SBW wins fight, crowd not happy

Jack The area of my concern is the corruption and the blatant cheating in modern boxing. We can not say the boxers did know or did not know because that would be hearsay and one will argue all day about that point. But we can still proof the farce that it is by looking at other evidence. That evidence is right there before us. That is that the fans and punters and buyers of PPV didnt know it was 10 and was sold as a 12 rounder. Even Alan Moore made it all too clear he had no clue about it as well as his peers at table There is your evidence. I don't know if you have done boxing but you decide your strategy and prepare yourself for it how you are going to fight your opponent. Botha old seasoned pro was well aware that Williams never experienced 12 rounds before and it was uncharted waters. 12 rounders separate the pretenders from the contenders. I think everyone saw that and that Williams would have been destroyed in 11. There is a reason why boxing matches for title fights are scheduled for 12 as only surviving it till then end you can hold your head high and will earn respect. You got what it takes. Look at how Don King sells matches. King can not only sell ice cubes in Alaska, he can package it with some air conditioning units, tank tops and sun block lotions.

to which Khoder Nasser would say: “That’s normal.”

Respected local referee Alan Moore who was one of the judges stated 12 rounds was on his judges score sheet.

eddie, i suppose the real issue for me (and a lot of boxing purists) is that boxing is just not a part time business. If he wants to be world class (as in union and league) it will need a more focused concentration of efforts. If the goal is not be world class, then he needs to say it. Then the performance metric will be set against THAT expectation (a guy that wants to have a little fun). I'm a kiwi as well but the analytical references on SBW are always the wrong references. Every time he played for the kiwis, he was the great hope. They lost everytime-check the record. The brain snaps you mention occurred under duress- something that we have never been able to muster against australia because we are dead and buried usually with 20 to go. We are very close to Oz now in regard performance in League. Sustaining under pressure is the key and for me, the marketing elements on SBW have outweighed the performance elements here. As for ABS he only got his first run on start last year v Irish when Conrad was out with a detached retina. Also the world cup victory was by 1 point -where he was on the bench. The margins for error are miniscule across all sports as team SBW found out in the purely individual enterprise that boxing is...IMO I hope they take the lessons on board..

I guess if Williams intends to take the game seriously he will have to step up with his next fight once again. Would David Tua be a step up given that his vintage is similar to that of Botha?

at least we can laugh about it . . . I see the NZ Herald has christened SBW as "undisputed heavyweight champion of a gym in Sydney" and suggests that in future NZ's betting agency, TAB, "will introduce a new bet in which you pick how many rounds the fight is scheduled for" Just one more laugh after a 10-rounder: When asked why there were 12 ring cards at ringside, Nasser replied: "That's normal."

Jeez. Speechless!

if he gets a ban - and why wouldn't he for two abnned drugs? - then at 44 expect that may be his last fight. It really is the last nail in the coffin of this comedy, or is that tragedy?

Absolutely hilarious! Here was a guy going on about match-fixing after the bout, despite his team knowing about the 10 Rounds before the fight, when he was knowingly doping.

won't this make it a non-fight ie count for nothing (or less than nothing?): Francois Botha, the former heavyweight world champion beaten by Sonny Bill Williams on Friday night, has tested positive to a banned substance. Botha, whose claims that he did not know the WBA international heavyweight bout would only last 10 rounds have also now been discredited, failed a drugs test on the eve of the fight. Results of a urine sample submitted by the 44-year-old South African in Brisbane last Tuesday under WBA regulations show he had Phentermine - a banned stimulant - in his system. The drugs test, which has now been forwarded to the WBA's global headquarters in Panama, also detected Benzodiazepine, which suggested Botha was also using a valium-type product. http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/other-sports/8285110/SBW-fight-Botha-tests-positive-to-drugs

I agree with you mjpt about Brand Williams taking a beating after the Fri night farce, but right up to the 8th I thought he was travelling well. Yeah, he got in deep water to test himself got found out and copped a hiding-mehh. Everyone knows he would've lost the 11th. Prior to the fight, haven't read anywhere they've called themselves 'world class,' as you say. Plus aligning him with The Kiwis woes, bit of a stretch. The queue of Kiwi talent to lose to the 'Great Ozzie team' stretches back a looong way. Not taking away from the League WC win-hey, we're World Champs in both versions ( ; but that night there were two turning points as well IMO from uncharacteristic Aus mistakes. Monaghan taking out a player and Slaters brain snap.

"Doesn’t matter if boxers or who knew it was 10." But Neuen isn't that the basis of your, and many others. argument? That both parties were unaware that it was 10 Rounds, when in fact they were. As I said poor communication but all above board. And I really don't think the belt is important to the SBW camp. They wanted to see if he could face up to a seasoned veteran who in the past has gone toe to toe with some of the greatest boxers of all time. Yes Botha was past his prime but he was still extremely experienced, and on another level to what SBW had faced prevously. A very dangerous opponent for only your 6th time in the ring. SBW proved that if he was to take the fight game seriously, something he would have to look into doing asap, then he could make a fist of it. If he had been knocked out in Round 4, they woud have given the idea away. High risk, high reward play by Nasser.

Its interesting to know all SBW fights were shorten. I'm not sure if theres a backlash against SBW ability rather the encapsulation of ill transparent dealings that surrounds his camp….Now if SBW camp is serious I suggest they read this….http://www.3news.co.nz/David-Tua-camp-keen-on-Sonny-Bill-Williams-bout/tabid/415/articleID/286264/Default.aspx

Doesn't matter if boxers or who knew it was 10. Fans and punters and buyers of PPV didnt. And for interest sake Brad Vocale from the WBA's Pan Asian Boxing Association told Fox Sports News: "Due process clearly wasn't done here by the self-appointed regulatory branch here in Queensland because they didn't even bother to check with the WBA whether this bout has been approved." Vocale said he doubted the belt presented to Williams was sanctioned by the WBA, and that it wasn't a genuine WBA belt but made by a member of the Queensland branch of the Boxing Federation. They just made their own belt? Fantastic.

Or very embarassing for SBW camp? The Australian newspaper reported that Australian National Boxing Federation vice-president Alan Moore, a ringside judge for the bout, had no idea it had been shortened to 10 rounds. "When the ring announcer said over the loud speaker that it was the last round, that was the first we (judges) knew of any change," Moore was quoted as saying. "Any international title fight is meant to be fought over 12 three-minute rounds. I have no idea what happened."

Neuen you may have missed that the 10 Rounds were signed off by officials. Botha's promoter, Thinus Strydom, was advised but he failed to inform his fighter. Strydom said: ''They called me aside and said, 'Listen it's been cut down to 10 rounds'. I said to my guy, 'Don't tell him. Before the bell, you don't do things like that". Why 2 judges, TV execs, the crowd etc etc were not advised of this is anyone's guess. A severe breakdown in communication, and a bad look for boxing, but not corruption.

No it does not happen anywhere. It happens in boxing with this new promoters agents coming in taking the absolute Mickey out of boxing. Don King as scaley as he might have been he did his tricks with building hype not by cheating or corruption that is so plain obvious. There might be no Qld boxing commission but its still a sanctioned title fight and it was scheduled for 12. Rules state a referee must be fair and unbias. This is corruption and in most countries its illegal. If this was in the USA the feds would have been all over it. SBW did well against a 44 year old who came out of retirement and he won 7 of the first 8 rounds. But Botha was conserving himself and he setup SBW nicely. When he was about to pull the trigger they called it. The boxing commission might have something to say about it

Grafter, SB Seems like this fight has had a positive effect in terms of QLD getting its act together. Personally it feels bittersweet because we had the death of Alex Slade in Oct 2010, which didn't really get things moving but this fight suddenly gotten the ball rolling. http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/sport/for-combat-sports-the-fight-has-just-begun-20130210-2e5zx.html

Very embarrassing revelations for the Botha camp.

Brand SBW just took a pounding. I am pro performance and pro common sense. This had plenty of neither. People are just so sick and tired of people in management having more information and using that advantage for political, financial and general advantage. The virtues that SBW apparently railed against with the rugby and rugby league institutions with Nasser are exactly what they used on the crowd, judges, commentators and anyone else that thought the bout was 12 rounds. This is what all boxing purists have been saying all along- you don't just PLAY boxing, you live it. This is not rugby or league. SBW knew this going in I imagine as his comments pointed to moving away from the sport. The higher the level, the more the exposure. He went to deeper water this night and got found out. The factors that made SBW appeal worked-right up until they didn't. Transparency -a word that Nasser has been asking for from all the clubs as he applies underdog status for his clients went out the window on this one. No point in setting a standard if you are not going to meet it yourself. SBW lost a host of fans I think and if the institutions were smart, they would not endure anymore of his 1 year rolling contracts where he uses boxing as part of the leverage. He just lost that. He is not world class. Period. It is the same with rugby league at the highest level where he was routinely seen as the saviour for the Kiwis but NEVER won against the Ozzies. The first thing that happened when he code jumped was the Kiwis won the world cup where they showed true team principles instead of relying on individuals. Thats the only way to beat the great Ozzie team. I hope that team SBW learn from this and apply a definition to transparency that they clearly understand instead of looking like little kids who use big words that they obviously don't. This was poor and SBW, Nasser and anyone else involved lost a lot of friends this night.