After his loss to Evander Holyfield in April in Atlantic City, George Foreman had gained a new found respect from much of the public. He agreed to fight Jimmy Ellis on HBO on December 7, 1991 in Reno, Nevada. I wouldn’t have missed his return bout for anything, and went over my sister’s house to watch it on HBO.
Ellis was a limited opponent at best. His claim to fame had been as an NFL player for the Raiders, during the strike year of 1987. His manager was Howie Long, and he had been fed a string of mediocre fighters to pad his record. Quite frankly, he didn’t belong in the ring with George Foreman, and was just a chance for the ex champ to get an easy win under his belt.
The fight itself was a joke. Ellis was a rank amateur compared to George, and was never in the bout. Foreman landed punches at will, and the whole farce was over in the third, when the referee stopped the thing.
Larry Merchant commented after the fight that George would have to fight a real professional the next time out, and that HBO had been very generous in allowing him to have such an easy opponent. George’s popularity got him the easy match, but his next time in the ring would have to be against someone that could actually fight.
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