COMMENTARY : Foreman Has Faced a String of Easy Foes, but Give Him Credit

George Foreman may be fooling fight fans and himself with his string of knockouts against has-beens and never-weres, but give this sly old man a little credit.

There aren’t many overweight, middle-aged men who could beat 21 fighters, 20 by knockout, no matter how carefully they were chosen, and convince the world that they have a chance at winning the heavyweight title.

Foreman, an Olympic and world heavyweight champion who dropped out of boxing for a decade until returning in 1987, is perhaps only a fight or two away from another shot at the title.

He’s not worried about his weight--260 pounds as of Tuesday night when he knocked out his latest out-of-shape patsy, Mike Jameson, in the fourth round at Caesars Tahoe.

Nor is Foreman concerned about his age--he claims 41, ring records say 42.

“I knew there’d be barriers to stop me from being the heavyweight champion, but age wasn’t one of them,” Foreman said. “I’m going to stick with this until I get the title.”

Foreman is a likable and humorous man who takes his quest seriously but isn’t above poking fun at himself.

He bills himself as the “Punching Preacher,” and makes a truly odd picture in fight posters: a big bald man wearing a tuxedo and red boxing gloves. He deserves respect for trying to become champ again and for raising money for his Houston Youth Center. His victory over Jameson was worth $200,000.

But he won’t gain real respect among fight fans until he takes on quality opponents.

In January, he made more than $1 million by knocking out an over-the-hill Gerry Cooney, but Foreman is stepping up in class June 16 by taking on a ranked contender, Adilson Rodrigues of Brazil. On the other half of that card at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas will be Mike Tyson, in his first outing since losing the heavyweight title to Buster Douglas, against Renaldo Snipes.

Foreman hopes he’ll go on from there to pick up several million dollars fighting Tyson in the fall. The winner, according to Foreman’s plan, would then fight the champion--either Douglas, or the challenger he’ll face in September, Evander Holyfield.

Foreman couldn’t prove much against Jameson, a flabby 233-pounder who began gasping in the second round the first time Foreman buried a fist in his soft belly.

Jameson, who hadn’t fought in three years and wasn’t very good even then, spent the next few rounds panting before crumpling to the canvas from a left hook, a knockout victim at 2:16 of the fourth.

Before the scheduled 10-rounder was over, Foreman’s left jab and overhand right opened a deep gash over Jameson’s left eye, sending a stream of blood down his nose.

“I can take a good punch,” said Jameson, a sparring partner for Mike Tyson in recent years. “But by God, he hit me harder than anyone, even Mike Tyson. He hits you with those hands, it’s like a wrecking ball coming at you.”

Foreman’s hands move as slowly as a wrecking ball, but he didn’t need to be any faster against Jameson.

Foreman, 66-2 with 62 KOs, thinks he’s getting better with age.

“It turned out my jab was my best weapon,” Foreman said. “I opened the cut early and I tried to work on the cut as best I could. Then I got the knockout. The knockout was better than having it stopped on cuts.”

Early in the fourth, Foreman knocked Jameson’s mouthpiece out for the third time in the fight and tore open the cut over his left eye, leading to a brief halt in the bout while the doctor checked the damage.

Jameson was breathing hard from the body blows and had blood dripping down his face when referee Mills Lane seemed to move in to stop the fight. Before Lane could intervene, Foreman hit Jameson with the final left hook to end it.

Foreman knocked Jameson’s mouthpiece out twice in the third round and dropped him to one knee with a right-left-right combination to the head in the only other knockdown.

Jameson appeared to be a perfect setup: an ex-barroom bouncer from Cupertino, Calif., who hadn’t fought since 1987 and claimed a modest record of 17-14 with six KO’s.

Tyson knocked out Jameson in five rounds in 1986, the first of six straight losses by Jameson before he quit the ring.

Ironically, his last ring appearance was a two-round exhibition in Brazil in 1987 against Jimmy Young, the same fighter who beat Foreman in 12 rounds in Puerto Rico a decade earlier and sent him into retirement and the religious life.