Foreman Has Great Punch Line : Boxing: The 41-year-old scores his 22nd consecutive victory with an impressive second-round knockout of Rodrigues.

The boxing comeback of George Foreman, the well-known comedian, is no joke.

He demonstrated early Saturday night at Caesars Palace that, at 41, he is nearly as adept delivering left hooks and jabs as he is one-liners.

A hook to the jaw of Adilson Rodrigues in the second round gave the man who lost the heavyweight championship 16 years ago his 22nd consecutive victory.

Rodrigues is ranked 10th by the World Boxing Assn., but this is not to suggest that the Brazilian is a particularly tough nut to crack.

“I look at tapes of my prospective opponents,” Foreman said. “If they can whup my mother, I don’t fight ‘em.”

Obviously, Foreman studied the tape of Evander Holyfield’s second-round destruction of Rodrigues last July 15 in Lake Tahoe.

But it was the way that Foreman got his knockout that excited the 13,200 fans and had them chanting, “George, George.”

Foreman connected with two heavy jabs, followed with a right that grazed Rodrigues’ whiskers, and then crashed the big punch off his jaw.

Rodrigues fell backward, his eyes locked on the ring lights and his neck landing on the bottom strand of the ropes.

He never threatened to beat referee Carlos Padilla’s count, which ended at 2:53 of the round.

The first round was relatively uneventful, Rodrigues circling clockwise, landing some mild combinations, and Foreman concentrating on the jab.

Only at Friday’s weigh-in did Foreman look as though he might be in for a tough night.

Foreman weighed 263 pounds, his heaviest ever for a fight, after a week on the Caesars’ buffet line. Rodrigues was 219.

“Youth and enthusiasm are great,” said Foreman, “but age and craftiness are fine for me.”

In a career that began in 1969, he is 67-2 with 63 knockouts. Rodrigues, 31, is 36-4.

Next for Foreman should be European champion Francesco Damiani Sept. 8 at Caesars Palace.

Of course, that’s pending a study of the Damiani tapes.