Thursday, July 10, 2003 | 8:30 a.m.
Rematch may go Sept. 13 in South Africa
Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at [email protected] or (702) 259-4084.
Fighting Jan. 16, 1999, at the MGM in Las Vegas, Frans Botha was beating Mike Tyson through four rounds. But in the fifth Tyson landed a beautiful right hand that flattened Botha and put an end to the quick yet exciting fight.
Discussions are currently ongoing for a Tyson vs. Botha rematch, one that would be Sept. 13 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
"The date is a little strange (because Oscar De La Hoya and Shane Mosley will fight the same night in Las Vegas) but I can say I've heard from (Showtime's) Jay Larkin and (Tyson's manager) Shelly Finkel and I was on a conference call today with Sports Network TV," Sterling McPherson said Wednesday. "Each of the people involved has expressed serious, I mean serious, interest.
"And Botha called me this morning (from South Africa) and told me they were moving on securing a stadium down there."
McPherson manages and promotes Botha. He added that he has heard through various contacts that Tyson has let his training team know that he may open camp shortly.
"I know he's called his trainers and told them to get ready," McPherson said.
Tyson was known to be in New York this week, where he faces a July 24 court date to resolve a June 21 skirmish with two men and a woman who tangled with him in a New York hotel.
McPherson is taking nothing for granted.
"I'm not a dummy," he said. "Yeah, I'll do this fight if it's for real, but until the contracts are signed I'm committed to having Botha fight Aug. 30 in the Virgin Islands.
"Botha's not shot and I need to keep him fighting. We're looking at Lawrence Clay-Bey in October and Joe Mesi after that.
"But if this fight with Tyson comes to fruition, Botha's going to win."
Top Rank will have an Oct. 4 card in Los Angeles (up against one in Las Vegas) that headlines with Erik Morales and Guty Espadas fighting at 130 pounds. Three title fights will be part of the undercard, including Carlos Hernandez vs. Steve Forbes for the IBF junior lightweight title, plus fights featuring WBC junior flyweight champ Jorge Arce and IBF bantamweight champ Rafael Marquez. ... Local junior middleweight Kofi Jantuah has taken a televised Aug. 8 fight in Little Rock with Robert Kamya. Jantuah is 23-1 and Kamya is 12-2. ... Local welterweight Ishe Smith has accepted a July 31 TV fight with David Estrada in Sault Saint Marie, Mich. Smith is 12-0 and Estrada is 15-0, each with seven knockouts.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission has assigned Jay Nady to referee Saturday's main event at the Orleans between Ricardo Mayorga and Vernon Forrest. The judges will be Larry O'Connell of England, Ove Oveson of Denmark and Jerry Roth of Las Vegas. Joe Cortez will referee the Zab Judah vs. DeMarcus Corley fight, and Kenny Bayless will referee the Vivian Harris vs. Souleyman M'Baye bout. ... There are two other 12-round fights on that card: Lou Del Valle vs. Manny Siaca at 175 pounds and Pete Frissina vs. Jesus Perez at 118. ... Barry's Boxing has an amateur card Friday at the Italian-American Club at 2333 E. Sahara. First bell is 7 p.m.
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