After his knockout of Gerry Cooney on January 15, 1990, George Foreman returned to the ring on April 17th against Mike Jameson in Lake Tahoe, Nevada on the USA network. Jameson was a limited fighter at best, who had not fought in three years. ‘Big’ George toyed with him, before knocking him out in the fifth round. This win set up his first bout on HBO in June, as part of a doubleheader with the come backing ex champ Mike Tyson.
The HBO broadcast would be a big step for George. He was now fighting on the big stage, and it added even more legitimacy to his comeback. His opponent was the trial horse Adilson Rodrigues, a top ten ranked heavyweight from Brazil. In his other major test, Rodrigues had been KO’d by Evander Holyfield in 1988, so he was the perfect opponent for George. A name fighter with no real chance to beat him.
Foreman weighed 263 pounds for the fight at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. He was bigger than life, and it was exciting to see him live on HBO. Thank God my sister had HBO, and I was able to go over her apartment to see the action.
The bout itself went according to plan. George knocked Rodrigues out clean with a beautiful left hook in the second round, and had put himself in line for a big bout. There was mention of a fight between him and Mike Tyson in the fall, if Mike disposed of Henry Tillman in his comeback fight that same night.
Tyson KO’d Tillman with a right hand off of Henry’s forehead in the opening round, hardly a shock to anyone. The reasoning behind him being in the ring that night was the fact that he had beat Tyson in the Olympic trials in 1984. This was a whole different ballgame, and Mike had his name in the win column again.
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