lennox will be too big and strong for him.”
Although Botha briefly held the IBF heavyweight world title in 1995 after out-pointing Axel Schultz, his real rise to fame came last year when he bravely stood his ground against Mike Tyson. Botha was leading on the scorecards when he was dropped in round five by a thunderous punch.
Botha was stripped of his IBF title for testing positive for steroids after the Schultz fight and tried unsuccessfully to regain the title in 1996, but was stopped by Michael Moorer in the 12th round of a close fight.
Inbetween the Moorer and the Tyson bouts, Botha kept himself busy by fighting a string of unknown fighters, but in August last year he stepped up the calibre of his opposition and scored a controversial draw against former world title contender Shannon Briggs.
Most at ringside felt Botha was robbed of victory by the judges.
After scoring a first round knockout over a little-known fighter in January, Botha’s record now stands on 40 wins, two losses with 25 knockouts. Lewis now stands on 38 wins, one loss, one draw with 28 knockouts.