MESULI ZIFO
Veteran heavyweight Francois “White Buffalo” Botha entered the ring for his clash against heavy favourite Flo Simba to the musical escort of Bob Marley’s ‘Buffalo Soldier’ and after the fight he was triumphantly dancing to the tune following his stunning sixth round stoppage victory at Emperors Palace on Saturday night.
The wealth of experience the former IBF and WBF champion has amassed over the years quickly made a difference against the youngster who only had five amateur fights.
The 21-year-old Simba proved how raw he still is as he swung wildly with his punches which Botha had no problem avoiding, even at 42 years of age.
Instead Botha would jump in with his two-punch salvo, his right hand hitting home and increasingly making Simba reluctant to initiate the action.
Every time Botha landed a punch, Simba would blindly charge in to retaliate but the veteran would neutralise his attack with expert clinching and pushing and also resorting to underhand antics.
This strategy gradually disorientated the previously unbeaten youngster as he adopted a waiting game which suited the old warrior.
Having negated Simba’s hand speed and youth advantage, the White Buffalo began to land at will with his right hand wobbling Simba in the fourth round to give the first indication that the bout might not go the distance.
As expected, Simba bravely fought back, landing some solid punches while trapping Botha on the ropes but the veteran had no problem riding off most of the swings. With the bout slowly slipping from his grasp, Simba suddenly adopted a southpaw stance which momentarily threw Botha off his stride.
But Botha regrouped in the following round as he assumed control of the bout when his right buckled Simba’s knees.
Seeing his wounded prey, the White Buffalo gave pursuit and produced a carbon copy of the punch which sent Simba to the ropes and as he tried to hold on for dear life he only managed to stumble and fell as the referee collided with him in his bid to stop the fight.
Simba regained his feet but the referee had seen enough as Botha charged forward for the finish. Despite the loss Simba’s promoter Rodney Berman said the youngster would be brought back in September to continue with the job of building him towards a world title challenge.
“Regardless of what happened tonight I still think Simba is an unbelievable talent and we will bring him back accordingly,” Berman said.
This was Botha’s 29th stoppage victory in 48 wins, five losses and three draws.
IBO super middleweight champion Thomas Oosthuizen scored a unanimous points decision over veteran William Gare in defence of his crown.
It looked like Chris van Heerden won every round of his IBO welterweight title eliminator against nemesis Bongani Mwelase but the judges scored his victory by much narrower margins – 116-112, 115-13 and 116-113. Thabiso Mchunu beat Dannie Venter on points while Tshepang Mohale bludgeoned previously unbeaten Johnny Muller in three rounds to take his SA light heavyweight crown.