Unintimidated Botha vows he’ll come out fighting against Tyson

Dean Juipe

Thursday, Jan. 14, 1999 | 10:21 a.m.

There he sat, the absolute picture of disgust.

Frans Botha was stewing. His arms were crossed and the scornful look on his face spoke for itself.

Once again, he was being treated shabbily by Mike Tyson. Once again, Tyson was intentionally ignoring the man he'll fight Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden.

"He's always trying to intimidate me," Botha said, referring to Tyson loafing to the stage at Wednesday's final prefight press conference and then refusing to acknowledge his opponent. As the preoccupied Tyson kept to himself, Botha appeared none too happy as he discontentedly looked on.

Consistently during this promotion, Tyson has treated Botha in a style that can only be called demeaning. Be it cockiness or conceit, Tyson doesn't believe Botha will give him a credible fight.

"He's acting this way and trying these kinds of things because he knows he has to win or he'll never fight again," Botha said. "He's insecure. He thinks -- and maybe the public thinks -- I'm just going to lay down.

"But he's going to find out I'm coming to fight."

Botha, still a plus 500 underdog in the MGM sports book, is almost certainly a better fighter than Tyson will concede. But is he good enough to actually defeat the former undisputed heavyweight champ?

"I know Tyson sees me as a white guy who stands there with his hands down and could get hit," Botha said. "And I know Tyson is still a great fighter, maybe still the best one out there.

"But I've worked for this chance all my life and I'm ready in every respect. I'm in shape and I think I can beat him.

"I'm the White Buffalo."

The White Buffalo ... it's a bit schmaltzy, but Botha plays it up whenever he can. He likes to refer to himself by his nickname -- although he once went by "Tiger" and later by "The Bomb" -- and when he walks into the ring for the Tyson fight he'll do it wearing a buffalo skin.

Everyone has their schtick, yet once the bell rings Botha will find himself confronting an almost animalistic fighting machine. It'll be time to prove himself.

"Tyson doesn't do many things wrong but I just don't think he has the confidence he once did," Botha said. "I think it's already been obvious and I think he'll feel that way again when he walks into this particular arena."

It was in the Grand Garden, of course, that Tyson lost consecutive fights to Evander Holyfield. The latter loss, in June of 1997, was the result of Tyson being disqualified for biting Holyfield's ears in the third round.

Tyson, 45-3, has not fought since.

"Holyfield was doing things to Tyson that really frustrated him," Botha said. "He just wouldn't let Tyson punch at all and fight as he'd planned. So I think Tyson said to himself, 'I'm looking for a way to hurt this guy' and he didn't care if he was going to be disqualified."

While Botha has joked that "I'd bite Tyson right back if he bit me," here's what he really wants to do: "Beat him up so bad he doesn't see any way out but to bite me."

In truth, a victory of any sort by Botha will make him a millionaire many times over. The 30-year-old South African is receiving $1,850,000 for this fight but his purses will increase dramatically if he pulls off what some feel is an improbable upset.

Tyson is a minus 700 betting favorite.

"I know most people see me as another Peter McNeeley," Botha said of a man who lasted less than a full round with Tyson in 1995. "But McNeeley and (Bruce) Seldon and some of those other guys Tyson fought were scared before they even got in there. They'd lost before the fight had even started.

"You're sure not going to see that with me."

In spite of his relative anonymity, Botha's resume has a few high points. A professional since 1990, he has built a 39-1 record that includes 24 knockouts and a brief hand on the International Boxing Federation championship.

When he left the ring the night of Dec. 9, 1995, in Stuttgart, Germany, Botha did it with the IBF belt in tow. He had defeated native son Axel Schulz by unanimous decision.

Yet the IBF stripped him of the title soon afterward, claiming Botha came up positive on a steroid test. It ruled the fight with Schulz to be called a "no contest." Botha appealed -- saying he hadn't taken anything aside from a drug prescribed by a physician -- and there definitely were cloudy circumstances with the testing procedure. But the IBF refused to budge and Botha didn't resurface in the ring until 11 months later when he lost by 12th-round knockout at the hands of Michael Moorer.

Since that 1996 fight in Las Vegas, Botha -- who is 6-foot-2 and apt to register around 230 pounds at today's official weigh-in -- is 4-0 against nondescript competition.

"I was devastated by what the IBF did to me," he said. "Not only did I not take steroids, I had to start my career all over."

He was also looking to get out of a promotional agreement with Don King around that same time.

"Tyson and I both left Don King, but for different reasons I guess," Botha said. "I always thought King promoted Tyson pretty well, so I don't know what happened between them.

"But, with me, King just didn't seem to care. He didn't promote me and he was always taking money for himself. I was kept in the dark and I know I wasn't promoted well because I never got to be on TV.

"To be well known in boxing, you have to fight 'name' fighters on TV. That's something I've never done."

He's right about that, having labored many a night in not-so-hot boxing spots like Worcester (Maine), Coconut Grove (Florida) and Columbia (Missouri). In fact, in a move that would not be permitted in Nevada but was in 1992 in Oklahoma City, Botha fought and defeated three men in one night. None of the three lasted past the first round.

Yet he got this fight with Tyson because of his quality record, his No. 2 ranking by the IBF and the connections of his manager, Sterling McPherson.

And regardless of everyone's posturing, he's in a position to become a wealthy man and influence boxing history Saturday night.

"We all know I have to watch out for Tyson's power," Botha said. "I believe he's going to be hungry and he's going to come out and try and pick his shots. I know there won't be any running away from him.

"But I'm ready for whatever he wants to do and I've got the skill to avoid him when I have to. I also have the power to hold him off.

"Remember, I'm the White Buffalo and a white buffalo is strong and fierce."