[Boxing] Francois Botha vs Flo Simba

[APoc184]

Anybody else stay up to watch this fight last night?

What a win by the White Buffalo. He said he was going to teach Flo a lesson and that is what he did.

Simba was too confident and "windgat" and was counting on one or two of his big punches to end the fight early but Botha is tough as nails and took it in his stride.

Turning point in the fight came when Simba stepped into a monster right hander from Botha. Simba realized "right" then(Pun intended) that Botha is here to fight. He also stopped taunting Botha after that punch landed knowing he was in trouble.

Few solid right hands later and Simba also did a dive through the ropes like Botha did against Lennox Lewis years ago.

Respect to the old toppie!

Been years since I stayed up late to watch a boxing match. This was worth it.

 

[myaudream]

Boxing I find has died out in this country. There is just so much other more entertaining sport on TV.

I wasn't interested in the fight as Botha is not an up and coming boxer but someone based in the US and at the end of his career .
Would love us to have have a real South African heavy weight contender.

Even MMA has gone the way of boxing with the top guys fighting once a year instead of regularly in tournaments like they should. The early days of MMA was the best.

 

[JoseP]

I saw the old fight with mike tyson last night. Mike caught him with a lucky punch. Would like to see a rematch

 

[APoc184]

I agree boxing is dying in SA. One of the reasons I believe it is dying is because of the time fights take place.

Just take last night as an example. The main fight was fight #6 for the evening and only started after midnight. And the worst is people had to sit through 5 painstakingly boring fights to get to the main fight.

Still does not take away the fact that a 42 year old boxer slapped the crap out of a 21 year old boxer that was taunting him through the whole fight. I thought it was beautiful....

 

[killadoob]

Surely the biggest problem is we have no idea when the main fight will happen, so you could sit for 3-5 hours or 1-2 hours watching crap.

Perhaps i am wrong but surely they should have a set time for the main fight?

 

[thestaggy]

That fight clearly demonstrated the shocking quality of boxing in this country. My family has a deep love for boxing, with my late grandfather having been on speaking terms with many of SA's legends of the sport such as Kallie Knoetze & Vic Toweel. As a traffic officer, he even had the honour of being part of Archie Moore's escort when he attended a fight out here and managed to get his autograph while talking to Moore about his 1955 fight against Rocky Marciano. He also trained a Transvaal light-heavyweight title contender in his garage as a hobby. My dad followed in much the same vein. Both have noticed the shocking decline in our boxers.

To put it simply, we develop bums. Flo Simba is a bum that has been fed cannon-fodder to butter his record. Francois Both, while old and out of shape, only lost 5 of his 54 fights, and they were against Lennox Lewis, Wladimir Klitschko, Michael Moorer, Mike Tyson & Evander Holyfield. The level of competiton he has faced when compared to Simba's shone through, as Botha was able to ride out Simba and once Simba realised he was not going to knock Botha out, panic set in, as evidenced by his wild looping rights and on one occassion he threw a punch with his eyes closed. If Simba, or his trainers for that matter (Volbrecht disappointed me as his trainer), were any good, Simba would have been on his biycle, jabbing away at Botha to wear him down. But no, all Simba has had to do in his young career was get in the ring with a palooker who just stood there, and swing away. Maybe I am too harsh on the fighters themselves and maybe I should focus on the training, but the level of quality is suspect regardless if it's boxers or trainers.

They are doing the same thing with Tommy Oosthuizen. Feeding him palookers from Thaliand & South America and a 36-year old on Saturday that in all honesty may have beaten him if he was 4 years younger.

The heady days of Brian Mitchell's, Harold Volbrecht's, Kallie Knoetze's, Gerrie Coetzee's, Arnold Taylor's, Dingaan Thobela's (before he got fat), Jake Matlala's coming through are over. And when we think we have a good fighter, we start feeding him sub-par fighters from the Far East and South & Central America and build him an attractive record. Do yourselves a favour, if you can, and watch ESPN Friday Night Fights and compare America's up and coming boxers to ours. It is night and day.

 

[APoc184]

Yeah. As I said in my OP. Flo was counting on one of his big wild hooks to land and floor Botha. And he did land a few lucky ones but soon realised Botha can take a punch and then some.

Botha boxed smart while Simba was counting on his age and strength to win him the fight.

I still think Simba will be a good boxer.
He just needs the right guidance and plan.

 

[APoc184]

I would love to see Sonny Bill Williams vs Francois Botha. But that is just because I love rugby and would love Botha to knock SBW out of the world cup.

 

[Nerfherder]

I have seen Simba fight in other fights and I think he is great, I think that the problem is that he never gets to finish because its over so fast. So in the end he wins a lot but does not get lots of fight time.

Poor Simba always has to fight the toppies... he usually gives them a klap though.

 

[thestaggy]

Poor Simba always has to fight the toppies... he usually gives them a klap though.

That is the basis for my argument. He is fed hand picked opponents that are either old and washed up or just downright awful. It has done him no favours. His record is valueless because he has fought nobodies. I can't recall the name of one of his opponents. If he could not beat a 42-year old then I fear his career will go nowhere. And it is not just him. Mark my words, Tommy Oosthuizen will be beaten whenever he finally meets a boxer ranked by the WBC, WBA or IBF, but he won't, because his camp continue to feed him low quality walkovers. IBO titles are jokes.

Francois Botha got to fight guys like Lewis, Tyson and Holyfield because he based himself in the US and even in his early days while in SA, they flew out a lot of US heavyweights to fight him and in the early 90's, the US still dominated the heavyweight ranks. He fought better quality opposition while rising through the ranks.

 

[thestaggy]

I would love to see Sonny Bill Williams vs Francois Botha. But that is just because I love rugby and would love Botha to knock SBW out of the world cup.

SBW is a pathetic boxer. His latest opponent was a 43-year old aspiring gospel musician who is on state benefits for a rumoured disability that prevents him from being employable. . . His name is Alipate Liava'a and he fought him this weekend. Here's an extract from the New Zealand Herald;

''Williams is a super athlete. Tall, lean and ripped, it would be no surprise if he one day adds body-building to his stable of sporting pursuits.

The same can't be said of Liava'a who, given his benefit status issues, might want to look into employment opportunities for human cannonballs. The worryingly-short 43-year-old had thighs as big as a normal man's waist, and a waist as big as a normal man's house. And no neck. As physical mismatches go, it was a beaut."

The worst part? Liava'a went the distance. . . And an even worse part? Liava'a was puffing halfway through the opening round and spent the remainder of the 6 round affair as SBW's punching bag, with SBW being unable to put him away.

On that evidence, Francois Botha would probably beat SBW.

Have a gander at the Williams - Liava'a weigh-in
http://www.zimbio.com/photos/Sonny+...vs+Toliver+Williams+v+Liava+Weigh/I-mMBqAPu6a