July 15 - HBO 9:00 pm
Lennox Lewis vs. Frans Botha
(Undisputed Heavy Weight Championship)
Looks like Lennox is recycling Mike Tyson opponents. Isn't Frans the guy Mikey stopped in
the 5th round with 1 shot? You have to hand it to Frans though. He gets in the ring
with Mikey for peanuts and gets blown away. Now he enters the ring with Lennox, and the
chance to win the undisputed heavy weight title. So, what did Frans do to deserve a shot?
Perhaps it was his 1 round blow out of veteran Steve Pannell this past Jan; or even his
controversial draw to Lewis KO victim Shannon Briggs last Aug. No, that can't be it,
although there is a correlation here. Lennox is putting his title on the line because he
knows he can beat Frans. It's that simple. Styles make fights. Rewind to the Both/Briggs
fight. Botha always stayed in front of Briggs. He moved straight forward, no lateral
movement. Lewis is a rangy fighter who is tailored matched to fight a guy like Botha. He
can pick his shots from the out side and use the jab to set up the right hand. Mark my
words, Lewis will do this all night until he softens up the Fran's melon, then goes for
the kill. Problem is Lewis doesn't have 1 punch KO power. Sure he blew out Golota in 1.
Yeah, in his last outing he blew out pretender (and a former Dean favorite) Michael Grant
in 2. These were both stoppages, not 10 count KO's. There is some danger for Lewis,
because he is chinless. If the same Frans who came to fight Mikey steps into the ring,
Lennox may have his hands full. I suspect Lennox has learned well from the Holyfield
matches to avoid such a situation.
If Lennox sticks to working behind the jab, he should box his way to a convincing
decision.
Lewis by Decision
Wladimir Klitschko vs. Monte Barrett
Wladimir continues his quest for heavy weight supremacy and keeping the Klitschko name
alive. Although Wladimir is the bigger banger, Monte has proven to have heart and
determination. The main difference between these two budding stars is their respective
levels of competition. Wladimir continues to fight today's top talent, while Monte fights
yesterdays might have beens. Wladimir stopped Paea Wolfgramm last Mar in 1 round (as predicted) and stopped contender David Bostice last Apr
in 2 (as predicted). In Sep 99, Wladimir did what no
other man was able to do, and that was stop Axel Shultz in the 8th round. A feat James
Smith, George Foreman, Michael Moorer and Henry Akinwande couldn't do. This in itself
should speak volumes. How about a side by side comparison against a common opponent. A
good example would be their Phil Jackson fights. Monte fought Phil in Apr 99 to a 12 round
decision. Wladimir stopped Phil in Nov 99 in 2 rounds. Could this be an indicator? Hmmm.
Wladimir's only loss was an 11th round stoppage by Ross Purity. Wladimir attributes that
to a stamina issue, which he has since corrected.
Wladimir is a physically big man with heavy hands and the ability to finish.
None the less, Wladimir will have his hands full against Monte.
Monte is a fighter on the brink of greatness. He looked fantastic in his 7 round stoppage
of Jimmy Thunder this past Feb. In his fight prior to that, he went the distance and beat
up and coming Derrick Banks. His only loss was a hard fought 12 round decision to another
big man, Lance "Mount" Whittaker. A big win against Wladimir would propel Monte
into some big money fights, but don't hold your breath.
Wladimir will set the pace from the opening bell. Wladimir needs to work the body to
nullify Monte's speed. I expect a slugfest from the second round on with many heated
exchanges. Monte will come up short in these exchanges and succumb to the inevitable
inside 9 frames.
Klitschko inside 9
In Retrospect:
Lennox Lewis vs. Frans Botha
Almost as expected. I expected Frans to be a little more competitive then he was, and
expected him to withstand more damage then he received. It looks as though Jack O'Connell
was paying Lennox back for calling Lewis/Holyfield 1 a draw, because although Frans was
knocked down, it was obvious he was ready to continue. He showed no signs of wobbly legs
and was doing as instructed, yet the fight was stopped. Remember how I said Lewis didn't
have 1 punch KO power. This was illustrated last night quite convincingly. He popped a 3
punch combo after the initial jab, and put Frans down. Frans recovered quick and was on
his feet. When Mikey dropped Frans with a single over hand right, Frans couldn't get up.
He tried, then fell back to the canvas in a heap. He was hurt bad! The ringside crew is
saying how Lennox has improved. I agree. Since he started using the jab to set up the
right, he has been doing better. He won't fair so well against a mobile banger like Tua.
You can bet on that. The tale will be told in November, when Lewis and Tua square off.
I'll give you a quick glimpse of how I see it . . . Tua will stop Lewis inside 6. Mark my
words!
Wladimir Klitschko vs. Monte Barrett
Almost as expected. I didn't expect Monte to hold on as much as he did, but Wladimir
worked off the clinches and showed good patience and a strong ability to fight in close
quarters. Every shot Wladimir landed hurt Monte, and like I said, it was just a matter of
time before the accumulation of punches caught up to the veteran. Wladimir showed a
natural ability to throw vicious left hooks, and to even double or triple up on those
hooks. That demonstrates natural talent. And did you notice how the broadcast team got
behind Wladimir? That's easy to explain . . . Wladimir is in talks to sign a multi fight
deal with HBO. Now does it make sense? I would like to see the younger Klitschko get his
title chance. He has the size and range to go a long way in this division, but does he
have the heart? I'll keep an eye on this rising star.
