They say a fighter’s punching power is the last thing a fighter loses, but in the case of Big George Foreman, it would be his determination and his faith added to his punching power that would see him secure his greatest victory at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas on November 5th 1994.
George Foreman won heavyweight gold at the 1968 Summer Olympics held in Mexico, turning professional the following year Foreman racked up a winning streak of 13 fights unbeaten all but one coming by way of a knockout.
Through the early 70s the knockouts continued to come on a frequent basis, Foreman was soon tagged as a serious contender for the heavyweight crown, this was soundly justified when in 1973 Foreman steamrollered through the much-fancied Champion Joe Frazier, in a fight that lasted 2 rounds Smokin’ Joe hit the canvas 6 times, it was a convincing show of raw power by Foreman.
Next for George Foremanwas the hard-hitting Ken Norton the next challenger for the new Champion who had just come through an easy first defence knocking out Jose Roman in one round, Norton should have proved a much stiffer opponent, after all he had broken the jaw of Muhammad Ali however Forman dispatched of Norton with consummate ease with a 2nd round TKO
Seemingly invincible Foreman marched into Zaire Africa, to defend his titles against Muhammad Ali in the now historic ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ encounter, many people feared for Ali’s well-being fearing the ferocious punching Power of Foreman would be too much for the former Champion, the rest they say is history.
After losing his belts Foreman fought on for a couple of more years ending with a points loss to Jimmy Young, tired and exhausted Foreman fell ill, fearing for his health the Non-religious Foreman began to pray, this near death experience prompted Foreman to become an ordained born-again Christian Minister and he would spend the next 10 years speaking about his experiences while working within the community helping the youth and needy, his desire to fight was gone yet the manner in which he lost to Ali in Zaire still haunted him.
The Comeback Trail began in 1987 a mixture of bad investments, the need to continue his work within his ministry and youth projects plus the threat of homelessness hanging over his head, overweight and old he turned to the sport that he had once shunned for help, and for the next 4 years slowly climbed up the heavyweight rankings winning with knockout victory after knockout victory, many didn’t take the comeback seriously at all the comeback trail was seen a little more than a stunt, but the ‘Punching Preacher’ was on a mission, a personal mission.
It is true to say that as a younger man Foreman had a brooding, solemn and dark persona an unattractive trait that boxing media moguls disliked, during his earlier career he was not a fan favourite but the new re-born Foreman was far more approachable and jovial resulting in a lucrative advertising deals, the comeback campaign continued with Foreman picking up a new set of fans, his new personality winning over the old boxing faithful.
After 2 unsuccessful attempts at winning the heavyweight titles, points losses to Evander Holyfield and Tommy Morrison gave Foreman’s comeback march much credibility he proved he could hold his own with much younger opponents, in 1994, 20 years after first losing his heavyweight crown to Ali, Big George Foreman would make the impossible dream become a reality.
Michael Moorer had become the WBA and IBF Heavyweight Champion after beating Evander Holyfield On April 22, 1994, this win set up a unification fight with Lennox Lewis who held the WBC title, however Moorer declined the lucrative offer and looked else where for a credible opponent, George Foreman offered himself as the next opponent and after a short court battle with the WBA Foreman got his chance for a third crack at winning a Heavyweight title
Aged 45 the oldest man to fight for a heavyweight title Big George stepped into the MGM Grand ring as the underdog to take on the much-fancied WBA and IBF champion Michael Moorer although considered by many to be just a caretaker title holder, Moorer was 19 years younger, unbeaten with an impressive knockout ratio of his own, Foreman’s chances of causing an upset were zero to none.
For 9 rounds Moorer out classed and out boxed his opponent hitting Foreman at will who at times was a static target, unable to mount Sustainable attacks Foreman stood in front of Moorer and took everything the young Champion could throw at him, occasionally landing heavy shots of his own but unable to sustain meaningful attacks.
In Round 10 Foreman made his move, just like 20 years previous Foreman had been lulled into a false sense of security by the ‘rope a dope’ tactics of Ali, once Ali was satisfied, he had worn out the aggressive assaults from the tiring Foreman, Ali unleashed a barrage of punches to end the fight.
With 20 years of experience the wily old Challenger had spent 9 rounds sucking the young Champion into the range of his deadly right hand, a one two combination caught Moorer on the side of the head with the damage done, Foreman quickly followed up with another one two combination the big right hand finally detonating onto the chin of Moorer who instantly dropped to the canvas unable to beat the count.
Through all the euphoria and ensuing ring invasion of excited fans, family, fight team and media, one man stood tall, looked to the heavens then knelt in the corner for a silent prayer, Finally Big George Foreman the oldest heavyweight champion in history had exorcised the ghost of Zaire.
