Francois Botha made a winning return to the ring after a five year absence when he outpointed the giant Australian Bob Mirovic in a 12-round bout for the WBF interim heavyweight title at the Carousel Casino on Friday night.
The scoring in favour of Botha was 119-109, 120-108, and 120-107 on the three judges’ scorecards.
It was an easy victory for the ”White Buffalo” who looked in good physical shape and dictated the bout from the third round onwards.
It took Botha the first two rounds to throw off the rustiness of his long inactivity, and then with a series of overhand rights to the head and a steady barrage of body blows he had Mirovic on the receiving end for the rest of the journey.
Mirovic absorbed the blows without flinching, but he was never able to get the upper hand.
After the bout Botha announced that his next fight was likely to be in Durban later this year against the former world title contender Andrew Golota.
The fight was fought at a strong pace for heavyweights which emphasised Botha’s good condition although both men received repeated warnings from referee Wally Snowball.
Botha was warned for occasional low blows and Mirovic for holding and hitting, and head butting.
Earlier, the two fights for WBF international titles both ended in the second round. Cruiserweight Zack Mwekassa beat his Democratic Republic of Congo opponent Gino Betoko who retired in the second round and featherweight Wonga Mhlana from East London knocked out veteran Mkhusile Kondile.
The prospect of the year, Bongani Mwelase, moved up to his normal welterweight division to knock out eighth ranked junior middleweight Johannes Pieterson in the second round, while Yanga Tetani, another East London visitor, went the distance to outpoint Michael Sangweni in a six rounder. – Sapa