Foreman ends an era of heavyweight supremos

Lennox Lewis said comparing athletes or boxers of different generations is unfair in our obsessive pursuit of the G.O.A.T.

But looking for the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time isn’t as tricky comparing Lionel Messi to Maradona or Pele—men who were old enough to be his father or grandfather.

Instead, your scope won’t go beyond the great four: Ken Norton, Joe Frazier, Muhammad Ali, and George Foreman, who joined his rivals into the invisible world last week.

Foreman’s death marks the end of an era of the greatest heavyweights to ever grace this planet. Here, we retell the intersections and uniquenesses that defined the most thrilling era of boxing rivalry.

Born in 40s, conquered the 70s, died in 70s

First, the genesis. When four mothers endured the harrowing labour pains in Kentucky, Illinois, South Carolina, and Texas in the same decade, it didn’t cross their minds that they were birthing eternal greatness.

These four babies-cum-heavyweight supremos were born in the 1940s, and all, except one, would die in their 70s.

Foreman, born in 1949, was the youngest of them all but lived the longest, until he died peacefully in Houston, Texas, at 76.

Frazier, the second youngest, born in 1944, died first, in November 2011, barely two months after being diagnosed with cancer. He was 67.

Norton, born in 1943, died of congestive heart failure in September 2013, almost two years after Frazier, aged 70.

Ali, born January 1942, was the oldest of them all, and conceded defeat to Parkinson’s Disease in June 2016, aged 74.

Interestingly, they all fought their best fights in the 1970s.

No hiding games

Over the past two decades, boxing has been rich in hypotheses. “What if Mayweather had faced Pacquiao much earlier?’

“What if Mayweather didn’t have much leeway to choose who to fight when?”

“What if Joshua and Fury met about four years ago?” and so much more.

That leaves many questions unanswered. And greatly diminishes the validity of who is the greatest boxer of modern times. Boxers have undue freedom to choose and dodge opponents.

Promoters and managers are accomplices here. But Foreman and company gave us the true meaning of rivalry. They faced one another. More than once. At their peak, with lots at stake. And boy, oh boy, the fights were classics.

Norton, for instance, is renowned as “the boxer who broke Ali's jaw.” The former marine ranks the lowest among the four, yet he could be the hardest for Ali, “The Greatest.”

After losing to Frazier and missing the WBA, WBC, and The Ring heavyweight titles in 1971, Ali faced every able contender to force a rematch against Frazier. His 11^th opponent was Norton, who had lost only once in 30 and hungry for his first title.

It was in that March 1973 duel that Norton broke Ali’s jaw before winning a split decision and the NABF heavyweight title. Six months later, they met again. Ali wanted to prove a point but got a good beating, despite edging it by a split decision and reclaiming the NABF belt.

And six months after that narrow, agonising loss to Ali, guess who Norton faced. Foreman, in his second defense of the WBA, WBC, and The Ring heavyweight titles, which he had won after stopping Frazier in two rounds in January 1973.

Norton also didn’t last longer against the knockout artist. But three fights later, he reclaimed the NABF title in 1975. The following year, he faced Ali for the third time. Again, Norton pummeled Ali; no wonder the unanimous decision in Ali’s favour is controversial.

In summary, Ali fought Norton twice. Foreman stopped Frazier twice in title shots. Norton lost his biggest career moment to Foreman before Ali served Foreman with his own medicine—a knockout in Zaire in 1974.

The following year, Ali eventually revenged on Frazier by stopping him in the 14th round of the Thrilla in Manilla. What higher class of competition would you ask for?

Memories of the Jungle

A story about this dominant quartet is incomplete without the Rumble in the Jungle. After enduring punishment in seven rounds, Ali finally floored Foreman with furious combinations to the head within the last 20 seconds of the eighth round.

It’s this fight that confirmed Ali as the greatest. Yet this could have been Frazier vs Ali, had the former defeated Foreman in their second meeting in Manilla earlier in 1974.

It was during the pre-match press conference in Caracas Venezuela when promoter Don King announced that the winner between Norton and Foreman would meet Ali in Kinshasa, Zaire, thousands of miles away in Africa. To most, it was weird, crazy, and laughable.

But it would become one of the most, if not the most, memorable boxing event of all time.

In 2014, to mark the 40^th anniversary of the event, the BBC interviewed several witnesses and actors.

Foreman said, “Muhammad Ali didn't have the best punch, he wasn't the strongest, but he was the toughest human being I ever encountered. This I'm certain of.

“He wasn't saying a lot, but in round three, I hit him with a hard shot to the side, and he fell on me and said: 'That all you got, George?!' That scared me, I knew there was going to be trouble then.

“He had weathered the biggest storm I could have put on him, and after the fourth round, it was like I'd stepped into a bucket of concrete. I was all spent, I didn't know what I was doing out there.”

Roy Foreman was in Kinshasa rooting for his big brother. But he sensed danger much earlier despite George’s dominance. “From the fourth round, it was like looking at a 100m runner in a 400m race. The punches got a little bit slower, and you could see Ali's confidence increase. I'd never seen George intimidated by anyone before, except his mother maybe.”

Where had Foreman’s confidence gone?

He had entered the deal as “a charity fight. I'd heard Ali was desperately broke, so I thought I'd do him a favour. I got $5m, and I was willing to let him have $5m.”

He had vowed to “go out there and kill him and people said: 'Please, don't say you're going to kill Muhammad.' So I said: 'OK, I'll just beat him down to the ground.'”

Gene Kilroy, Ali’s business manager, remembered Foreman walking into a restaurant for a press conference in New York. “Ali looked him straight in the eye and said: 'Sonny Liston [whom Ali beat to win the world heavyweight crown for the first time in 1964] pulled this stuff when you were a little boy, you think I'm scared of you? I'll whip you right here.' George walked away, and Ali sat down and said, ‘I just won round one…'

And as it would turn out, he won the most crucial round.

We don’t know whether Zaire’s Mobutu got what he wanted—promoting his country’s tourism. But we got a story that will live for ages.

Goodbye 1981

Norton retired in 1981, aged 38. Of 50 fights, he won 42 (KO 33), lost seven, and drew once. The WBC heavyweight, which he lost to Larry Holmes in 1978 was his beast accolade.

Like Norton, Ali retired in 1981, aged 39. Of 61 fights, he won 56 (KO 37) and lost five, one by KO.

Frazier had retired much earlier in 1976, aged 32 after losing to Foreman twice. His return against Floyd Cummings in 1981 ended in a draw, and he said his final goodbye at 37.

Of 37 fights, he won 32, (KO 27), lost four, and drew once. International Boxing Research Organization ranked him among the best 10 heavyweights ever.

 Unbreakable record

Ali might have won “The Greatest” tag. But Foreman left an almost eternal record. He had last won world titles after stopping Norton in 1974. Seven months later, he lost them to Ali in The Jungle.

But he would stay the longest in the ring.

After losing to Jimmy Young in 1977, he retired at 28, with a 45-2 record. Ten years later, he returned in 1987, aged 38, with all his hair lost. But he proved skeptics wrong with 27 wins, only losing to the youthful Evander Holyfield and Tommy Morrison by unanimous decision.

Foreman finally landed his WBA and IBF heavyweight titles after knocking out 26-year-old Michael Moorer in the 10^th round in 1994. Foreman was 45 and 299 days old. He’s the only one to win two world titles in 20 years.

He retired in 1997, a few days shy of 49, with 81 fights, 76 wins (KO 68), and five losses.