After his close call with Alex Stewart in April of 1992, many called for George Foreman to pack it in. But after a good rest and a chance to heal, he signed to fight Pierre Coetzer of South Africa. Coetzer was coming off two consecutive knockout losses, to Riddick Bowe in July, and to Frank Bruno in October. He seemed a safe opponent for George, and HBO put the fight on as part of a doubleheader with Tommy Morrison, who was taking on Carl ‘The Truth’ Williams. The January 16th show from Reno was one I wouldn’t have missed for anything, so I went over my sister’s apartment to watch it, and tape it too.
Tommy fought first that night, and came off the canvas to stop a tough Williams in the eighth round. Talks were that if George won his bout, the two would meet later that year for the WBO version of the heavyweight championship, a belt I never recognized.
George was much tighter, and more fit when he stepped into the ring with Coetzer. Pierre was tailor made for Foreman, and was never really in the fight. He was stationary, and ate a lot of left jabs from George, who dropped him for the first time in the fourth round. Another knockdown in the eighth ended the fight, and ‘Big’ George had another KO under his belt.
The fight with Morrison wasn’t guaranteed at this point, and George was evasive in his post fight interview. In reality, that was the only fight for him, and I knew the fight would happen by summer.
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