Michael Moorer vs. George Foreman

On April 22, 1994, Moorer defeated Evander Holyfield by decision to wrest the title, which Holyfield had regained from Riddick Bowe in his previous bout, from the two-time champion.[1] Foreman, at 45, had been on the comeback trail for several years after choosing to end his ten-plus year retirement. He had received a shot at Holyfield's undisputed world championship in 1991 but was defeated on points, not by knockout or technical knockout. Foreman also had not fought since being defeated by Tommy Morrison for the then-fringe World Boxing Organization championship in June 1993.

There were talks about Moorer possibly meeting WBC Heavyweight Champion Lennox Lewis in a match that would once again unify the three major heavyweight titles, but Moorer rejected the idea, stating that he didn't have the desire to do so.[2] Foreman then issued a challenge to the newly crowned champion, and his status as one of the most popular fighters in the sport along with the promise of a big payday led to Moorer ultimately accepting Foreman's challenge. The fight was scheduled for November 5, 1994.

However, the fight almost did not take place. The WBA did not have Foreman ranked on its list of contenders and was thus not willing to sanction the bout. The IBF, which installed Foreman as its eighth-ranked contender, did offer sanctioning, but the WBA warned Moorer that regardless of what happened, he would be stripped of their championship if he went forward with the Foreman fight. Thus, his promoters at Main Events announced on August 10 that the fight was cancelled.[3]

Foreman and his promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank responded to the decision by filing a lawsuit in a Nevada state court on August 15. The suit alleged that the WBA colluded with others to discriminate against the 45-year old Foreman and to force Moorer and Main Events to honor the contract they had signed, with the demand that the champion not be allowed to step in the ring until they did. On August 20, the complainants won an injunction against the WBA. The presiding judge said the organization acted "capriciously" in not sanctioning the fight, and as long as he obtained medical clearance from Nevada doctors Foreman would be eligible to fight for the WBA title.[4][5]

Foreman said after the fight that he was out to lay his ghost from the Rumble in the Jungle to rest, referring to the legendary fight twenty years beforehand in Kinshasa, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) where Muhammad Ali had overcome a previously undefeated Foreman and knocked him out in the eighth round (which remains Foreman's only loss by knockout) to win the heavyweight title that Foreman had held after defeating Joe Frazier in 1973 in Kingston, Jamaica by knocking him down six times in two rounds. Not only did Foreman wear the same red trunks that he had worn in Zaire, but in his corner was Ali's legendary trainer Angelo Dundee, who had been in Ali's corner for that fight.

Foreman celebrating his new world championship at 45 years old, after beating Michael Moorer

Moorer controlled the pace of the fight from the beginning and kept winning rounds. Foreman took a significant number of jabs to the face, which began to take a toll later in the fight as one of his eyes nearly swelled shut. In spite of the physical pounding Moorer was giving him, Foreman remained on his feet. As noted, he had only been stopped once in his career in the fight with Ali. In addition, only Ali, Jimmy Young and Ron Lyle had been able to knock him off his feet during the course of his career.

Despite his ability to take whatever Moorer was throwing at him, Foreman appeared on the way to yet another defeat in a world championship fight. After the ninth round, judges Roth and Giampa had given seven rounds to Moorer and had him up 88-83. Judge Ford's scorecard was a little closer, as he scored the bout 86-85 in favor of the champion with Foreman winning two additional rounds on his card. Knowing where his fighter stood, Dundee told Foreman just before he sent him out for the tenth round that it was going to take a knockout to win and that the time to get it had come.

Moorer was slowed down by a body shot early in the round, and Foreman's punches started landing more consistently. His planning, as Foreman said later, was to use the jab and the occasional hook to the body to force Moorer away from his tactics and leave him open so he could throw a combination with his jab and a right cross. By the midway point of the round, Foreman was starting to gain the upper hand and landed several effective combinations. A final right caught the champion flush on the jaw with such force that it broke Moorer's mouthpiece and cut his lip. A stunned Moorer fell to the canvas on his back and referee Joe Cortez administered the count. The dazed champion could not recover, only reaching his knees before Cortez reached ten. Foreman was champion again.

Years later, when the fight was featured as part of HBO's Legendary Nights documentary series chronicling memorable fights broadcast by the network, Foreman said that his strategy was to let Moorer fight his usual fight while waiting for him to slip up. He felt that if he was able to wait, Moorer would leave himself open for a combination that would allow Foreman to knock him out. Foreman went further saying that was how he dreamed the situation would present itself.

Moorer dismissed Foreman's recollection of the events, instead repeatedly saying he got "lucky". However, the fight broadcast suggests otherwise. Moorer was trained for the fight by Teddy Atlas and during the course of the fight, Atlas began to notice that Foreman was landing his best shots in close. Picking up on that, he repeatedly warned Moorer to keep his distance; Moorer's reluctance to do so ultimately resulted in his defeat.

After his victory, Foreman hoped for a potential superfight with Mike Tyson once Tyson was released from prison, however the WBA demanded that he face mandatory challenger Tony Tucker.[6] Foreman did not want to be part of Don King shows and Tucker was a Don King boxer so Foreman refused to face Tucker, instead choosing to defend his remaining IBF title against German Axel Schulz, and was subsequently stripped by the WBA of their title.[7] After narrowly and controversially defeating Shultz by majority decision, the IBF ordered a rematch between the two. Foreman again refused to defend his title, having hoped for a rematch with either Moorer or Holyfield, or a match with Riddick Bowe, and relinquished his IBF title on June 28, 1995.[8] Foreman would continue to be recognized as the Lineal Heavyweight champion until losing to Shannon Briggs on November 22, 1997.

After Foreman was stripped of the IBF title, Schulz met Francois Botha for the now-vacant title. Botha would win the match, but tested positive for steroids after the fight and was stripped of the title. This brought Moorer back into the title picture as he was chosen to face Schulz for the once again vacant title.[9] In a close match, Moorer was able to recapture the IBF title by split decision. This would set up a rematch between Moorer and the man he had previously defeated to win the titles, Evander Holyfield, who was once again the WBA Heavyweight champion after twice defeating Mike Tyson. With both men's titles on the line, Holyfield dominated the fight, knocking down Moorer five times en route to a victory via referee technical decision after referee Mitch Halpern stopped the fight following round 8. After the loss, Moorer would retire from boxing, eventually returning three years later.

Foreman settled back into life as a preacher, author, pitchman and motivational speaker in Houston. Two years after his second and final retirement, Salton Inc. paid over $137 million to buy out the right to use his name on the George Foreman Grill, and it is estimated that he has made over $200 million related to the grill, which is more than he made in the ring.