Columnist Dean Juipe: Manager keeps Botha in limelight

Dean Juipe

Wednesday, May 3, 2000 | 10:07 a.m.

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

It's only May, yet those charged with selecting the sport of boxing's annual awards can go ahead and mail in their ballots for Manager of the Year.

It has to be Sterling McPherson.

If all goes according to plan, Saturday in Las Cruces, N.M., at the site of a Johnny Tapia fight, McPherson will meet those who handle the affairs of heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis and he will sign a contract on behalf of Frans Botha to fight Lewis July 15 in London.

Boxing aficionados are shaking their heads in admiration as McPherson, a former fighter and a longtime Las Vegan, has managed to place Botha into a big-money fight in spite of the fact his man is not ranked in the top 10 by any of boxing's leading organizations.

While most fighters continually find fault with their managers, here's one case where the manager has regularly exceeded expectations when it comes to taking care of his fighter. McPherson, who was estranged from Botha for more than a year before they renewed their contractual agreement March 31, is fully responsible for Botha landing this opportune fight.

It's a scenario that caused leading contender David Tua -- who won't get his shot at Lewis until this fall, if then -- to remark "Botha has nine lives as a fighter" Tuesday during a conference call. "Lewis needs to fight me. What did Botha do to deserve this fight?"

What Botha did was recognize that it was McPherson who was responsible for the highlights in his career.

"He called me in early March and said, 'Listen, I've come to the conclusion you're the only person who believes in me and who has helped my career,' " McPherson said. "He said he wanted to sign a contract and I told him 'I'm glad you cleaned your glasses and can finally see clearly.' "

McPherson got Botha a 1995 fight in Germany with Axel Schulz that Botha won to take the IBF heavyweight title, and he also placed him in a 1998 fight with Mike Tyson in Las Vegas that was worth $2 million to the South African. Botha was winning the latter fight until Tyson caught him with a right hand for a fifth-round knockout, yet even in defeat Botha looked good and his reward was another decent payday -- he turned down a flat $400,000 to take a pay-per-view percentage -- for a fight in New York with Shannon Briggs.

Botha, 40-2-1, will receive $1 million to fight Lewis.

"It's not a ton of money but it's a grand opportunity and a fight Francois could win," McPherson said. "The reason Tua said what he did is that he's scared to death that Botha will win and he won't get his $4-million fight with Lewis.

"He knows where I'm going if Botha does win."

Where he's going is back to Tyson for a rematch. "I can make that happen," McPherson remarked, and his track record speaks for itself.

Botha, 31, was hearing voices when he left McPherson, as other prospective managers were luring him with assorted promises. Yet none of them delivered the goods, something the congenial Botha undoubtedly noticed as his career stagnated in recent months.

Now he's bound for a return engagement in the spotlight, the result not only of his own ability in the ring but of the goodwill McPherson has mustered with those who control the big names in the heavyweight division.