Francois Botha had read about the match-fixing, organised crime
and performance-enhancing drug scandals enveloping Australian
professional sport - and now the South African boxer feels he is
part of the story.
Botha pulled no punches after his unanimous points decision loss to
Sonny Bill Williams at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Friday
night - a defeat that attracted more scrutiny to a sport already
associated with low blows.
Botha was trailing on points but literally had Williams on the
ropes in the latter stages of their WBA International heavyweight
bout when the contest ended two rounds earlier than he expected in
the 10th.
Williams could barely maintain equilibrium as he struggled to
absorb a flurry of blows that navigated the 44-year-old journeyman
to the brink of an unexpected triumph - one that could have drastic
repercussions for the former All Black's boxing future.
Before taking on Botha, Williams intimated he would concentrate on
football if the two-time heavyweight world title fight contender
knocked him out.
It seemed an empty threat at the time but the durable "White
Buffalo" came within seconds of putting Williams out to
pasture.
Botha has now lost five of his last six fights - but the manner of
Friday's reversal clearly rankles. He didn't seem to know what
happened to the two lost rounds but his promoter Thinus Strydom
did, saying he was informed shortly before the fight, although he
surprisingly didn't tell his fighter.
The fight was scheduled for 12 rounds - per WBA regulations - and
Botha argued Williams avoided almost certain defeat and demanded a
rematch.
"They're going to have to explain themselves, you can't win by
cheating," he said, noticing the irony of his predicament.
"Look at the doping thing going on here . . . that's another point
of the hand going there. Sure enough, this was match-fixing."
Botha and his trainer Hardy Mileham plan to lodge a protest with
the Panama-based WBA.
No representatives of the organisation were present at the venue
because it was not deemed a "world" title fight but the president
of the World Boxing Federation, Howard Goldberg, was ringside. The
South African, who admitted he was also Botha's adviser, said he
was perplexed the fight was 10 rounds rather than 12.
"I've seen things like this happen when TV needs to cut time but
otherwise not really," he said.
The validity of the fight was further questioned last night with
suggestions it wasn't a sanctioned WBA belt.
"I haven't confirmed this at all - the championship belt put around
Sonny Bill Williams' waist last night was not in fact a genuine WBA
Championship belt," Brad Vocale from the WBA Pan Asian Boxing
Association, told Fox Sports News. "In fact it was made by a member
of the Queensland branch of the Boxing Federation.
"This thing has happened before with the same promoters and the
same regulatory body. I despise the fact it's given a black eye to
boxing again. There was certainly no WBA official there last
night."
The Australian newspaper reported that Australian National Boxing
Federation vice-president Alan Moore, a ringside judge for the
bout, had no idea it had been shortened to 10 rounds.
"When the ring announcer said over the loudspeaker that it was the
last round, that was the first we [judges] knew of any change,"
Moore said.
As the South Africans cried foul Williams' manager sauntered into
their dressing room with the belt draped over his shoulder to mount
a stinging counter-attack.
A belligerent Khoder Nasser berated Botha and his handlers for
approximately a minute.
"You f&ing knew it was 10 rounds, you were head butting, you
were double-punching. Who won the fight, fair and square? You know
who won," he said.
Williams also thought he was in action for up to 10 rounds - the
limit when he won the New Zealand Professional Boxing Association
title a year ago in Hamilton.
"My whole preparation was based on 10 rounds," he said, adding he
would be willing to entertain a rematch.
"If we do I'd love to have one in South Africa, preferably Cape
Town because I have a lot of fans there. Probably more than he
does," he said, referring to his rugby-based popularity among the
coloured community.
Mileham indicated he would protest the outcome saying but Nasser
shrugged off the threat.
"They can protest all they want. He's got the belt, mate, see ya's
later."
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