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July 1999
Each month we bring you a selection of articles from the current and past issues of BOXING MONTHLY. To buy the magazine, see our subscription or back issues pages, or use our world distribution map to find a news-stand copy. Why not use our Interactive Forum to express your own boxing comments and opinions!
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PAY - FOR - WHAT?
The clash between flawed heavyweights Shannon Briggs and Frans Botha is not without intrigue and it might even be exciting. But what has boxing come to if this fight is a PPV attraction? STEVE FARHOOD investigates and previews the potential thriller between outstanding Marco Antonio Barrera and power puncher Angel Vazquez |
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BOUNCING BOTHA: hopes to rebound well for second time after KO loss
- Get Big Pic At the early-morning New York City press conference announcing the 7 August clash
between Shannon Briggs and Frans Botha, the fighters weren't the stars of the show -
which makes you wonder about both the fighters and the show. Briggs, Botha, promoters
Frank Warren and Cedric Kushner, and just about everyone else involved were on time and in
place at 9:15 sharp. The hype, however, was held until the arrival of the real
heavyweight, Donald Trump. That's because the fight is scheduled for one of
Trump's properties, the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort in Atlantic City. After The Pope, uh, The Donald gave his brief blessing, Briggs-Botha was sold as if it
were the last great fight of the century. Maybe that's why it'll cost U.S. fans
$29.95 on SET, Showtime's pay-per-view network. What's next, opening the wallet
to watch Mike Tyson recite nursery rhymes to his 20-month old-son? ("Order now and
you can see Amir drool in the warm-ups!") Afterwards, Briggs asked me what I thought
of the fight. "Shannon," I answered, "you should be thanking your lucky
stars you were born a heavyweight." On Bash Boulevard, there's heavyweight boxing and everything else. It's
always been that way, and don't waste time waiting for change. Heavyweights are given
multiple chances, with layoffs, losses, and lack of skills and conditioning conveniently
overlooked. If a featherweight had the big-fight record of either Briggs or Botha,
he'd be lucky to secure a back-up bout on ESPN2. With that said, Briggs-Botha remains
a curious match-up of intriguing, albeit limited, fighters. If nothing else, it's not
all that easy to pick a winner. But pay-per-view? "Pay-per-view is simply a function
of economics," explained Jay Larkin, Showtime's boxing boss, "and the
economics work out for this fight. There are fights on pay-per-view of varying magnitudes.
There are the small Latino shows and the megashows. The lower-end shows are geared to a
hard-core audience. But regardless of the show, you have to have a product that appeals to
someone. Both Briggs and Botha are well-known entities and articulate salespeople.
It's a very marketable fight, and it promises to be a very competitive fight,
too." The stakes are higher for Briggs, 31-2 (25 KOs). Botha, 39-2 (24 KOs) with one
no-contest, has already had his chance at Tyson, while Briggs's opportunity is
reportedly pending. "If Briggs beats Botha, he's been assured Tyson next,
probably in December," a source told me at the press conference. That would
presumably be Tyson's second fight back in his latest comeback. Stardom has been
predicted for Briggs since the dreadlocked New Yorker's amateur days. In fact, much
of the local media, impressed with the heavyweight's style and comportment, has led
the cheerleading. But when Briggs's manager, Marc Roberts, says: "[Briggs] has
done nothing to dissuade the promise his career has always had," he's
freewheeling in fantasyland. The lesson learned so far: Just because a fighter looks the
part of a heavyweight champion, he isn't automatically going to become one. At the time of the 1992 Olympic Trials, Briggs, who took up boxing at the advanced age
of 19, was the No. 1-rated amateur heavyweight (201 pounds) in the USA. A hand injury,
however, prevented him from trying for the team. He turned pro in the summer of '92,
scoring a string of KOs over the usual suspects. But the quality of opposition didn't
improve, and by 1995, there was reason for doubt. In March '96, Briggs was matched against another young hopeful, Darroll Wilson.
The results were disastrous: After a fast start, Briggs was stopped in three rounds. He
blamed the loss on asthma, but his trainer of four years, Teddy Atlas, branded that a lame
excuse and took a walk. "Shannon had a false sense of success, and it all became too
much," Atlas told KO magazine. "I felt betrayed. He didn't give it the same
run for the money that I did." For those familiar with Briggs, the sentiment is
familiar: The heavyweight walks and talks like a champion, and Roberts treats him like
one. But he hasn't fought like a champion. It was 20 months before Briggs engaged in another significant fight. His November
'97 majority verdict over George Foreman was among the most controversial decisions
of the decade. Suddenly, the fighter who had humbly crumbled at the feet of Wilson was the
linear heavyweight champion of the world. Four months later, Briggs tackled WBC champion Lennox Lewis in an official title fight.
In the first and second rounds, he staggered the Englishman, but consistency and stamina
have never been among Briggs's assets, and by the fifth round he was finished.
Nonetheless, it was a crowd-pleasing brawl (Emanuel Steward, who trains Lewis and is
now working with Briggs as well, compared it to George Foreman-Ron Lyle), and Briggs at
least remained a player. He's fought only once since, taking out second-level
trialhorse Marcus Rhode in one round last December. "Shannon is poised to take over the heavyweight division," said the
wishful-thinking Roberts. For now, a win over Botha and a career-best payday against Tyson
will suffice, thank you. As for Botha, "The White Buffalo" will be jumping
directly from his one-punch KO loss vs. Tyson to a crossroads showdown with Briggs. A
couple of confidence-boosting knockout wins would be welcomed, but that's a luxury
Team Botha can't afford right now. "I'm not worried about that because he
came back pretty good after getting stopped by Michael Moorer [in 1996]," said
Sterling McPherson, the South African's manager. "He came right back and beat
James Stanton and Lee Gilbert. But I don't think he'll ever be able to get over
the loss to Tyson. You put it aside and don't bring it up too often because
you'll kill yourself." It's just gonna make me correct my mistakes. Not that I underestimate Shannon, but
there's no comparison between Tyson and Briggs. With Mike, one shot and I was in
trouble." Like Briggs, Botha initially climbed the ratings without claiming any Top
10 scalps. Perhaps his biggest early win was a 1992 decision over the difficult Mike
"The Bounty" Hunter. Botha was a borderline cruiserweight back then. In December '95, Botha met Germany's Axel Schulz in a bout for the IBF
heavyweight title that had been vacated by George Foreman. It was a dreadful affair, with
both fighters ineffective from start to finish. Botha was awarded a disputed split
decision, but was stripped shortly after for testing positive for steroids. The result of
the bout was subsequently changed to a no-contest. Eleven months later, he tried again, challenging Moorer for the same belt. The rugged
Botha landed his share of overhand rights, but Moorer, a southpaw, jabbed him into
ribbons, scoring a 12th-round stoppage win. Botha has fought five times since,
defeating two reasonable opponents (Stanton and Gilbert) and two softies (Stanley Johnson
and David Cherry), and falling to Tyson in January. So if nothing else, Briggs and Botha share the indignity of having suffered
high-profile KOs. "You have two guys who very nearly did it in their last
fights," said Warren. Hey, Frank, if that's the best you have to say about this
one, may I suggest The Press Conference Tapes Of Don King, Volumes 1-57. It'll take
two weeks to listen to them, but in the long run, it might be worth your while. Stylewise, the match-up favours Briggs, if only because Botha is virtually void of
style. Briggs can move a bit, jab strongly, and fire combinations with above-average hand
speed. Botha is more of a plodder. "They couldn't have picked a better fighter
for me," Briggs said. "I can make this man look really bad. He doesn't do
anything great. He's not like a Foreman, who had a great punch and great experience.
And his durability is better for me because I can showcase my skills. I'm gonna box.
What can he do? He can't outjab me, he can't outbox me. The only way he can win
is a lucky punch or if I beat him up so badly that I get tired." Briggs has managed to beat himself in the past, so any technical analysis is shaky at
best. "Shannon is a really good fighter, but he can't beat the Buffalo,"
said Botha. "I think he's gonna stick and move. I know his chin is suspect.
That's his weakness, and I have to go after his weakness. He's gonna run away,
and if he comes in, he'll pay for it. When they feel the right hand, they all run.
The only one who didn't was Tyson." Briggs has one other advantage that
can't be overestimated: He's being trained by Steward, whose record in
heavyweight fights is unmatched. This is a time for discipline, not emotion, so look for
Briggs to perform as he did against Foreman, moving laterally and relying on his jab.
He'll probably build a points lead, and the duller the fight, the better his chance
to win. Botha will be most dangerous over the second half of the contest, when his
doggedness will surface. I doubt, however, that he's a sharp enough puncher to catch
Briggs with a big one. Briggs sponged a surprising amount of punishment before falling to
Lewis, and maybe, just maybe, he's beginning to mature. Let's hope so - for the sake
of the viewers. Briggs on points, comfortably. And if I'm wrong, I'll have no answer to the
question I'll be sure to hear again and again: "Don't you ever learn?"
If you wouldn't pay $2.95, much less $29.95, to watch Briggs-Botha, you'll still
be attracted to the chief support, WBO junior featherweight champion Marco Antonio Barrera
vs. powerpunching featherweight Angel Vazquez. It wasn't that long ago that Barrera was ranked among the five best fighters,
pound-for-pound, in the world. That was before a pair of losses to Junior Jones. But after
getting hammered in the first Jones fight, Barrera rebounded strongly, losing the rematch
by narrow decision. He's won five straight since, including impressive quickie Kos of
Englishmen Richie Wenton and Paul Lloyd. Anyone who saw the Mexican digging his signature
hook into Wenton's right side in Atlantic City last October can't imagine that
he's fallen too far from his prime. Barrera, 48-2 (36 KOs), is risking tons: Should he get past Vazquez, he'll be
pointed toward showdowns with countryman and WBC super bantamweight champion Erik Morales
and unbeaten featherweight sensation Naseem Hamed. The guess here is that Barrera will
have too much class. I found a different opinion from Russell Peltz, who promoted Vazquez
from March 1996 to December '97. (The featherweight is now promoted by Frank Warren.)
It was during that stretch that Vazquez, 17-0 (14 inside schedule), made his name with
eye-popping KOs of Tony Green, Greg Torres, Miguel Arrozal, Darryl Pinckney, and Freddy
Cruz. "I think Vazquez will knock Barrera dead," said Peltz. "I don't
think Barrera knows what he's in for. All that experience will be negated when he
gets nailed. Of course, Vazquez has had only two fights since '97, and they were both
disappointing, so maybe I'm thinking of the Vazquez who fought for me. But I think
he's the hardest puncher in boxing." One of the "disappointing" fights Peltz referred to was Vazquez's last
start, a 12-round split decision over unaccomplished Mexican Ubaldo Hernandez on the
Johnny Nelson-Carl Thompson undercard in Derby on 27 March. Vazquez was wobbled more than
once, and he flirted with disqualification in the ninth, when he struck his opponent after
the bell. Anyone who saw that performance could never pick the U.S.-based Puerto Rican to
defeat Barrera. But he's got the muscle, and assuming the drop in weight doesn't
weaken him, he'll be dangerous until downed. The bottom line: Vazquez doesn't have the class of Junior Jones. Barrera by eighth-round stoppage. |
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