Evander Holyfield Beats Frans Botha – Boxing great Evander Holyfield stopped Frans Botha (Francois Botha) in the eighth round on Saturday in Las Vegas.
Fighting for the first time since December 2008, the 47-year-old knocked out 41-year-old Botha with 2:05 left in the eighth round. Holyfield knocked the defending champion down 31 seconds earlier with a right to the chin. Botha beat referee Russell Mora’s count, but Mora stopped the fight soon after with the South African backed into a corner, reports the Associated Press.
Afterwards Holyfield vowed to see more title fights. “I’m going to be the undisputed world heavyweight champion,” he said.
The veteran boxer had been behind on two judges’ cards 67-66 when referee Mora halted the bout, while the third judge, Herb Santee, had 69-64 for Holyfield. Using George Foreman’s comeback more than 15 years ago as inspiration, Holyfield then landed a big blow to claim the World Boxing Federation heavyweight title.
“George Foreman said, ‘It’s not about my age,’” Holyfield referring to what the former champ said back in the 1990s. “He became heavyweight champion of the world.”
This was Holyfield’s first fight in Las Vegas since 2003, when he lost to James Toney at Mandalay Bay. Before Saturday, Holyfield was only 10-6 in Las Vegas, including the infamous ear-biting incident against Mike Tyson in 1997, when he won by disqualification.
The boxing champ lost a majority decision to Nikolay Valuev in his previous match, and said he would now like to fight one of the Klitschko brothers, who hold three of the four heavyweight belts.
“I’m happy Botha gave me an opportunity,” Holyfield said. “When people talk about you, it’s who I fought. I fought the best.”
The “Real Deal” began his career at light-heavyweight and is a former world champion in both cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions. He beat Foreman in 1991 in his first defense of the undisputed heavyweight crown.
