Columnist Dean Juipe: Botha severs ties with manager

Dean Juipe

Thursday, July 15, 1999 | 10:22 a.m.

Dean Juipe's boxing notebook appears Thursday. His sports column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or 259-4084.

It was a relationship that appeared to be among the coziest in the sport.

More brotherly than purely businesslike, Sterling McPherson and Frans Botha had an uncommon bond for a manager and a fighter. Each spoke affectionately of the other and both saw the dividends as Botha twice fought for a heavyweight championship and had Mike Tyson in trouble in a nontitle fight Jan. 16 in Las Vegas before losing by fifth-round knockout.

Given the disparity in their backgrounds, McPherson and Botha looked to be the perfectly matched odd couple.

But no more.

While McPherson remains Botha's manager -- at least through the expiration of their contract, Aug. 10 -- as a pair they're no longer an item. Botha, training for a crucial fight with Shannon Briggs Aug. 7 in Atlantic City, has quietly severed their ties.

"I've got no clue what's going on in his training camp," McPherson said Wednesday from his Las Vegas home. "I tried to do the right thing with Francois and this is the thanks I get. I thought we had a special camaraderie, so to get a backlash like this is terrible."

Without explaining himself, Botha has not only distanced himself from McPherson, he fired trainer Panama Lewis. The fighter's father, Jan, along with Abel Sanchez, are currently training Botha in Big Bear, Calif.

"We've got a press conference next week in Los Angeles and I won't even be able to say what condition my fighter is in," McPherson said. "It's insane. All of a sudden a fighter gets a little money and they change. Greed sets in."

Botha, a 30-year-old native of South Africa, is 39-2 with 24 knockouts and briefly held the IBF championship in 1995 after gaining a decision over Axel Schulz. However, he was stripped of the title due to a steroids accusation, and later lost by 11th-round knockout to Michael Moorer with the IBF belt on the line.

He also was winning on all scorecards before losing to Tyson earlier this year at the MGM when a picture-perfect right hand from Tyson ended the fight at 2:59 of the fifth.

"I stood up for him every step of the way," McPherson said. "I even advanced him $100,000 before the Tyson fight when he was dead broke.

"Then he gets stretched by Tyson, yet I still get him $400,000 to fight Briggs."

Briggs, 31-2 with 25 KOs, is also receiving $400,000 for his pay-per-view fight with Botha at the Trump Taj Mahal.

"Botha's got a big ticker and Briggs doesn't, but Briggs is a dangerous guy who obviously thinks he can beat Botha," McPherson said. "I know Briggs turned down $1 million to fight Michael Grant, so he must think he can beat Botha and then ask for more to fight Grant."

McPherson, who also worked Botha's corner for fights, said his contact with the fighter is minimal these days.

"I do what I've got to do as his manager, but that's it," McPherson said. "But it's a terrible situation and I don't like the things I'm hearing in the street about him."

He said he may elaborate at a later date, but he lays the blame for their split at the hand of an unnamed third party.

"The sad part of all this is Botha is at a point in his career where he has to win, and now he's listening to people who don't know what they're doing," McPherson said. "Ninety-nine percent of the time when this happens, it backfires on the fighter."

Despite his estranged position, McPherson will be an interested bystander at the fight next month in Atlantic City.

"Let's see what happens," he said. "I'm eager to see how it plays out in the ring. But I know the history of boxing and I know enough about training fighters to say I don't think he'll have the last laugh and he might someday regret kicking me in the face."

* SAMPLE THIS: In 32 previous professional fights, David Sample had never tasted the canvas. But last Friday in Hyannis, Mass., the 30-year-old Las Vegan was down a ghastly four times in the first round before his fight with rising star Zab Judah was stopped after only two and a half minutes.

"It was as if Judah was in our dressing room," Sample's trainer, Jeff Mayweather, said in a clever remark that indicated their prefight strategy was worthless. But the real culprit in keeping that strategy from working was Sample himself.

"I told David every day, 'You're fighting a young guy who's pretty good and has some momentum behind him,' " Mayweather said. "I told him he had to take that away, and the way to do it was to initiate the attack and maybe land something early to get his respect.

"But David came out and treated the first round as if it was a feel-out round, and Judah gambled and jumped in and found paydirt. I don't think David ever recovered from the first knockdown."

The junior welterweight bout had been scheduled for 10 rounds. The outcome left Judah 21-0 and closer to a world-title fight, while it left Sample 26-6-1 and probably on the down side of his career.

"It was devastating, really," Mayweather said. "David had never been in that situation before and his pride was hurt more than anything.

"For me, I was hurt and disappointed also because I knew the strategy I wanted to implement would work."

* QUICK HITS: With the promoter's financial difficulties playing a role, The Orleans has cancelled a second consecutive fight card and will not go July 30 as had been tentatively scheduled. A June card had also been scrapped. But Tony Trudnich's Las Vegas Sports Promotions is on for an Aug. 20 card at the hotel and is apt to feature Merqui Sosa and Steve Forbes in separate events. ... America Presents promoter Dan Goossen, in Atlantic City for Friday's fight featuring David Reid, said by phone that an opponent for Mike Tyson's Oct. 2 date in Las Vegas "could be announced within the week; it's just around the corner." If Tyson gets past that fight with some ease, he'll go again Dec. 11 at the same site. ... It appears increasingly less likely that Tyson will face Germany's Axel Schulz in October, as had once been anticipated. Schulz, instead, may go against Vitali Klitschko Sept. 25 at a new stadium in Cologne.

Goossen is also trying to work with rival promoter Don King on the Kostya Tszyu vs. Miguel Angel Gonzalez card that is tentative for Aug. 21 at the Las Vegas Hilton. "It's hard," Goossen said of his court-mandated relationship with King for this fight. "Don's looking to move the date again (into September). But it's hard to have a good relationship with him when we're not working hand in hand." ... One last Goossen view, on client Wayne McCullough: "He'll fight at the end of August and again in October, with the idea of gearing up for a big fight near the end of the year. There are a lot of fights out there for Wayne; a fight with Johnny Tapia would be a great one." McCullough, of Las Vegas, apparently will not face WBC super bantamweight champ Erik Morales, as had been scheduled in May until McCullough suffered a rib injury. "I think if Morales wanted to fight Wayne, they'd be calling us," Goossen said. "But they're not, so we're looking in other directions." Don't be surprised to see McCullough vs. Tapia fall into place.

Las Vegas amateur Jason Ingwaldson has been named to the 12-man U.S. team for the Pan American Games, set for July 29 to Aug. 7 in Winnipeg. ... King has re-signed fading star Julio Cesar Chavez to a two-fight deal, with the promise of getting the winner of the fight between Tszyu and Gonzalez. ... Still nothing official but Prince Naseem Hamed vs. WBC featherweight champ Cesar Soto looks to be on for Nov. 6 at a site to be determined. ... Local oddsmaker Herb Lambeck makes Fernando Vargas a 9-1 pick over ex-champ Raul Marquez for their Saturday fight at Caesars Tahoe. Vargas, the IBF junior middleweight titleholder, is 16-0 with all 16 by knockout. Marquez is 30-1. HBO will televise. ... The Flamingo Hilton's July 24 card is falling into place and aside from headliners James Page and Terronn Millett, it will include WBA middleweight champ William Joppy in a nontitle fight plus former local junior middleweight Emmett Linton.