Frans Botha vs. "Moorer & Briggs." Classic or Forget it??

[MRBILL]

Fellas,

I have pulled out my two fights with Frans Botha fighting Michael Moorer and Shannon Briggs from 1996 / '99 off of PPV............ Hey, in my book, these two fights are great action packed bouts with thrills and chills, etc..... Frans Botha may indeed be only a very good "B" heavyweight from the past / present, but he had the heart of a lion in both of them bouts against good competition..... Who can argue with this notion??? Say yeah....

MR.BILL:deal:thumbsup:bbb

[mr. magoo]

Good fights, yes. Classics? Nah....

[lefthook31]

I always liked Botha. He was a tough mofo, always came to fight, and really had underated skills. He kind of popped out of nowhere to fight Shultz for the IBF title and proceeded to kick his butt. His fight with Moorer was a good one with him rocking Moorer late in the fight.
As far as Briggs I never liked him. He was a frontrunner that went from brawling mad man to mobile boxer after three rounds, but Botha made the fight competitive through the course. Both good fights, not sure if I would call them classics though...

[MRBILL]

Agreed, guys......... Perhaps not classical events, but pretty fuckin' good at any rate......

MR.BILL

[gooners!!]

Yeah that Moorer for Botha fight was a helluva good back and fourth action fight from what i remember.

[gooners!!]

A few fights that i love that might be considered a forgotten classic, what about Ray Mercer vs Bert Cooper,Cooper vs Tillman and Mercer vs Spoon to a lesser degree ? i thought they were excellent fights myself that dont get talked about all that much.

[MRBILL]

Yeah that Moorer for Botha fight was a helluva good back and fourth action fight from what i remember.

The card was great.

1. Akinwande-Zolkin
2. Moorer-Botha
3. Holy-Tyson 1

Not bad stuff back in '96.......:hat

MR.BILL

[gooners!!]

The card was great.

1. Akinwande-Zolkin
2. Moorer-Botha
3. Holy-Tyson 1

Not bad stuff back in '96.......:hat

MR.BILL

For sure.

Steve Albert was tremendous in calling those fights imo. "Shotgun jab" :lol:

[MRBILL]

For sure.

Steve Albert was tremendous in calling those fights imo. "Shotgun jab" :lol:


I'm getting lit on Friday doing a review of "Moorer-Botha" from 1996 for the IBF title....... This was a damn good title fight that was overshadowed cuz of the main event that featured "Holy & Tyson."

MR.BILL:hat

[Jorodz]

The card was great.

1. Akinwande-Zolkin
2. Moorer-Botha
3. Holy-Tyson 1

Not bad stuff back in '96.......:hat

MR.BILL

not a bad card:good

oh and on the note of forgotten fights from the era: holyfield-cooper remains in my top 10 fights of all time. i just can't get enough of that one. moorer-cooper was good but way too sloppy. moorer fought way down sometimes

[young griffo]

The card was great.

1. Akinwande-Zolkin
2. Moorer-Botha
3. Holy-Tyson 1

Not bad stuff back in '96.......:hat

MR.BILL
I was just thinking about this card the other day.

One of the most enjoyable days of my life.

Akinwande-Zolkin was interesting and Moorer-Botha was a great tussle and a perfect entree for the monumental Holyfield-Tyson upset.

I was way into Holyfield back then and was absolutely amazed and thrilled when he produced the boil over.I went out on the town to celebrate,met a girl and 14 years later I'm married to her.

Ahh memories.:smooch

[MRBILL]

not a bad card:good

oh and on the note of forgotten fights from the era: holyfield-cooper remains in my top 10 fights of all time. i just can't get enough of that one. moorer-cooper was good but way too sloppy. moorer fought way down sometimes

"Moorer-Stewart" of 1992 was also a goodie on HBO...:good

I just reviewed Bowe kayoing Cooper with ease inside of two rds on the undercard of "Holy-Douglas."
:yikes

MR.BILL

[Russell]

I was just thinking about this card the other day.

One of the most enjoyable days of my life.

Akinwande-Zolkin was interesting and Moorer-Botha was a great tussle and a perfect entree for the monumental Holyfield-Tyson upset.

I was way into Holyfield back then and was absolutely amazed and thrilled when he produced the boil over.I went out on the town to celebrate,met a girl and 14 years later I'm married to her.

Ahh memories.:smooch

How'd the Zolkin/Akiwande fight pan out?

[MRBILL]

How'd the Zolkin/Akiwande fight pan out?

I gotta review that one tonight... I still have my tape out..... I believe Henry beat Alexander of 12 rds by a decision...... Alex Zolkin quickly became the Invisible Man..... He vanished......

Again, that was a good night of heavyweight PPV action.... I didn't mind spending the 50 bucks on that.......

MR.BILL:bbb

[MRBILL]

How'd the Zolkin/Akiwande fight pan out?


I was wrong... I had forgotten...... Akinwande TKO 10 Zolkin.... Zolkin was pretty bruised, cut & battered.... The doc called it off......

Odd how Akinwande looked so good here in 1996 against Zolkin only to challenge Lenny Lewis in 1997 and hold his way to a "DQ" loss........ Jesus..

MR.BILL:admin:deal:thumbsup

[he grant]

Good fights, yes. Classics? Nah....

Agreed ...

[young griffo]

How'd the Zolkin/Akiwande fight pan out?
Akinwande pretty much controlled it from memory.

He used his height and reach advantages to consistently score with the jab and he threw a lot of right hands (he was more aggressive than normal in this one) and eventually began to bust Zolkin up.

Zolkin to his credit was always pressing but Akinwande outclassed him and dropped him once I think before Zolkins corner threw in the towel (Zolkin's eye was pretty badly swollen).

I haven't seen it since it took place but this is how I remember it playing out.