George Foreman began a comeback in March of 1987 to recapture the heavyweight championship he lost to Muhammad Ali in 1974. After a ten year hiatus from the sport in which he becamw a minister, boxing was the last thing on his mind. But after running out of money, he went back to the thing he knew best. Fighting.
His four year sojourn culminated with his title shot against Evander Holyfield, who had just captured the belt with a 3rd round knockout of Buster Douglas in October of 1990. Most called this fight a joke, with a fat 42 year old challenging a young, strong champion in his prime. I didn’t believe that at all, and knew George was anything but a joke.
I made my way to the Pavilion in Cherry Hill for this one, and I was more than a little excited. I had traveled a bunch of times to Atlantic City to watch George train at the Trump Plaza hotel, and seeing him in person only bolstered my confidence that he could pull the upset off.
The fight was competitive, but I wished George had come in lighter than the 257lbs. he tipped the scales at. Although Holyfield’s quickness was a huge factor, Foreman landed many hard blows on his smaller opponent. Evander would later say that no one ever hit him at hard as George did, and that even his glancing blows hurt. When the cards were read after 12 rounds, the unanimous decision went to Holyfield, and deservedly so. George had proved he was no joke however, and that the age 42 was not a death sentence. He would live to fight another day.
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