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Lost and Found: Remembering George Foreman Vs Jimmy Young

Were you shocked when Jimmy Young defeated George Foreman?

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By Kevin “The Voice” Kincade

When the ball dropped on New Year’s Eve, 1977, everything was going George Foreman’s way. He was one of two men considered the top contender in the World for the Heavyweight Championship and the other, he’d knocked senseless in Caracas, Venezuela three years prior. So, whether Ali decided to return to the ring or not, he was assuredly in line for a shot at the title and a chance to regain his throne. Outside the ring, he’d recently signed on with ABC to be their fight analyst, alongside the color commentating of none other than Howard Cosell; and he was on the verge of just his 28th birthday. He was in his prime and with Ali showing the wear and tear of 17 years in the ring, there looked to be no one on the horizon who could defeat him.

Then came St. Patrick’s Day in Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Then came Jimmy Young…

Young had been on a bit of a tear, himself, as of late, well, as much as Jimmy Young could be on a tear. His run had begun in Honolulu when he upset Ron Lyle, easily outboxing him over 10 Rounds, just prior to Lyle’s shot at the title. That win propelled him into a title shot of his own against Ali in April of ’76 in Landover, Maryland. No one gave him a chance, especially Muhammad Ali.

Muhammad was coming off the greatest win of his career, a dramatic life and death struggle with Joe Frazier in Manilla. Sure, he’d played around with Jean Pierre Coopman in February; but that had been just a warm up bout on the Ali victory lap before his third bout with Ken Norton and sweet retirement. No fighter looked quite as invincible as “The Greatest”, even if he did show up in Maryland carrying ten extra pounds of paunch. So when Jimmy made Ali look anything but “invincible”, people took notice; and many felt he should have gotten the verdict.
Young followed that up by giving Ron Lyle a rematch in November, once again proving far too skillful for the Coloradan. George Foreman got to see that fight up close and personal in the catbird seat alongside Howard Cosell. He bemusedly attested how Ron Lyle was being outsmarted by Young and then asserted how a puncher should fight a defensive wiz, such as this undersized kid from Philadelphia, an undersized kid who just happened to be ranked # 3 in the World.

With Ali’s retirement apparently eminent in the wake of his controversial decision victory over Ken Norton in their third bout, the top four heavyweights in the world began jockeying for position to capture the throne. Ken Norton had signed to face off against 4th Ranked undefeated hopeful Duane Bobick and George Foreman put pen to paper to meet up with Young in San Juan. He’d seen Young fight. He’d broken down how to beat him. With Bobick being such a heavy underdog to Norton, Foreman vs Norton II seemed to be on the horizon; but somebody forgot to tell Jimmy.

Jimmy, surprising to all, was full of bravado from the outset. “If I don’t get hurt in the first 5 rounds, he’s mine.” Virtually no one paid any attention, especially not Foreman. Uncharacteristic of his menacing persona, Foreman entered the ring smiling and joking, like it was going to be a walk in the park. He feigned the baleful stare during prefight instructions; but it was less than half-hearted. One simply didn’t get the feeling that he was the least bit worried about his 20-5-2 opponent. And why should he be? George, at 229, had a 16 lb. weight advantage. In 45 wins, he’d knocked out all but three men and only the great Muhammad Ali had defeated him. Who was Jimmy Young but some awkward, safety-first nuisance to be done away with? A speed bump on the way to his second reign as champion?
What Jimmy Young was, was a strategist. What Jimmy Young was, was fast. What Jimmy Young was, was smart.

Jimmy set the tone from the outset in his crafty, yet boring manor. George loved to use his physical strength to maul and rough up his opponents. Young’s corner had already prepared these for these bullying tactics by giving the official an earful beforehand; and the referee, Waldemar Schmidt, was on George’s case like white on rice from the outset. Every time George would push or manhandle the smaller Young, Schmidt was there in George’s face, eventually penalizing Foreman in Round 3 for mauling tactics after he’d leaned on Young’s back and Jimmy strategically, decided to take a knee, complaining on the way down.

Part of the plan was to unnerve George, to get into his head, make him lose his cool and expend his energy. Foreman was able to maintain on the outside; but inside, he was fuming. He roughed Jimmy up more and more in the clinches, placing his giant gloved fist around Young’s throat, repeatedly, and pushing him off to the admonishment of Schmidt. He was flirting with another deduction. The anger caused him angst, anxiousness. George would be in the middle of the ring, long before the bell sounded to start the next round, yet once it did, again and again he found nothing but air, elbows, and gloves for his trouble. Young was harder to catch than a handful of gas.

Then, in Round 7, thunder struck in the form of a left hook to Jimmy’s blindside. Somehow he managed to stay on his feet as he fell along the ropes into the corner. Forgetting the patience Gil Clancy and Charley Shipes had been drilling into his head for over a year now, George went wild. He loaded up with virtually every punch in a vain attempt to finish the job. Occasionally he’d land; but somehow, Young stayed erect, if just barely, stumbling across the ring at times. The more George tried to finish him, the more resolute Young became to turn the tide. Two third of the way through the round, it became apparent the only thing George had succeeded in doing was awakening the Philadelphia within.

Towards the end of the round, Young began to land and snap George’s head around. They weren’t debilitating punches, for power was not one of Young’s attributes; but they were punches, and they succeeded in slowing down Foreman’s assault and bringing the crowd of 12,000 to their feet.

From the 8th Round on, it was Jimmy Young’s show. Young would slip and slide like grease as Foreman sought again and again to find the target which wasn’t there. Again and again, nothing but air, followed by stinging combinations which sent the sweat flying off his head to the chants of “Jeeemie Young!!! Jeemie Young!!! Jeeemie Young!!!” It was Zaire all over again.

On and on it went as the drama built. Desperation swimming through perspiration, capped by domination, all to the tune of “Jeemie Young!!! Jeeemie Young!!! Jeemie Young!!!” Then, in the 12th, Jimmy mounted a rally of counter punches which had George tripping over his own feet and finally grasping the top rope as he slid to the canvas. One minute later, it was over and the dreaded wait for the decision began.

The final tally: 115-114, 116-112, and 118-111. George’s humiliation was complete. Jimmy Young headed to the winner’s circle with Howard Cosell while George Foreman slunk to the dressing room in defeat.

Defeat. George Foreman did not handle defeat well. After the debacle in Africa, George went into a deep depression. Some questioned whether he’d lost his mind the following year. His first foray back into the ring was an exhibition against five fighters in Toronto which turned into a farce as George became the living embodiment of the antagonist. Crowds loved to boo him and cheer his opponents. George was the only one who was impressed with his performance that night. Also, after all that time, he simply couldn’t admit that Ali, who had been sitting ringside, leading the crowd in a chorus while taunting Foreman, had beaten him; and now this? Made to look like a rank amateur in Puerto Rico by a virtual Light-heavyweight in front of a crowd who loved to see him humiliated!

What happened next is open for conjecture. Foreman’s camp would say that George collapsed in the dressing room from either a heat prostration or heat exhaustion. After all, it had been 90+ degrees in the ring that night and he’d fought in frustration for 12 rounds for the first time in his career. And, that is one possible explanation; but it wasn’t George’s.

George claimed that all of a sudden everything went black; and in that blackness he saw everything he had ever owned in life, everything he cherished, the money, the cars, the possessions, all turn in to dust and crumble before his eyes. He claimed he heard a voice, a voice who told him he was dying. He looked down and saw blood coming from his hands in stigmata fashion. Fear gripped his heart, swallowed his soul and he cried out, “I WANT TO LIVE!!!”

A religious experience is a personal thing. Only the one having it is aware of what it means to them. If you believe the Bible, two thousand years before, only Saul of Tarsus saw the blinding light on the road to Damascus. His companions never saw it; but that event which they did not witness changed the one man who did’s life, and “Saul” died, while “Paul” was born.

Likewise, whatever happened in that dressing room in San Juan changed a man, whether his trainers, handlers, and friends saw it or not; and George Foreman, the boxer, died while George Foreman, the evangelist, was born.

On March 17th, 1977 the boxing world lost the heir apparent to the throne; but a one-time street thug turned Sonny Liston-reincarnate, the seemingly most reviled fighter in the sport, a formerly lost soul named George Foreman, found himself.

And a page was turned.

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