On May 24, 1968, Dick Tiger took on the challenge of Bob Foster at Madison Square in New York City. Tiger was making the third defense of his light heavyweight title against Foster and had a huge size disadvantage to deal with. Bob stood 7 inches taller than Dick at 6′ 3″, had an eight inch reach advantage over him and was listed as an 11-5 favorite with oddsmakers going into the bout.
Foster took an early lead in the bout, keeping Tiger at bay with his long left hand, easily taking the first three rounds on the scorecards. In the fourth round, a sizzling left hook knocked Tiger out cold, making Bob the new undisputed light heavyweight champion of the world. The closed-circuit audience watching the fight live saw Foster’s amazing punching power displayed for all to see and put on notice all the other light heavyweights in the division.
Foster would remain the champion until his retirement in September 1974, with his only two losses coming from his failed attempts at heavyweight against Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali. Dick Tiger would die in 1971 at just 42 years old of liver cancer, but was inducted into the IBHOF in 1991. Bob is also deserved member of the hall, but both men will forever be remembered for their meeting in May of 1968 and for the spectacular left hook that Foster knocked out Tiger with.
Fighters of that era fought for small wages and have my respect for their courage and willing to face anyone to make a decent payday. Boxing is only as rich as it’s history and warriors like Bob Foster and Dick Tiger helped make it richer.
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