Francois Botha

Francois Botha

Born on September 28, 1968, Francois Botha is a South African boxer who was known to fans as the White Buffalo. He held the World Boxing Foundation World Heavyweight title before losing it to Evander Holyfield in 2010.

He started as a pro boxer in 1990 and is still active in the ring. He had a distinguished career, facing off with the likes of Mike Tyson, Shannon Briggs, Axel Schulz and Michael Moorer. Botha also won the International Boxing Federation World Heavyweight title although the fight was declared no contest and he was not officially recognized as a champion. He fought Schultz in 1995 and won the IBF World Heavyweight Championship. However, he later tested positive for nandrolone, a prohibited steroid which resulted to the fight being declared as a no contest and Botha was denied the title.

He participated in kickboxing and in the MMA, earning a current K-1 record of 4-11 with two wins facing off against kick boxing legends, Jerome Le Banner and Peter Aerts. He fought in one MMA fight on December 31, 2004, losing to Yoshihiro Akiyama in the first round with an arm bar submission.

After his MMA stint, Botha returned to boxing in 2007 beating Bob Mirovic in South Africa. He later defended his WBF title against Timo Hoffman on May 15, 2009 by split decision. He lost via knockout in the 8th round to Holyfield at the Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Botha currently holds a record of 56 professional boxing wins.