First Corrie Sanders...now Francois Botha?????

[a87star]

'White Buffalo' to charge again
12/06/2007 14:03 - (SA)


Johannesburg - Almost five years since his last fight, former world heavyweight champion Francois Botha has decided to make a comeback and will battle for the vacant World Boxing Foundation (WBF) title at the Carousel near Hamanskraal on July 6.
His opponent is yet to be announced.
Nicknamed "White Buffalo" Botha, a former International Boxing Federation (IBF) champion, has not donned a pair of gloves since he fought to a draw against American fighter Clifford "Black Rhino" Etienne in July 2002.
Botha, whose world champion status ended in disgrace when he was stripped of the IBF crown for testing positive for the use of a banned substance, has been active in Mu Thai boxing which is popular in the Far East countries, especially in Japan.
There is no official record of his martial arts fight record, but it is believed he didn't win too many of them.
Now aged 39, Botha has decided to try his luck in boxing due to the poor state of the heavyweight division.
His promoter, Thinus Strydom, refused to reveal the identity of his opponent saying it will be announced in a press conference at the Wanderers Sports Club in Johannesburg on Thursday.
It is, however, believed his opponent is from Australia and is a former WBF champion.
Botha, who came to fame when he scored three first round knockouts on one night during a tournament in the US, has a fairly decent record in the professional ranks as he lost only four times and drawn twice in 51 bouts.
All his four losses came at the hands of respected champions such as Michael Moorer who stopped him in 12 rounds for the vacant IBF crown in 1996, Mike Tyson who knocked him out in five rounds after Botha had dominated the early proceedings of the fight in 1999, Lennox Lewis who blew him away in two rounds for the world heavyweight title in 2000, and Wladimir Klitschko who cut him down to size in eight rounds for the WBO heavyweight crown in 2002.
Botha also fought an impressive draw against recently deposed WBO heavyweight champion Shannon Briggs.
His spate of losses in Mu Thai boxing and his long period of inactivity has created controversy over his granting of a boxing license by Boxing SA. But BSA spokesperson Loyiso Mtya said Botha's boxing record was impressive. "Based on his boxing record we did not hesitate to issue a license," Mtya said.

[a87star]

Also, I found an artice from a month ago on why Corrie has decided to comeback. His trainer clams he is "broke".

Injury blow for Sanders
14/05/2007 16:00 - (SA)


Johannesburg - Corrie Sanders' mission to regain a slice of the world heavyweight boxing title has suffered a major blow after he hurt his hand during his bout against Brazilian Daniel Bispo at Emperors Palace at the weekend.
Sanders hurt his left hand in the first round, forcing him to virtually fight with one hand for the full 10 rounds.
Despite being handicapped he still managed to pull off a victory with all the judges scoring the fight 100-90 in his favour.
Due to his injury, however, his plan of challenging for a world title in 18 months time has taken a knock.
Sanders, who at 41 years, is trying to fight his way back to a world title challenge, is waiting for a doctor's report to inform him about the extent of his injury and his bout scheduled for June 23 against an opponent yet to be named in America, has been cancelled.
"That bout is definitely off because Corrie will be forced to lay off training for a couple of weeks," said trainer Harold Volbrecht.
Volbrecht lauded Sanders for fighting through injury against Bispo. "Other fighters would have quit but he wanted to fight on and he did not disgrace himself," he said.
Sanders, a former WBU and WBO heavyweight champion, is back in the ring to exploit the messy heavyweight division and also to overcome his dire financial situation.
"Corrie is broke so he has to fight again at his age," Volbrecht revealed.
Due to Sanders' age, Volbrecht admitted that the southpaw fighter would face many challenges and having to deal with injuries is one.
And the scarcity of heavyweight fighters in the country is another setback as Sanders is struggling to get sparring partners of his size. "Corrie went to that fight without having a sparring session," Volbrecht said. "Although hurting his hand was bad, on the flip side it helped him get real action because he had not fought for two years."

[swampdragon]

I can't keep track of all these world titles. WBF? One of these old guys is going to get himself killed.

[Mr Big]

Originally Posted by swampdragon

I can't keep track of all these world titles. WBF? One of these old guys is going to get himself killed.

The WBF is one of the least of the alphabet soup sanctioning organizations. The WWE belts they sell at Toys R Us are more legitimate than a WBF "world" title. The only organizations which may rank lower are the WBE (World Boxing Empire) or GBU (Global Boxing Union), in my opinion.

[Mr Big]

Just a quick follow-up on the ABC organizations. I assume that the previously mentioned WBF is the World Boxing Federation. I have now also found a World Boxing Foundation. To give you an idea of what these guys are like, they actually crowned a then 48 year old Joe Bugner as their "world" heavyweight champion back in '98. He stopped 45 year old, 281 lb. "Bonecrusher" Smith after James injured his shoulder in the very first round. Honestly, just how many sanctioning organizations are there in boxing crowning "world" champions? Maybe one of us can get a title fight!

[swampdragon]

Maybe Bugner is the opponent yet to be named for Botha. What a joke.

[Mad Bomber]

Originally Posted by Mr Big

Just a quick follow-up on the ABC organizations. I assume that the previously mentioned WBF is the World Boxing Federation. I have now also found a World Boxing Foundation. To give you an idea of what these guys are like, they actually crowned a then 48 year old Joe Bugner as their "world" heavyweight champion back in '98. He stopped 45 year old, 281 lb. "Bonecrusher" Smith after James injured his shoulder in the very first round. Honestly, just how many sanctioning organizations are there in boxing crowning "world" champions? Maybe one of us can get a title fight!

I have about 10 pounds to lose, as well as a couple of inches that comes with
age, but maybe after I have had my knee surgery I can take them on for the
middle-aged Junior Middleweight Championship, and add to my 22-0 amateur
record. LOL


Greg

[Mr Big]

Originally Posted by Mad Bomber

I have about 10 pounds to lose, as well as a couple of inches that comes with
age, but maybe after I have had my knee surgery I can take them on for the
middle-aged Junior Middleweight Championship, and add to my 22-0 amateur
record. LOL


Greg

The WBC has "youth" titles, so it's probably only a matter of time before we see "middle aged" and "senior" belts being given out. I am a competitive armwrestler, and many tournaments have the aforementioned "youth" (under 18), "masters" (over 40), and "grandmasters" (over 50) divisions, in right AND left handed weight classes, generally ranging from 132 to 243+lbs. Sometimes, they even have a "disabled" category. And while it is a good thing that many people have the opportunity to compete, to the casual observer, it can be a lot to keep up with. I can hear Michael Buffer now: "And the NEW, gray-bearded, southpaw, slightly arthritic, Heavyweight Champion of the World..."

[Mr Big]

Another quick tidbit on the aforementioned sanctioning organizations. If you look at all of the current WBC "world" champions, you will find that, on average, they are ranked #3 on boxrec.com in their respective divisions, and have won 94% of their bouts. In my humble opinion, I consider the World Boxing Council the best of the ABC groups.

By contrast, the World Boxing Foundation (WBF) "world" titlists average a #41 spot on boxrec, and have been victorious in only 83% of their fights. If there is a worse sanctioning body, I haven't found one.

The sad thing is, (other than my having way too much freetime)that, 20 years from now, both the WBC and WBF guys will be telling the grandkids about how they were world champion boxers, when the latter guys, in all reality, couldn't carry the jockstraps of the former group.

[Mr Big]

Alright, I realize that I'm the only one still posting to this thread, but I'm really having fun with this. The IBU is another sanctioning organization that I found. All of it's current "world" titles are vacant. The WBU has 3 "world" titlists; middleweight, welterweight, and, I believe, featherweight. The rest of the crowns are undistributed.

Now, I remember last year, while attending the IBA "world" cruiserweight title fight last year in Nashville, TN that, aside from personalities such as Owen Beck being in attendance, it was announced that several WBE (World Boxing Empire) "world" champions were there, too. Three of their 12 current champs have been deemed "inactive" by boxrec, having not fought in more than a year. Of the nine WBE kings which remain, the average boxrec rating is #145 in the world, and they have, collectively, won 67% of their bouts.

Yes, I think we may have a winner. The WBE appears to be the worse of the ABC organizations.

Okay, I think I'm done.

[IceTea]

Boxing is a young man's sport. At heavyweight, you can get away with slow reflexes due to the fact that speed isn't as huge a factor. Bernard Hopkins is an extreme case. That won't happen again for another 100 years.

MJ

[CONN CHRIS]

Originally Posted by Mr Big

Okay, I think I'm done.

Those were some of the most entertaining stats that I've seen in quite some time!

To add to the fun:

I was going to ask you to run stats for the WBS who are the clowns that awarded Mitch Green a Super Heavyweight 'World' title when he beat Danny Wofford (easily my favorite title tilt of all time).

So, I went searching for the WBS just to see if they even existed anymore before I posed the question.

Low and behold, you've already hit upon them.

The WBS changed it's name to the WBE!

[CONN CHRIS]

Oh this is just too funny...

I went to their website for laughs, not only do they sanction Super Heavyweight bouts but they also recognize Jr Minimumweight (100 lbs)

The best part is the sanctioning fees:

SANCTIONING
WBE World title bouts - USD$950 plus belt fee
WBE Intercontinental title bouts - USD$850 plus belt fee
WBE Continental title bouts - USD$750 plus belt fee
WBE National title bouts - USD$650 plus belt fee
Elimination bouts to determine mandatory contender - USD$400
Bouts to determine ranking- USD$300 To obtain a bout sanction:
1. Click here to view the list of vacancies and champions.
If today's date is 6 months after an incumbent champion's last title defense (indicated in parenthesis), you may request to fight for that championship. Although each champion is clearly informed by way of our policy that a title defense is due within a 6 month timeframe, often times as a courtesy we impose a 14 day window in which to schedule a bout.
2. Click here to go to Paypal.com.
Sign into your account using your email address.
Specify WorldBoxingEmpire@yahoo.com as the payee.
Include your name, phone number, sanction (e.g. world, intercontinental, etc.), gender, weight division, and names of the contestants in the comments field.

Note the prefered payment method!

We should make up two fake JBW fighters, scrape up the $300 ranking fee and see if we can get them to rank fake fighters.

What a hoot.

[mh2365]

Ice .. at quick glance I thought you had Carrot Top as your avatar

[swampdragon]

Originally Posted by CONN CHRIS

Oh this is just too funny...

I went to their website for laughs, not only do they sanction Super Heavyweight bouts but they also recognize Jr Minimumweight (100 lbs)

The best part is the sanctioning fees:




Note the prefered payment method!

We should make up two fake JBW fighters, scrape up the $300 ranking fee and see if we can get them to rank fake fighters.

What a hoot.

Have two of your stiffs fight it out and send in the results.

[IceTea]

Originally Posted by mh2365

Ice .. at quick glance I thought you had Carrot Top as your avatar

Nope. That is pro boxer Stacy "Stay-Lo" Reile.

MJ

[gocubsgo]

Wow so the World Boxing Empire does so well they have a Yahoo email account. Money must be tight.

[Mr Big]

Originally Posted by CONN CHRIS

Oh this is just too funny...

I went to their website for laughs, not only do they sanction Super Heavyweight bouts but they also recognize Jr Minimumweight (100 lbs)

The best part is the sanctioning fees:




Note the prefered payment method!

We should make up two fake JBW fighters, scrape up the $300 ranking fee and see if we can get them to rank fake fighters.

What a hoot.

I'm thinking about paying the $300 and challenging Rob Calloway for the WBE World Heavyweight Title! The funny thing is that their "heavyweight" champion is actually ranked #20 at cruiser by boxrec.

Another (probably easier) option would be to challenge #118 heavyweight Manuel Quezada for the Superheavyweight crown! He has amassed a 19-4 record against competition with a collective .446 winning pct.

Right now, their "world" SMW, MW, LW, FW, JFW, JBW, and Jr. Minimumweight championships are vacant. I'm willing to bet that, for the right price, they would let a 220 pounder like me fight for the hundred pound title! Who knows? Maybe one of us can put one of their big red belts on his mantle, and then brag to the grandkids about how we used to be a "world" champion boxer. You gotta love it!

[vistaman44]

Originally Posted by Mr Big

Just a quick follow-up on the ABC organizations. I assume that the previously mentioned WBF is the World Boxing Federation. I have now also found a World Boxing Foundation. To give you an idea of what these guys are like, they actually crowned a then 48 year old Joe Bugner as their "world" heavyweight champion back in '98. He stopped 45 year old, 281 lb. "Bonecrusher" Smith after James injured his shoulder in the very first round. Honestly, just how many sanctioning organizations are there in boxing crowning "world" champions? Maybe one of us can get a title fight!

... the WBF! The World Boxing Federation changed its name to Foundation a while back ... but nobody noticed!

[a87star]

Originally Posted by Mr Big

Another (probably easier) option would be to challenge #118 heavyweight Manuel Quezada for the Superheavyweight crown! He has amassed a 19-4 record against competition with a collective .446 winning pct.

Manuel Quezada is far from great but he has an exciting fighting style. Has a huge fan base in NorCali.