I fought Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis, but 5-14-1 journeyman gave me hardest fight of my life

Francois Botha fought a who’s who of heavyweight greats during a punishing 24-year professional boxing career.

The South African slugger was a dance partner for Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis, Evander Holyfield and Wladimir Klitschko.

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And while he came up short against all four, he insists that his hardest fight came in his second professional outing against journeyman boxer Themba Msweli.

“A lot of people ask me who’s the best fighter, and I always say Mike because Mike’s got the image, the aggressiveness, everybody knew him,” Botha told British Boxing TV.

“But at the beginning of my career, I fought against Themba Msweli, a guy from South Africa.

“A fight that is not known, and he gave me the hardest fight of my life.”

There is no footage or reports of the fight, which took place on a low-profile undercard at the Pretoria University Arena in 1990.

But we do know that Botha won the bout on points over four rounds.

Msweli was 1-1 at the time, but when he eventually hung up his gloves in 2000, the rugged veteran did so with a battle-worn 5-14-1 record.

The crowning achievement of his understated career came in 1991 when he picked up the Natal heavyweight title, a regional boxing championship in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province.

Botha, meanwhile, would go on to compete several levels above Msweli.

In 1995, after compiling an unblemished 35-0 record, ‘The White Buffalo’ beat Axel Schulz to claim the IBF heavyweight title.

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Euphoria quickly turned to despair when Botha was stripped of his title for failing a post-fight drug test for the banned anabolic steroid, Nandrolone.

He was given the opportunity to redeem himself a year later against newly crowned IBF champion, Michael Moorer, only to be stopped in the 12th round.

A few subsequent wins against unheralded opposition led to a date with Tyson in 1999.

It marked ‘Iron Mike’s’ first outing since his controversial rematch with Holyfield, where he bit a chunk out of his rival’s ear.

The bad-tempered bout reached boiling point at the end of the first round when Tyson and Botha brawled after the bell.

Botha fought valiantly for five rounds and was ahead on the scorecards until Tyson detonated a dynamite left hook to render him unconscious.

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A draw with Shannon Briggs and a win over Steve Pannell then elevated Botha into an IBF and WBC title fight against Lewis in 2000.

This time, Botha wasn’t given a sniff as he was blasted away in two rounds.

Botha was given one last crack at a world title in 2002 when he fought Klitschko for the WBO belt, but he was well-beaten in an eight-round stoppage defeat.

In the years that followed, Botha slipped into the role of a B-side fighter, losing to Holyfield, Michael Grant, Carlos Takam, and Joseph Parker before his eventual retirement in 2014.