Francois Botha Claims $150000 Bribe, NO WBA Official Present
By Robert Brizel, Real Combat Media Correspondent
Brisbane, Australia (February 16th, 2013)–Francois Botha, who lost a controversial ten round decision to rugby player Sonny Bill Williams in Brisbane, Australia, on February 8, 2013, when the last round was cut short, and the bout somehow got shortened from 12 rounds, now claims that Williams manager Khoder Nasser offered him a bribe of one hundred fifty thousand Australian dollars (approximately $155,000 U.S.) to take a dive. The bribe was offered after a telephone call and a meeting in a Brisbane park, but Botha refused.
Botha also said he took prefight drug tests in South Africa and the results were clear before the bout, countering claims Nasser his prefight drug test contained a banned stimulant.
The World Boxing Association International vacant Heavyweight title bout could not have been a legitimate sanction, because no WBA Official was present in Brisbane on February 8, 2013. As no WBA official was present, this might have been the reason the boxing card promoter cut the rounds to 12 to 10 before the bout. Botha was beating Williams badly in the tenth, and Williams would never have made it out of the eleventh round. Botha never knew no WBA official was present, but the oversight provides the reason the promoter shortened the bout, not the bookmakers betting Botha versus Williams for a decision on a knockout. Since the Australian bettors bet for 12 rounds, full refunds to bettors were issued.
Despite the bribe offer claim by Botha the illegal stimulant claim against Botha, and the lack of a WBA official in Brisbane, all the allegations and developments in detail reveal is the Williams-Botha bout could not have been fought for a WBA title. Regarding Botha’s grounds for a pending appeal, Botha’s argument will be he contracted to fight a 12 round WBA vacant title bout, not a ten round nontitle bout, and did not otherwise entering the ring. Botha anticipated a 12 round WBA International heavyweight title bout. The Williams corner will argue he Botha was on an illegal stimulant. If the person claiming the illegal fight pretest was related to the promoter, Botha could claim reasonable doubt.
World Boxing Association regulations, most recently adopted in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2012, Section A., Point 41, states a World Boxing Association Supervisor must be present at all title bouts sanctioned by the WBA for the title bout to be official. The WBA President shall attend, or shall appoint a member of the directory to represent him as the supervisor for sanctioned bouts. The WBA Supervisor shall assist the local commission to carry out the fight, and to ensure that all World Boxing Association rules are followed. In exceptional circumstances, when a directorate member cannot serve as a supervisor, the WBA President may appoint a member not on the directorate. The WBA Supervisor must report on the fight for which he was appointed within 10 days of the bout. The citation can be found online at
http://wbanews.com/artman/uploads/1/WBA_Rules_adopted_in_Jakarta_10-30-12.pdf
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