Francois Botha, hailing from Witbank, Mpumalanga, also nicknamed “The White Buffalo”, is a famous South African boxer. Botha is best known for triumphing against Axel Schulz the IBF World Heavyweight Championship title in Germany back in 1995, a title which he was later deprived of enjoying after testing positive for steroids. Botha has participated in […]
Muhammad Ali was one of the greatest boxing legends in the world. He had a fighting technique that was unique and with one punch it was over. Muhammad Ali perused professional boxing at an early age and he loved it so much that he built a career out of it. Ali created ripples in the […]
Joe Rosella, who won the South African welterweight title in February 1921 and scored only six victories in his 18 fights as a professional, was better known as a trainer of fighters and for his body building gyms rather than being a boxer. Born William Joseph Rosella in Cape Town on June 26, 1897 he […]
Possibly one of the best small-hall promoters in the long history of South African boxing is Jeff Ellis, who has done it all. He has been a boxer, trainer, manager, local and international board representative, and, in the in the latter part of the 1990s, he promoted a series of shows to packed houses at […]
Georges Carpentier nicknamed the “Orchid Man” was possibly the best European fighter of all time and virtually fought in every division, but he is best known for his fight with Jack Dempsey at Boyles Thirty Acres in Jersey City on July 2 1921. Many journalist referred to it as the ‘the match of the century’ […]
One of the most exciting heavyweight contenders of the 1980’s, was the big punching Ron Ellis, of Mayfair. Younger brother to another gutsy heavyweight prospect; Jeff Ellis, the trigger-fisted Ron had 23 bouts as a professional, winning 16 (11 by knockouts), losing 6 and drawing 1. Having turned professional in December 1979, Ron won 9 […]
By Ron Jackson 66 Years later In the Honor Oak Cemetery in Camberwell in the London borough of Southwark is a grave of a man who shot himself. It is the resting place of a man who used to be lion-hearted boxer. He was a world champion and once beat Johnny Ralph in Johannesburg. I […]