 |
Mushky got the Tiger and Foster tamed
him
Nobody in his division was willing to fight Bob Foster, let
alone give him a shot at the light-heavyweight title, so
he quit. Then a television show brought him back, and a new
manager led him to the
champion
by Gary
Ronberg
Issue date: June 3,
1968
| |
The already towering Foster (standing) looked even taller to Tiger after he was flattened.
(UPI/Bettman)
|
Dick Tiger, never before knocked out in 77 fights over 16
years, stood in a corner of his dressing room in Madison
Square Garden last Friday night trying to explain how it
feels. "I do not see anything, I do not hear
anything," he said with that almost
musical lilt to his voice. "Everything is all quiet,
and it is dark. There is no pain, there is no sound. I do
not know I was on the floor. Was I on the
floor?"
Yes, just two minutes into the fourth round of their fight
for the light-heavyweight championship, Dick Tiger was on
the floor, where Bob Foster had put him. "Bob
Foster?" said Tiger. "Now that he knock me out, I
think he is the best fighter in the
whole world."
To the 11,547 who turned out at the new Garden, Tiger and
Foster face to face looked a lot like Wilt Chamberlain and
Flip Wilson. Foster, 6' 3 1/2", towering over his
stockier opponent. In the clinches Tiger's nose was never
higher than Foster's
breastbone. Foster had an 8" advantage in height and a similar
edge in reach. Indeed, the first few exchanges showed
clearly that if Foster exploited his left jab to the
fullest he would be halfway home. When Foster's left hand
was jammed in Tiger's face, the
smaller man's lefts and rights, churning below, came no
nearer Foster's body that his outstretched
elbow.
Tiger, however, won the first round chiefly because Foster
was too worried about Tiger getting inside to throw those
jabs effectively. Late in the round Tiger broke through and
volleyed to Foster's body, and the challenger's legs
wobbled. In the second,
Foster was even more anxious to stay away from Tiger. He
had been hurt, and he had not forgotten. Feinting one way,
moving the other, he would snap out a left and pull it back
as if he had touched a hot stove. Foster was throwing the
jab, but he was
still preoccupied by the need to protect his body. Then,
unaccountable, Tiger gave away the initiative, and that
eventually cost him the fight. Instead of slipping under
the left hand—or taking one to get in several of his own
as he has always done—Tiger
stopped moving. Stationary, his head was a perfect target for
Foster's long leads, and soon it was clear Foster had
determined what Tiger could and could not
do.
In Tiger's corner Manager Chickie Ferrara urged him to hit
and follow. In Foster's corner the opportunity was obvious.
As the challenger got up for round 3, the seconds yelled at
him, "Take charge, baby. Take
charge!"
Much more confident now, Foster measured Tiger with lefts
and followed up with hard rights into the face and body.
Tiger was frustrated by the left hand; it destroyed his
concentration and kept him from moving inside. A minute into
the fourth round Tiger
lunged at his tormentor. Foster, backing off, fired a right
uppercut into Tiger's face and followed with a left hook to
the cheek. Tiger pulled up short and started to counter
with a left, but he wasn't fast enough. Foster threw
another right uppercut
and then a powerful left hook—the first really loaded punch
in the combination. It crashed against Tiger's head, and
the champion fell backward to the
floor.
At the count of seven Tiger had managed a sitting position,
his arms splayed out behind him. At eight and nine he made
rocking motions, trying to lurch back to his feet, but he
couldn't.
|
|
CNN/SI followed Holyfield through a typical day of training.
Check out the video clips, but be sure to come back to Evander's
Believe It Or Not.