Disappointed Foreman Weighs 257, or 49 More Than Holyfield

George Foreman weighed in at 257 pounds Wednesday for his Friday night heavyweight championship fight against Evander Holyfield, who weighed 208.

A weigh-in for a heavyweight fight usually attracts little interest, because there is no maximum for the division. But Foreman’s weight has been subject of a guessing game for weeks, compelling more than 1,000 media representatives to fill the Trump Plaza Hotel’s showroom to watch Foreman step on the scale.

He is the second-heaviest fighter in a championship fight. Primo Carnera, who weighed 270 in a 1934 title bout, is still the leader. Foreman waddles into second place past Abe Simon, who weighed 255 1/2 in 1942.

But 257 wasn’t close to Foreman’s record. He carried 263 against Adilson Rodrigues in Las Vegas last June and has weighed more than 260 for two other fights.

So Foreman, 42, is 39 1/2 pounds heavier than when he won the heavyweight title at 23. He weighed 217 1/2 in 1973 when he knocked out Joe Frazier, who weighed 214, and 215 in his pro debut at 20 in 1969. He weighed 220 when he lost the championship to Muhammad Ali, who weighed 216 1/2, in Zaire.

After the weigh-in, Foreman expressed disappointment.

“I thought I’d come in at 265,” he said. “I don’t how in the world I got down that low.”