Whilst he is often credited for never turning down a challenge, George Foreman once revealed that he vacated the world heavyweight championship to avoid facing one man in particular.
Foreman exploded onto the scene back in the early 1970s after his success at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, which he walked away from with a Heavyweight Gold Medal.
He became the world heavyweight champion for the very first time in January of 1973 when he stopped fellow countryman Joe Frazier in the second round of their showdown in Kingston, Jamaica.
After he found himself on a poor run of form and was beaten by Jimmy Young in 1977, Foreman took a ten year break from boxing but would eventually return when he encountered a number of financial difficulties.
‘Big George’ captured the world heavyweight championship for the second time in November 1994 when he sensationally defeated Michael Moorer to unify the WBA and IBF titles and become the oldest heavyweight title holder in history, a record that remains unbroken to this very day.
In an interview with the Oxford Union, Foreman revealed that after he had beaten Moorer in 1994, he actually vacated the WBA title to avoid having to face Tony Tucker.
“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 titles. 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.”
Tucker actually held the IBF heavyweight title a few years prior when he stopped James ‘Buster’ Douglas in the 10th round of their Las Vegas clash in 1987, although he would be dethroned of his crown just one fight later when he faced the formidable Mike Tyson.
