Posted on 04/11/2010 12:27:52 PM PDT by Justaham
LAS VEGAS - Former heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield is using George Foremans comeback more than 15 years ago as inspiration.
The 47-year-old Holyfield (43-10-2, 28 KOs) knocked out 41-year-old Frans Botha with 2:05 left in the eighth round to claim the WBF heavyweight championship on Saturday night. Holyfield (43-10-2) knocked the defending champion down 31 seconds earlier with a right to the chin.
Botha (47-5-3) beat refree Russell Moras count, but Mora then stopped the fight with the South African backed into a corner.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcsports.msnbc.com ...
Botha is an old fighter who wasn’t good enough to be a champ when he was younger. Aren’t there any decent young heavyweights, or is this one of the “other” belts left over from when the divisions got fractured years ago?
lol..some title there. How many "world title" governing bodies exist now, about 50? I think I'll start one, kick the hell out of some local commie, and claim one of those titles for myself.
Foreman used to say he never lost his power, just his speed, so it was harder to connect, but if he did, watch out.
I suppose it says more about the state of heavyweight boxing than anything else, when an old man can compete like that.
Maybe the good large American athletes prefer to go into other sports these days.
I haven’t heard any build up to this at all.
Wasn’t the WBF once the most premier of the sanctioning bodies? or was that WBC?
I dunno.
Botha? Wow. He’s the best competition for Hollyfield?
Imo, there should be one governing body -- one champion per division. And 8 divisions, not the 16 or so that exist now.
That would be a monopoly or something.
The WBA can put them out of business by doing a better job.
They’re ALL corrupt to the core.
I’ve seen K-1 fighters who would be heavyweight boxing champion contenders if they chose to be.
There are four major heavyweight boxing titles and those don’t include The Ring and lineal titles.
Definitely not the WBF. WBC is one of the big 4.
WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO in that order.
This is a useful link for keeping track.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_current_world_boxing_champions
Pretty much.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.