On This Day in Boxing History George Foreman Becomes a Folk Hero

Sometimes the loser of an athletic competition performs so far above his level of expectation that he is credited with a moral victory. Twenty-nine years ago today, at the Atlantic City Convention Center on April 19, 1991, 42-year-old George Foreman accomplished the greatest moral victory of all time. His effort against Evander Holyfield, coming 16 years, five months and 20 days after he lost the heavyweight title to Muhammad Ali in Zaire, was more than just a moral victory; it made Big George a folk hero.

Evander Holyfield, 28, was undefeated at 25-0 and fresh off his third-round knockout of Buster Douglas. Foreman had won 24 straight since returning to the sport after a 10-year absence, but aside from Gerry Cooney he hadn’t defeated anyone whose name would have resonated with casual fans. In fact, of his 24 victims, only one had been rated in the Top 10, the obscure Brazilian Adilson Rodrigues.

Holyfield wasn’t a massive favorite. In Las Vegas, the odds dipped as low as 3/1 before U-turning back up. However, the general feeling was that Foreman was there for the payday and that he would fold his tent after a few rounds, an opinion shared by many in the media. “Much of the boxing press that has converged on Atlantic City has treated the fight as the latest Wrestlemania sequel,” wrote Bill Varner, a columnist for the White Plains (NY) Journal News.

Even those that figured that Foreman would render an honest effort didn’t visualize him lasting until the final bell. It was speculated that if Foreman was hurt, that referee Rudy Battle would be quick-triggered, stopping the fight sooner than if Holyfield were fighting a man in his own age bracket. TVKO, the pay-per-view arm of Time-Warner, conducted a poll on a “900” phone line. The number of respondents that predicted the fight would go longer than nine rounds was too low to measure. (A very belated shout-out to the aforementioned Varner who predicted that Foreman would still be standing at the end of 12 rounds, only to lose a unanimous decision.)

When the smoke cleared, Holyfield was returned the winner by scores of 117-110, 116-111, and 115-112 (Foreman had a point deducted for low blows). However, Big George, who stood up between rounds, as was his custom, demonstrated amazing stamina, rarely took a backward step, and had several good moments. His face was puffy when the final bell sounded, but it was Evander and not he who was holding on as the final seconds ticked away.

Reactions

“The audience…expected an execution; Foreman gave them a war. It wasn’t supposed to be that way…Holyfield was the champion of the WBA, the IBF, and the WBC. Foreman was the champion of the AARP.” — Pat Putnam, Sports Illustrated

“If somewhere the fat lady sang last night, it was the ‘Hallelujah Chorus’ for the fat man. The Reverend George Foreman didn’t recapture the heavyweight championship of the world almost 17 years after he lost it, he recaptured his youth…”  — Michael Katz, New York Daily News

“Just maybe Foreman, the most engaging figure in sports, thought he owed it to the fans to put on a good show, to live up to his own hype. Maybe that’s a naïve thought, but still, what else can you say except, ‘Bravo George. Great show.’” – John Maher, Austin American-Statesman

 The bout had all the energy and passion a boxing fan could want, said Phil Berger of the New York Times. It brought back boxing, however temporarily, to a water cooler sport, a sport that dominated the Monday morning chit-chat in business offices around the country. In the ensuing days, HBO showed the fight six times on tape-delay.

Big George Foreman wasn’t done foiling Father Time. Three-and-a-half years later, on Nov. 5, 1994 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Foreman stripped the IBF world heavyweight championship from Michael Moorer with a one-punch knockout, a punch, said Jim Murray, that historians would rate right up there with David’s slingshot.

The folk hero became an even bigger hero.

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