X-DoNotUse-Sports

Briggs' Draw May Get Tyson

August 8, 1999 / 1:45 AM EDT / AP

Shannon Briggs' big plans for a fight with Mike Tyson remained in place but only barely after the heavyweight survived with a 10-round draw against Francois Botha Saturday night.

Botha, a 3-to-1 underdog, unleashed a blistering 10th-round assault that left Briggs on the verge of going down. All three judges awarded Botha a 10-8 round, enabling him to obtain a 94-94 score on two judges' cards; the third card had it 95-92 in Botha's favor. The result was a draw by the majority decision.

Botha, who landed numerous unanswered rights to the head in the final round, was unhappy with the decision.

"I thought I won the fight," said the 30-year-old native of South Africa. "But when it came to New Jersey, I figured I had to knock him out. The power that his manager has with the New Jersey (Boxing) Commission made it obvious to me I wasn't going to win a decision."

Briggs' manager, Marc Roberts, said negotiations for a Briggs-Tyson bout, possibly for Dec. 11, are underway. A loss to Botha would have denied Briggs a chance at Tyson, and a career-high payday.

"This guy gave me a lot of trouble tonight," Briggs said. "I thought I could just walk through his punches because I thought his power was not all that. I thought I would knock him out because his chin was not all that. But he was cagey, and he was very slick. I guess I underestimated him," Briggs said.

Then he turned his attention to Tyson.

"I heard he called here during the fight and said, `Let's get it on,'" Briggs said of his fellow Brooklyn, N.Y., native. "It would be great to have that fight, especially in New York. I'm excited."

Though he finished strongly, Botha had trouble early penetrating Briggs' 7-inch reach advantage. Botha's offense was non-existent for the first two rounds before he picked up his body assault in round three.

Botha appeared ready to take control after a big seventh round but a break in round eight gave Briggs a chance he capitalized on. Botha's mouthpiece fell out, providing a stop in the action that gave Briggs a chance to rest.

When the fight resumed, Briggs jumped on Botha, landing a combination capped by a left hook to the head to knock him down. Briggs, who was losing the round, instead emerged with a 10-8 verdict on all three scorecards for a crucial turnaround.

The draw was the first for each fighter. Briggs is 31-2-1 with 25 knockouts, while Botha is 39-2-1 with 24 knockouts. An announced crowd of 5,150 watched the bout at Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort.