Heavyweight boxers Muhammad Ali and Bob Foster fought on November 21, 1972, in Stateline, Nevada. Ali won the bout by knocking out Foster in the eighth round. Ali knocked Foster down seven times and this was the only fight in which Ali ever suffered a cut. The bout was notable because it was one of the first boxing matches refereed by Mills Lane.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]

Ali came in to the fight at one of the heaviest weights of his career, at 221 pounds to the light-heavyweight Foster's 180 pounds. Despite the two men having the same height and reach, (6'3 and 78" respectively) the large weight disparity proved decisive. In the first four rounds Ali was content to move and jab in line with his usual style; however, in a very rare situation for Ali, he was actually out-landed in jabs by Foster (60–35 for the first five rounds, 69–48 for the whole fight). Foster's jabs resulted in the left side of Ali's face noticeably swelling by round four, and a cut being opened around his left eye early in round five. Ali became much more aggressive after the cut, rushing Foster and throwing more power punches in the fifth round than in the previous four combined; Foster landed some of his own but they had little effect on his much larger opponent. Foster was knocked down four times in the fifth round and ended the round with a cut and swelling on his face. Ali became less aggressive in the sixth round and most of the seventh, with both fighters throwing few power punches and landing additional jabs that worsened each other's cuts. In the last minute of the seventh round (in which Foster outlanded Ali 14–5 in jabs) Ali again went on the offensive and pressed his size advantage, knocking Foster down a fifth time with a straight right. Foster got up and landed a few straight rights in return but, as earlier, was unable to do any damage; Ali mocked his opponent by faking being staggered before knocking him down a sixth time with a left hook shortly before the end of the round. Foster came out for the eighth round but was quickly knocked down by a straight right from Ali. Foster rose but failed to beat the referee's count, ending the fight in an eighth-round KO for Ali.[11]

References

  1. ^ "Muhammad Ali's ring record". ESPN. 19 November 2003. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
  2. ^ Joe Ryan (2013). Heavyweight Boxing in the 1970s:The Great Fighters and Rivalries. McFarland & Company. pp. 107–8.
  3. ^ "Bob Foster, Whose Left Hook Decimated All but the Heavyweights, Dies at 76". New York Times. 22 November 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  4. ^ Thomas Hauser (1991). Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times. Simon & Schuster. pp. 249–50.
  5. ^ "Bob Foster: Boxer who Muhammad Ali said had 'the punch of a mule' and was world light-heavyweight champion for six years". The Independent. 4 December 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  6. ^ Felix Dennis; Don Atyeo (2003). Muhammad Ali: The Glory Years. miramax books. pp. 196–8.
  7. ^ "LIVE! BOOZE! GIRLS! ALI! THIS IS FIGHTING?". Sports Illustrated. 4 December 1972. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  8. ^ "Bob Foster, boxer - obituary". The Telegraph. 4 December 2015. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  9. ^ "Ali KO's Foster in 8th". The Telegraph. 22 November 1972. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  10. ^ "Ali predicts eighth-round victory over Bob Foster". The Free-Lance Star. 24 October 1972. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  11. ^ Bob Cannobio and Lee Groves. "Muhammad Ali: By The Numbers." CompuBox: February 17, 2018. pp. 138–139, 162.
Categories