Francois "Frans" Botha (born 28 September 1968) is a South African former professional boxer and kickboxer. He competed in boxing from 1990 to 2014, and is perhaps best known for winning the IBF heavyweight title against Axel Schulz in 1995, but this was later stripped after he failed a drug test. He challenged twice for world heavyweight titles in 2000 and 2002. Botha has competed against former Heavyweight Champions Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis, Michael Moorer and Evander Holyfield late in their respective careers. Botha competed once in mixed martial arts in 2004.

Boxing career

Early career Botha had a victory in 1995 against Germany's Axel Schulz to win the IBF heavyweight Championship, but later tested positive for the steroid nandrolone he and his camp claimed to be prescribed by a doctor for an arm injury. The result of the fight was then changed to a "no contest", and the IBF do not recognize Botha as former champion.

In 1996, "The White Buffalo" bounced back with a courageous effort with Michael Moorer for the IBF crown on the undercard of Mike Tyson's first contest with Evander Holyfield. Botha suffered a TKO in the twelfth round. This led to a fight with Mike Tyson on 16 January 1999, followed by Shannon Briggs, and heavyweight title showdowns with Lennox Lewis and Wladimir Klitschko. Botha came up on the short end via knockout in both of those encounters for the heavyweight title.

Four months after the Klitschko fight, Botha fought contender Clifford Etienne, and knocked him down twice, but was denied a victory and received a majority draw with two judges scoring it 94–94 and one judge scoring it 95–93 in favor of Botha. This was in Etienne's hometown.

Comeback In July 2007, Botha returned to boxing with a unanimous decision victory over Bob Mirovic in a fight held in South Africa. Botha dominated the fight, with two judges ruling that won all twelve rounds, and one judge ruling that he won ten of twelve. The bout was for the interim WBF World Heavyweight title.

On 6 February 2009, Botha beat Ron "Rocky" Guerrero by unanimous decision for the vacant WBF heavyweight title in South Africa. He successfully defended his WBF title against Timo Hoffmann on 15 May 2009 in Germany, winning the fight by split decision.

Botha was scheduled to box Joey Abell on 27 March 2010 (postponed from the earlier date of 16 January 2010) at the Uganda Nelson Mandela Memorial Stadium in Kampala, Uganda. On 10 January, the World Boxing Foundation executive has decided to vacate the WBF World Heavyweight Title due to Botha not defending within the agreed time limit.

On 10 April 2010 Botha lost via knockout in the 8th round to Evander Holyfield at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Holyfield won the WBF heavyweight title for his victory.

Since then, Botha has won against former undefeated South African prospect Flo Simba. He then fought Michael Grant for the vacant WBF heavyweight title and was leading on the scorecards when he was knocked out with a long right hand from Grant with seconds remaining in the contest. Two fights later, Botha fought Francesco Pianeta, who was undefeated in 29 fights, losing the 10 round bout on points.

He was due to fight New Zealand dual-international Sonny Bill Williams in Brisbane on 24 November 2012. However, the fight was cancelled and moved to February. Finally, the Williams fight did take place in Brisbane. However, only 10 out of a publicised 12 rounds were fought. Bout judges awarded the fight to the New Zealand Champion on points. Since that night in Brisbane there has been a lot of talk in the media, ranging from a failed drugs test, to no drugs testing at all, no WBA official present at the bout, and one fight judge stated that the first he heard about the fight being 10 rounds was from the arena announcer. However, despite all the media speculation, the WBA has confirmed that the fight was legitimate and Williams was the recognised International heavyweight title-holder.Boxing: Nasser blamed for confusion over fight, by Patrick McKendry, nzherald.co.nz, dated 7 March 2013.

Kickboxing and mixed martial arts career From 2003 to 2006 Botha participated several times in the kickboxing combat sport, K-1. His current K-1 record is 4–11, with two wins coming against K-1/Kickboxing legends Jérôme Le Banner and Peter Aerts. Botha's final K-1 match was a three-round decision loss to Jorgen Kruth on 20 May 2006 in a K-1 superfight in Stockholm, Sweden.

Botha also had one mixed martial arts fight. On 31 December 2004 he lost to Yoshihiro Akiyama via an armbar submission in the first round.

On 14 October, Botha beat Espedito Da Silva by KO at K-1 Rules Africa Bomba-Yaa 2006.

Botha made a return to kickboxing in 2008. On 30 March 2008, he defeated muay thai kickboxer Kaoklai Kaennorsing at The KHAN in Seoul, Korea by decision. He lost to French kickboxer "Le Gentleman" Gregory Tony at WFC 6 on 27 September 2008 in Bulgaria.

Professional boxing record

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes63LossAndrzej WawrzykTKO5 (10), 15 Mar 201462Loss48–10–3 Joseph ParkerTKO2 (8), 13 Jun 201361Loss48–9–3 Sonny Bill WilliamsUD108 Feb 201360Loss48–8–3 Francesco PianetaUD107 Sep 201259Loss48–7–3 Carlos TakamTKO11 (12)31 Mar 201258Loss48–6–3 Michael GrantKO12 (12), 19 Nov 201157Win48–5–3 Flo SimbaTKO6 (10), 4 Jun 201156Loss47–5–3 Evander HolyfieldTKO8 (12), 10 Apr 201055Draw47–4–3 Pedro CarriónMD1224 Oct 200954Win47–4–2 Timo HoffmannSD1215 May 200953Win46–4–2 Ron GuerreroUD126 Feb 200952Win45–4–2 Bob MirovicUD126 Jul 200751Draw44–4–2 Clifford EtienneMD1027 Jul 200250Loss44–4–1 Wladimir KlitschkoTKO8 (12), 16 Mar 200249Win44–3–1 Russell ChasteenTKO3 (10), 13 Jul 200148Win43–3–1 David BosticeUD105 Jun 200147Win42–3–1 Joey GuyKO1 (10), 16 Mar 200146Win41–3–1 Tony LaRosaTKO1 (10), 2 Nov 200045Loss40–3–1 Lennox LewisTKO2 (12), 15 Jul 200044Win40–2–1 Steve PannellTKO1 (10), 8 Jan 200043Draw39–2–1 Shannon Briggs107 Aug 199942Loss39–2 Mike TysonKO5 (10), 16 Jan 199941Win39–1 David CherryTKO1 (10), 26 Jun 199840Win38–1 Stan JohnsonKO1 (10), 24 Apr 199839Win37–1 Lee GilbertUD1221 Jun 199738Win36–1 James StantonKO10 (12), 10 May 199737Loss35–1 Michael MoorerTKO12 (12), 9 Nov 19963635–0 Axel SchulzSD129 Dec 199535Win35–0Willie JakeUD88 Apr 199534Win34–0Brian SargentTKO1 (10)17 Mar 199533Win33–0Bill CorriganTKO1 (10), 7 Mar 199532Win32–0Ken LakustaKO1 (10)17 Dec 199431Win31–0Phil ScottRTD6 (10), 2 Jul 199430Win30–0Martin FosterTKO1 (10), 21 May 199429Win29–0Craig Payne7 (10)30 Oct 199328Win28–0John MortonTKO3 (10)1 Oct 199327Win27–0Ron GoodwinKO4 (10)25 Jun 199326Win26–0Calvin JonesTKO2 (10)15 Jun 199325Win25–0Billy Wright5 (8), 16 Jan 199324Win24–0Artie HooksKO1 (8)19 Nov 199223Win23–0Mike JonesKO1 (8)19 Nov 199222Win22–0Russell RiersonKO1 (8)19 Nov 199221Win21–0Jimmy BillsUD87 Oct 199220Win20–0Russell RiersonKO5 (8)29 Sep 199219Win19–0Mike Hunter822 Sep 199218Win18–0David MartinKO3 (8)18 Jul 199217Win17–0Ken JacksonUD84 Jul 199216Win16–0Ron AckersonKO3 (8)12 Jun 199215Win15–0Marion WilsonPTS829 May 199214Win14–0Ron AckersonKO3 (8)7 May 199213Win13–0Tim TomashekPTS1015 Nov 199112Win12–0Ginger TshabalalaSD630 Sep 199111Win11–0Siza Makathini1018 Aug 199110Win10–0Shaun AyersUD1030 Jun 19919Win9–0Rick RiceKO3 (8)18 Feb 19918Win8–0Gideon HlongwaPTS627 Jan 19917Win7–0Leander CollinsKO2 (8)22 Sep 19906Win6–0Andre SmileyKO2 (8)11 Sep 19905Win5–0Kevin DensonPTS625 Aug 19904Win4–0Elvis FranksUD423 Jun 19903Win3–0Joe Adams427 Apr 19902Win2–0Themba Msweli49 Apr 19901Win1–0Johan Van Zyl1 (4)11 Feb 1990

Kickboxing record 4 wins, 12 lossesDateResultOpponentEventMethodRoundTime 21 November 2015 Loss Asihati Kunlun Fight 34, Shenzhen, ChinaKunlun Fight 34: Asihati pobijedio Fransa Bothu Decision 3 3:00 27 September 2008 Loss Gregory Tony WFC 6, Sofia, Bulgaria Decision 3 3:00 30 March 2008 Win Kaoklai Kaennorsing The Khan 1, Seoul, Korea Decision 3 3:00 14 October 2006 Win Espedito Da Silva K-1 Rules Africa Bomba-Yaa 2006 KO (strikes) 2 N/A 20 May 2006 Loss Jorgen Kruth K-1 Scandinavia GP in Stockholm Decision 3 3:00 5/03/2006 Loss Ray Sefo K-1 WGP 2005 in Auckland Decision 3 3:00 23 September 2005 Loss Musashi K-1 2005 WGP Final Elimination Decision 3 3:00 13 August 2005 Loss Mighty Mo K-1 2005 in Las Vegas II TKO (strikes) 1 1:20 4/12/2004 Loss Remy Bonjasky K-1 2004 WGP Final Decision 3 3:00 4/12/2004 Win Peter Aerts K-1 2004 WGP Final TKO (leg injury) 1 1:13 25 September 2004 Win Jérôme Le Banner K-1 2004 WGP Final Elimination Forfeit (injury) 3 N/A 6/05/2004 Loss Remy Bonjasky K-1 WGP in Nagoya Decision 3 3:00 27 March 2004 Loss Aziz Khattou K-1 WGP in Saitama Decision 3 3:00 31 December 2003 Loss Yusuke Fujimoto Dynamite!! Decision 3 3:00 6/12/2003 Loss Cyril Abidi K-1 2003 WGP Final Decision 3 3:00 11/09/2003 Loss Cyril Abidi K-1 2003 WGP Final Elimination DQ 1 0:19

Mixed martial arts record

|Loss |align=center|0–1 |Yoshihiro Akiyama |Submission (armbar) |K-1 PREMIUM 2004 Dynamite!! | |align=center|1 |align=center|1:54 |Osaka, Japan

References

External links

Profile at K-1