Lewis KO's Botha in 2nd round

By ALAN BALDWIN

LONDON (July 15, 2000 10:39 p.m. EDT http://www.sportserver.com) - Heavyweight world champion Lennox Lewis sent South African Frans Botha sprawling to defeat in two rounds on Saturday and then challenged Mike Tyson to "put up or shut up."

Briton Lewis, fighting in the country of his birth for the first time in six years, took just five minutes and 39 seconds to defend his World Boxing Council (WBC) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) titles.

The self-styled "White Buffalo" was floored by a lethal four-punch combination in the second round.

Botha disentangled himself and clambered groggily back to his feet by the time the count had reached six. But British referee Larry O'Connell had no doubts and stopped the fight. The South African offered no resistance.

Lewis then turned his thoughts to Tyson, the former undisputed world champion whose menacing shadow had hung over the bout at the London Arena and who had bad-mouthed and belittled the Briton.

"I think he should now put up or shut up. Simple as that,"

said Lewis of the man he could well meet next year. "He's not even the best in this era.

"He's turned into a circus show for me."

Tyson has fought twice in Britain this year and his two fights together have been total mismatches that stretched to barely five minutes.

As if to show that the American had no monopoly on despatching opponents without hanging around, Lewis rocked Botha with a short right hook

"I didn't see it; I just felt it," Botha said of the crucial second-round blow.

But Lewis, whose last fight in Britain ended with a two-round knockout defeat to American Oliver McCall in 1994, knew exactly what he had done.

"It was a four-punch combination," said the 34-year-old, acclaimed as undisputed champion despite having his World Boxing Association (WBA) belt taken away by a U.S. judge in April when he refused to fight the WBA's top challenger.

"I came in behind my jab and threw a right, then an uppercut and another right hand."

"It was very special to come back here and show the world how much I've improved," added Lewis, who had said before the fight that it would probably be his last in Britain but suggested afterwards that it might not.

"The crowd wants more. I might have to come back and give them more."

Botha also fought Tyson last year and lasted five rounds, leading the bout on most scorecards before the knockout punch.

"The same mistake I did with Mike, I did with Lewis," said Botha. "I have no complaints. He caught me with a great shot. You have to give him the credit for that."

O'Connell, who had controversially judged Lewis's title fight against Evander Holyfield in New York last year that ended in a draw, went from crowd villain to instant hero.

Lewis had no doubts the referee had redeemed himself.

"It was a good stop," he said. "When the referee asked him to come forward, he was still wobbly."

It was the second time in two fights that Lewis, who entered the ring to a Tower of London theme with flaming braziers lighting his entrance and ring card girls dressed as scantily clad Beefeaters, had won in two rounds.

He knocked out Michael Grant in two last April.

"I still think that there's a lot more that the public has not seen from Lennox Lewis," he declared.

But his coach Emanuel Steward was happy.

"I'm going to give him an A plus," he said. I don't think he could do much better. He did what he was told to do. I could not believe he landed three blows in that period of time.

"I was very impressed by his precision and the way he controlled the fight."

Lewis now has a record of 39 fights and 37 wins, one defeat and one draw while Botha's record is 45 fights with three defeats, one draw and one no contest.

The South African, who lives in California, said he would continue to fight.

"This is a learning experience," he declared.

David Tua next name on Lewis' hit list

By ALAN BALDWIN

LONDON (July 16, 2000 12:50 p.m. EDT http://www.sportserver.com) - Lennox Lewis has hunted down South Africa's "White Buffalo."

Bring on "The Throwin' Samoan" David Tua - and hope for more of a fight.

Heavyweight world champion Lennox Lewis came home triumphantly on Saturday, stopping Frans Botha with 21 seconds left in the second round to defend his World Boxing Council (WBC) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) belts.

Afterward, the Briton's promoter, Panos Eliades, said New Zealander Tua, once hailed as a young Mike Tyson look-alike, was next on the champion's hit list.

"David Tua is the next fight. We're negotiating, we have a purse bid situation until August 1," said Eliades.

"We need to sit down with Lennox when he's recovered and discuss what we want to do next."

Why wait?, cynics might have asked.

Lewis was certainly not troubled by any punches from his opponent during his five minutes and 39 seconds in the ring -- a fight that followed his two-round demolition of American Michael Grant in New York in April.

There was some debate afterward as to whether Botha had managed to land any of the few punches he threw.

The brief contest meant that any fans who also paid for Mike Tyson's two fights in Britain this year would have handed over a fortune for just over 10 minutes of action.

Tyson's bout in Manchester in January against Briton Julius Francis lasted four minutes and three seconds. American Lou Savarese went down in Glasgow last month in 38 seconds.

Boxing might get a bad name, had it not got one already, from such no-contests, and Lewis had feared before his bout at the London Arena that the disgust at the last Tyson fight might have a knock-on effect on his homecoming.

There were a few empty spaces in the 12,000 seat arena, but Botha was at least a more credible opponent and Lewis, whose last fight in Britain in 1994 ended in a two-round defeat to Oliver McCall, did look the business.

The South African, who picked up a tidy purse and had no complaints on Saturday, led Tyson for five rounds in January last year before being knocked out.

Lewis is undeniably a class act -- how many other heavyweights would psyche themselves up before the fight to the soothing strain of "La Donna e Mobile" from Verdi's opera Rigoletto?

But, with the exception of Tyson, Lewis has already run most of the wilder contenders out of town and there are not many remaining to take him on.

Tua, who combines a relentless attacking style and a sledgehammer left hook, should offer more of a contest than has been seen in the heavyweight ring for a while.

He is the IBF's number one contender, and Lewis is due to fight him before a November deadline.

Eliades said Ukraine's 1996 Olympic super-heavyweight champion, Vladimir Klitschko, who fought on Saturday's undercard and won in seven rounds, could be another opponent.

"Klitschko's manager actually said he'd like to put on a fight between Klitschko and Lennox early next year, and we would do it in London," said Eliades.

"I think it would be a great European fight," added Lewis.

Tyson is the fight everyone wants and Lewis, sick of being bad-mouthed by the American former champion, challenged Tyson to "put up or shut up" after the Botha fight.

Contractual obstacles between Tyson's and Lewis's pay-pre-view television networks is the sticking point.

Eliades said Tyson had been offered $25 million for the fight. "I've said I'll give him an extra five million bonus to make it 30 million, that's what he should get."

Seth Abraham, head of sport at HBO, said Lewis was in the driver's seat anyway: "We've got the heavyweight champion, they've got the challenger. We'll figure it out.

"We've got the jewels.

"He's focused, he's confident and he's got an attitude now. And he's the heavyweight champion."