After defeating Axel Schulz on April 22, 1995, George Foreman did not fight for over 18 months. When he did return, he fought the safest opponent he could find in Crawford Grimsley. I ordered the pay-per-view for the fight on November 3, 1996 from Tokyo, Japan. The bout was pathetic, with George fleshy and undertrained. The only thing Grimsley did was walk away from George the entire twelve rounds, and when it was all over, I was sorry I wasted my money.
The easy win over Grimsley proved nothing, and it made me wish George would retire. He came back to HBO for his next fight, this time to face Lou Savarese on April 26, 1997 at the Convention Center in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Since I was struggling financially so much at the time and identified with George so much, he just had to win. A loss at that point would demoralize me and leave me with no one to root for as much. After a rough first half of the bout, thankfully ‘Big George’ rallied down the stretch to pull out a split decision victory.
Seven months later George returned to the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City on November 22, 1997. George was impressive from the start, and nailed the retreating, younger Briggs repeatedly with hard punches. There was no doubt in my mind as this one came to an end, but when the crooked judges gave the win to Briggs, I wanted to throw up. George was gracious in defeat, and announced his retirement with Larry Merchant after the fight.
While sad to see him go, I was grateful for the memories and thrills George had given me for the past ten years. He was scheduled to meet Larry Holmes in January 1999 after his 50th birthday, but fortunately the promotion fell apart and it never took place. Sadly, George passed away on March 21, 2025 and it still bothers me to know he is gone.
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