by James Slater – There was a time, back in the mid-1990s, when a fight between Evander Holyfield and Francois Botha would have been pretty big news. Here in 2010, however, the match-up – which takes place this Saturday night in Las Vegas – is nothing much more than a curiosity fight. And though the scheduled 12-rounder (the bout will contest something called the WBF heavyweight title) will be covered by a number of T.V and internet outlets (the fight will be available on iNDEMAND in the U.S, on Prime Time in the U.K and via Viewers Choice in Canada), it’s likely not too many fans will bother to tune in.
Certainly, those fans who are today regretting how they were somehow persuaded to fork out for this past Saturday’s awful Hopkins-Jones II will think twice before going ahead and ordering this latest battle between ageing, past their best warriors. If the 17-years-in-the-making rematch between the two light-heavyweight legends was bad, there is a real chance Holyfield Vs. Botha could be even worse!
Both guys are at least talking a good fight; with the 47-4-3(28) “White Buffalo” promising to end “The Real Deal’s” career once and for all, and with Holyfield claiming his win will steer him towards yet another run at the “world” title.. And, it must be said, knowing Holyfield’s heart, courage and sheer, stubborn desire to win, chances are the 47-year-old will TRY to give it his best on Saturday. Botha’s real motives for fighting on at age 41 are not known, but Holyfield – as delusional as he may actually be – fights on because he still believes he is one of the best heavyweights out there.
Basing things purely on the desire Holyfield, 42-10-2(27) still possesses, I think he will get the win on Saturday, most likely via a fairly wide points win. But what then? No way will Evander retire if he wins; that much is a given – but who will he face next? There has been a little talk that suggests Holyfield could even wind up in the ring with reigning WBA heavyweight boss David Haye. Hopefully this talk will prove to be nothing but talk, and the scary mismatch will not happen. But it could.
To be fair, Holyfield did look pretty good in his last fight, when he lost a close, controversial decision to then WBA heavyweight ruler Nikolai Valuev. But that fight was well over a year ago; how much further have Holyfield’s skills eroded since December of 2008?
We will find out on Saturday – at least those few fans that tune in will find out on Saturday.