Although Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis will have to find another venue for their clash South Africa, if Rodney Berman gets his way Las Vegas will be hosting another heavyweight world title fight this month, and that between two South Africans.
Former International Boxing Federation heavyweight champion Frans “White Buffalo” Botha will challenge World Boxing Federation heavyweight king Mike Bernardo for his title on February 23 in the gambling capital of the world.
Botha, who has been in the ring with both Tyson and Lewis, has a strong following in Vegas and earns about R500 000 a bout against unknowns. The purse against Bernardo is a lot more than that, however.
Bernardo is a household name in the Far East for his kick-boxing exploits. He’s not well known in the upper echelons of conventional boxing.
A loss against Bernardo could spell the end of Botha, while it would launch Bernardo into the big leagues.
“We had to pay a fortune to get Botha into the ring,” says Thinus Strydom, the mastermind behind this bout, “but I’m confident Bernardo will beat him. Botha only took the fight because he looked at Bernardo’s record and thinks he’ll be a walkover for a huge purse, but that’s where he’s wrong.”
Although Bernardo has contested only 12 fights as a boxer he is a world champion kick-boxer and a veteran of over 56 bouts in that discipline.
Botha has 44 paid fights to his credit and is, financially speaking, the most succesful heavyweight produced in this country. He is a very resourceful and durable boxer who has always acquitted himself well in the ring, bar his dismal display against Lewis, and should be too experienced a campaigner for his countryman.