In the world of professional boxing, there are many records that have been set and many records that have been broken over the years. That’s part of what makes certain fighters great – the ability to set and/or break records! And that’s also what makes the sport of boxing so fascinating to watch. As long-time HBO commentator Larry Merchant is fond of saying, “Boxing is the theater of the unexpected”. Just when you think you have seen it all, something outrageous and unexpected will happen. Mike Tyson at the tender age of twenty, set a new record when he captured the Heavyweight Championship of the World in 1986, shattering the previous record that was held by Floyd Patterson. Tyson’s record stands to this day. Mike Tyson again set a record in 1990, when at the age of twenty-four, he lost his championship to a 40-1 underdog in Buster Douglas! Joe Louis, the beloved and respected Heavyweight Champion of the 1930’s and 1940’s, set a record for both the longest reign of any champion in history and the most defenses of his title. Louis’ record stands to this day. And in November of 1994, George Foreman set a record that, to this day, has not been touched. George won the Heavyweight Championship of the World at the age of 45.
When George took the heavyweight crown from Michael Moorer, he eclipsed the long-standing record set by Jersey Joe Walcott who, at the age of 37, won the Heavyweight Championship from Ezzard Charles. For over forty years, Walcott’s record was safe; no fighter had come close to breaking it! But then along came George Foreman on his improbable quest to regain his heavyweight title that he lost to Muhammad Ali in Kinshasa, Zaire, in 1974. Nearly twenty years to the day, George delivered a punch that shook the boxing world and separated Michael Moorer from his senses. George, all throughout his comeback, said that age was just a number. He never made concessions to his age; people scoffed and laughed as George relentlessly chased his dream of becoming Heavyweight Champion again. He was too old, too fat, and too slow to ever win the championship again, his detractors would say. When George lost a lopsided decision to Heavyweight Champion Evander Holyfield in April 1991, critics said that George had his shot and should retire. He had given Holyfield a rough fight, and he had managed to go the twelve-round distance. George should retire and enjoy his money and popularity, they said. But George was adamant! He would fight on!
When Michael Moorer defeated Evander Holyfield in April 1994, Moorer and his team were looking for an easy touch for his first defense of his title. It’s almost a boxing tradition that a newly-crowned champion take an easy fight for his first defense, and Moorer was looking to follow that adage. George Foreman, based on his popularity and charisma, was offered a shot at Michael Moorer’s title, and George, of course, gladly accepted. In preparation for his fight with Moorer, George pushed himself harder than he had in a long while in training. He knew this was going to be his last hurrah, and he was going to give it his all. A few days before the fight, as the fighters arrived for the traditional pre-fight weigh-in, George looked to be in remarkably good shape. He weighed in at a svelte(for him) 250-pounds; he looked primed and ready. Moorer, on the other hand, weighed in about eight-pounds heavier than in his last fight, and his body had a softness to it that was unusual. But as the fight unfolded, it appeared that Moorer’s condition was irrelevant; he was peppering Foreman with his precision jab, and he was piling up the points as the rounds mounted. Occasionally, George would swing a hard punch to Moorer’s head and body, and he had managed to stun Moorer a few times during the fight. But as the tenth round unfolded, Moorer was way ahead in the scoring. George, sensing his chance slipping away, came alive and started throwing punches like he had just awoken from a deep sleep. As George snapped a left jab at Moorer, he followed it immediately with a short, straight right hand that landed right on Moorer’s chin. Moorer hit the canvas, and ten seconds later he was champion no more!
As the capacity crowd at the MGM Grand Casino in Las Vegas was on its feet in stunned disbelief as the referee tolled “ten,” George knelt in his corner in a prayer of thanks. He had done the impossible, at an age when everyone said he had no business being in the ring, and he was now the supreme ruler of the heavyweight division. And so far, George Foreman’s record is safe and secure.
