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| Date | January 16, 1999 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, US | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tyson wins via 5th-round KO | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mike Tyson vs. Francois Botha was a professional boxing match on January 16, 1999. [1] Tyson won the match by knocking out Botha in the fifth round.
After Tyson's controversial fight with Evander Holyfield on June 28, 1997 which saw Tyson get disqualified in the third round after twice biting Holyfield's ears, the Nevada Athletic Commission fined Tyson $3 million and revoked his boxing license. [2] Tyson's ban would ultimately last a total of 15 months and 10 days with it finally ending after a five-man committee voted in favor of reinstating Tyson by a vote of 4–1 on October 18, 1998. [3] After much speculation over who Tyson would face in his return bout, it was officially announced that Tyson would face former IBF Heavyweight champion Francois Botha on January 16, 1999. [4] Despite his long layoff, Tyson was forthright about his chances of collecting a victory over Botha by way of knockout. On one occasion, Tyson stated "I am going right at him and I expect him to go down cold. I expect him to die." The comment would cause some controversy, with some in the boxing world claiming that Tyson had gone too far. [5] Botha also was confident that he could defeat Tyson, claiming that he would earn the victory by way of "seventh round knockout". [6]
Through the fight's first four rounds, Botha both outboxed and outpointed the rusty Tyson. In the first round Tyson had trouble connecting with his punches and Botha was able to dodge most of Tyson's attempts. With 10 seconds left in the round, Tyson was able to get a hold of Botha's left arm. Tyson refused to let go as the round came to an end causing Botha to try to punch his way free from Tyson's grip by using his free right hand. Referee Richard Steele tried in vain to separate the two fighters who were now throwing punches at each other after the bell. Both Tyson and Botha's corners, along with MGM Grand security rushed into the ring and were finally able to separate the two men. The melee caused the beginning of round two to be briefly delayed as Steele issued warnings to both men about fouling. After the warnings, the fight was continued with Tyson coming at Botha with his jab. Botha then clinched with Tyson who again grabbed a hold of Botha's left arm causing Botha to complain to Steele that Tyson was trying to break his arm. Steele issued another warning to Tyson to not twist Botha's arm and the fight continued. Shortly after, however, Tyson grabbed hold of Botha's arm for a third time forcing Steele to again separate the fighters and issue another warning to Tyson. Almost immediately after, Tyson again clinched Botha. As Steele separated the two, Tyson shoved Botha with his left hand, leading to Steele calling time and deducting a point from Tyson. Botha would continue to fight well, winning both rounds 3 and 4 on the judge's scorecards. In round 4, Botha even taunted Tyson by dropping his arms and challenging him to land a punch. Botha was having another good round in round 5, but with 12 seconds remaining, Tyson was able to land a short right hand that dropped Botha to the canvas. Botha twice attempted to get up and was nearly able to answer Steele's count at nine, but he went right back down and Steele stopped the fight at 2:59 and Tyson was awarded the knockout victory.
Tyson would follow his victory with a no contest against Orlin Norris (due to Tyson injuring Norris after the bell) and easy wins over Julius Francis and Lou Savarese that got him back into contention. After another no contest against Andrew Golota (due to Tyson testing positive for cannabis after the fight) and win over Brian Nielsen, Tyson would eventually earn one last title shot against Lennox Lewis but was knocked out in the eighth round.
The following year, Botha would get an opportunity at Lewis' titles, challenging the champion on July 15, 2000. Botha would not have as good a showing as he did against Tyson, being knocked out in the second round by Lewis
Confirmed bouts: [7]
| Country | Broadcaster |
|---|---|
 Australia | Sky Channel |
 Mexico | Televisa |
 United States | Showtime |
Evander Holyfield is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1984 and 2011. He reigned as the undisputed champion at cruiserweight in the late 1980s and at heavyweight in the early 1990s, and was the only boxer in history to win the undisputed championship in two weight classes in the "three belt era", a feat later surpassed by Terence Crawford, Naoya Inoue and Oleksandr Usyk, who became two-weight undisputed champions in the four-belt era. Nicknamed "the Real Deal", Holyfield is the only four-time world heavyweight champion, having held the unified WBA, WBC, and IBF titles from 1990 to 1992, the WBA and IBF titles again from 1993 to 1994, the WBA title a third time from 1996 to 1999; the IBF title a third time from 1997 to 1999 and the WBA title for a fourth time from 2000 to 2001.
Francois "Frans" Botha is a South African former professional boxer and kickboxer. He competed in boxing from 1990 to 2014, and is perhaps best known for winning the IBF heavyweight title against Axel Schulz in 1995, but was later stripped after failing a drug test. He later challenged twice for world heavyweight titles in 2000 and 2002. Botha has competed against former Heavyweight Champions Mike Tyson, Wladimir Klitschko, Lennox Lewis, Michael Moorer and Evander Holyfield late in their respective careers. Botha participated once in mixed martial arts in 2004.
Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield, billed as Finally, was a professional boxing match fought between Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson for the WBA heavyweight championship on November 9, 1996, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, Nevada. The bout was Tyson's first defence of the WBA title that he had won from Bruce Seldon on September 7 of that year.
Evander Holyfield vs. Riddick Bowe was a professional boxing match that took place on November 13, 1992 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The fight was contested for the undisputed world heavyweight championship, which consisted of the WBA, WBC, and IBF championships.
Riddick Bowe vs. Evander Holyfield III, billed as "The Final Chapter", was a professional boxing match contested on November 4, 1995. The non-title match marked the third and final fight in the Bowe–Holyfield trilogy.
Michael Moorer vs. George Foreman, billed as One for the Ages, was a professional boxing match contested on November 5, 1994 for the WBA and IBF heavyweight championships.
Evander Holyfield vs. Lennox Lewis, billed as Undisputed, was a professional boxing match contested on March 13, 1999 for the WBA, WBC, and IBF undisputed heavyweight championship.
Bruce Seldon vs. Mike Tyson, billed as Liberation, was a professional boxing match fought on September 7, 1996 for the WBA heavyweight championship.
Mike Tyson vs. Tony Tubbs was a professional boxing match contested on March 21, 1988 for the WBA, WBC, and IBF heavyweight championships.
Mike Tyson vs Frank Bruno was a professional boxing match contested on February 25, 1989 for the WBA, WBC, IBF and The Ring heavyweight championships.
Mike Tyson vs. Alex Stewart, billed as The Hard Way Back, was a professional boxing match contested on December 8, 1990. It was Tyson's second fight since losing the undisputed world heavyweight championship earlier in the year.
Mike Tyson vs. Donovan Ruddock, billed as Fight of the Year, was a professional boxing match contested on March 18, 1991 at the Mirage in Paradise, Nevada. At the time the two fighters were the top two ranked contenders for the WBC, WBA, and IBF world heavyweight championships that were at the time held by Evander Holyfield. The bout was a twelve-round championship eliminator fight, with the winner becoming the mandatory challenger to Holyfield's crown.
Mike Tyson vs. Donovan Ruddock II, billed as The Rematch, was a professional boxing match contested on June 28, 1991. It was the second time the two fighters fought that year, as their first bout in March was mired in controversy.
Mike Tyson vs. Buster Mathis Jr., billed as Presumption of Innocence, was a professional boxing match contested on December 16, 1995.
Mike Tyson vs. Andrew Golota, billed as Showdown in Motown, was a professional boxing match contested on October 20, 2000.
Herbie Hide vs. Riddick Bowe was a professional boxing match contested on March 11, 1995, for the World Boxing Organization Heavyweight Championship. The bout took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, Nevada, and was televised by HBO. Hide was making the first defense of the title he had won from Michael Bentt in a fight that resulted in Bentt suffering career ending injuries while Bowe was trying to find his way back into the world championship picture sixteen months after he lost his place as champion to Evander Holyfield. Bowe defeated Hide in the 6th round.
Lennox Lewis vs. Michael Grant, billed as Two Big, was a professional boxing match contested on April 29, 2000 for the WBC, IBF, and IBO heavyweight championships.
Lennox Lewis vs. Francois Botha, billed as The Homecoming, was a heavyweight professional boxing match contested between WBC, IBF, and IBO champion Lennox Lewis and the WBC's #9 ranked contender Francois Botha. The bout took place on 15 July 2000 at the London Arena in England. Lewis defeated Botha via second-round technical knockout to retain his heavyweight titles.
Mike Tyson vs. Orlin Norris was a professional boxing match contested on October 23, 1999. The match was stopped and ruled a no contest before the second round after Tyson committed a foul, injuring Norris, Norris won by disqualification.
Mike Tyson vs. Brian Nielsen was a professional boxing match contested on 13 October 2001.
