The “reveal” update: Last night 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 Saturday night. Holyfield (43-10-2) knocked the defending champion down 31 seconds earlier with a right to the old guy’s chin.
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Some professional boxers just refuse to give up- or, perhaps, they can’t afford to.
American heavyweight boxer Evander Holyfield, left in photo, 47, squares off tonight with almost equally aged foe Francois “White Buffalo” Botha, 41, of South Africa at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas. At stake is the WBF heavyweight championship belt- and best, if you want to watch the fight, to pull out the No-Doz.
Holyfield, the former four-time heavyweight champion, apparently, wants to who wants to prove he stills has the skills to be a world champion, even though he last held a belt nearly 10 years ago and has lost two fights in a row.
Holyfield has a professional boxing record of 47 wins with four losses, two draws and 27 KOs.
Botha (47-4-3, 28 KOs), has had a relatively distinguished career as a heavyweight boxer with top contenders, but has fought several world heavyweight champions including Mike Tyson, Shannon Briggs, Axel Schulz, Michael Moorer, Lennox Lewis and Wladimir Klitschko.
Even so, Botha is named the current World Boxing Foundation World Heavyweight Champion. (Although he won the International Boxing Federation World Heavyweight title in the ring the fight was declared a no contest and he was never officially recognized as champion.)
Probably feeling that long-term boxing is not good for the brain cells, Botha had some smarts and turned entrepreneur for a short time, corning the market on some magical champagne glasses. All you had to do was twist the stem and, voila!, the fluted glass supposedly lit up like Grand Central Station at rush hour.
Promoters are literally begging the fight sales light up. By Friday afternoon, only 2,000 tickets had been sold, leaving promoter Crown Boxing, which is paying Holyfield $150,000 plus a pay-per-view percentage, to hope for a large walk-up crowd. Even $25 lower-bowl seats are going unsold.
Holyfield currently has the odds of minus-360, Botha plus-280
If you’re into comedy and want to save gas money, turn on the fight at 8 p.m. (PT) on pay per view (Cable 502, DirecTV, Dish Network) and shell out $29.95.