Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, November 7, 1994 TAG: 9412270013
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ED SCHUYLER JR. ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LAS VEGAS LENGTH: Medium
It was a last-second pass caught in the end zone, a bases-loaded homer in the bottom of the ninth, a buzzer-beating basket from midcourt.
All of those things were packed into the boxing glove that crashed against Michael Moorer's jaw and made George Foreman a heavyweight champion at the ripe old age of 45.
But was Foreman's dramatic 10th-round knockout victory Saturday night good for boxing? What does it say about the state of the sport, particularly the heavyweight division?
``George got lucky, but it just shows what boxing is like today,'' said Larry Holmes, a champion from 1978 to 1985, who will challenge Oliver McCall of Bassett, Va., on Jan.21 for the WBC heavyweight title.
``These young guys can't fight. We older people have to teach these young people that we know what we're doing,'' Holmes said from his home in Easton, Pa.
Foreman took advantage of a lapse of concentration by the 26-year-old Moorer in delivering the winning two-punch combination.
``All he [Moorer] had to do was use the jab and move side to side,'' Holmes said.
In the 10th round, however, Moorer stood in front of Foreman.
``George is a big truck, but if he runs over you, he'll kill you,'' Holmes said. ``He phoned him from Chicago and said, `I'm coming,' and the fool waited there for him.''
Promoter Bob Arum bristled at the suggestion that a 45-year-old man winning a share of boxing's biggest prize - the IBF and WBA titles - made a mockery of the sport.
``When Nolan Ryan pitched a no-hitter, did they say baseball stinks?'' Arum asked, referring to the pitcher who was 46 when he retired.
``George is going to bring new fans to the sport,'' said Seth Abraham, president of Time-Warner Sports. ``The combined live and delayed telecast will make it the most-watched fight ever on HBO.''
``When miracles like this happen, how can it be bad for boxing?'' said Angelo Dundee, who worked in Foreman's corner and was in Muhammad Ali's corner when Foreman lost the undisputed title 20 years ago in Zaire.
``Yeah, George's win is good for boxing because people know who George Foreman is,'' Holmes said. ``What's wrong with boxing is the money. People don't get to see fights because the money's so big fighters don't fight much.''
Big purses lead to inactivity, which keep fighters from developing a marketable name or makes them fade from the public consciousness.
Another cause of dry spells between attractive bouts is that long negotiations are needed between megabuck fighters over issues such as television and live-site rights.
Boxing suffers from not enough names that are known to the general public. It is cluttered with needless weight divisions and champions recognized by a growing number of governing bodies, seemingly set up overnight.
As for the state of the heavyweight division, with the exceptions of the 1970s when Ali, Foreman, Holmes, Joe Frazier, Earnie Shavers, Ken Norton and Jerry Quarry practiced their craft, it has never been deep in talent.
And recently, heavyweight champions have done little to add prestige to the title. So Foreman's victory was a badly needed shot in the arm for a sport that awaits the return of Mike Tyson.
On Aug.22, 1957, Floyd Patterson retained the title on a sixth-round knockout of Pete Rademacher. It was Rademacher's pro debut, and the fight was criticized.
Boxing survived.
On Feb.20, 1976, Ali kept the title on a fifth-round knockout of Jean Pierre Coopman, a Belgium heavyweight billed as the ``Lion of Flanders.'' Ali called him the ``Pussycat of Flanders.''
The inept opposition was overlooked by boxing fans because it was Ali who was fighting.
People watched the fight because of Ali - just as they showed up at the Grand Garden or tuned in to see Foreman. They wanted to share in Foreman's remarkable dream.
``If George can do it, I can do it,'' Holmes said.
Foreman and Holmes are the exceptions, however. They fight in a division where speed of hand and foot are not as important as they are in lighter divisions.
Their success could encourage older fighters in other weight classes to continue with diminished skills - and that could be dangerous.
\ Ed Schuyler has covered more than 80 heavyweight title fights since Frazier-Ellis in 1970.
by CNB