The 44 year-old, who seemed to control the contest with Williams and deserved to take the victory, had ‘SBW’ out on his feet towards the end of the ninth as the New Zealand rugby star continued to hold and was deducted a point.
The official then amazingly announced that the tenth round would be the last, despite the fight being a sanctioned WBA International title bout and Botha was visibly confused at the end of what many think should have been a victory for the South African.
“Listen to the crowd. You know who the winner is here. I love Sonny Bill and I think he’s a great guy, a gentleman, but this is bull***t!,” Botha sniped.
The WBA could now move to investigate why the fight was cut short by two rounds as a WBA supervisor was ringside for the event. The fallout is set to rumble on a Botha comes to terms with the ninth professional defeat on his 60-fight record.
