It is difficult to imagine George Foreman refusing to fight anyone, yet that is exactly what he did during his remarkable second career.
After a 10-year absence from the ring, “Big George” returned in March 1987, stopping Steve Zouski in four rounds. It was his first victory since halting Pedro Agosto in January 1977. The 1968 Olympic gold medallist would go on to cap one of boxing’s greatest comebacks by knocking out Michael Moorer to win the IBF and WBA heavyweight titles –– 21 years after first claiming the crown in destructive fashion against Joe Frazier.
Foreman had interest in facing Mike Tyson, but a mandatory defence against the WBA’s number-one contender, former IBF champion Tony Tucker, first stood in the way. On March 4, 1995, the WBA’s 25-member executive committee voted to strip Foreman of the title after he refused to face Tucker, opting instead to fight Axel Schulz on April 22.
Given Tucker’s résumé –– victories over Buster Douglas and Oliver McCall, and competitive defeats to Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis –– it might be assumed Foreman’s reluctance was financial. The truth, however, was far simpler, as Foreman later explained during a speech at the Oxford Union.
“They tried to force me to fight Tony Tucker after I’d beaten Michael Moorer and I remember looking at Tony Tucker and saying, ‘Momma didn’t raise no fools. I’m not fighting him,’ and they took the title. Some people I’m not going to fight. That’s the good reason –– I didn’t want to fight him. Too tough. I’ve got to tell the truth.”
On April 8, 1995, the vacant WBA title was contested by Tucker and Bruce Seldon. The bout ended in the seventh round when ringside physician Ferdie Pacheco advised referee Mills Lane to halt the contest due to severe swelling around Tucker’s left eye, a decision that infuriated his corner.
Sixteen days later, Foreman retained his IBF title against German challenger Axel Schulz. The underdog pushed Foreman the distance but lost a points decision. Foreman would later be stripped once again, this time by the IBF, after refusing to grant Schulz a rematch.
