Heavyweight Fight Between Holmes, Foreman Canceled

A lot of people believed that the fight between George Foreman and Larry Holmes, two 49-year-olds, should not be allowed to happen.

They no longer need to worry. It isn’t going to happen.

The heavyweight bout between the two former champions, scheduled for Jan. 23 in the Houston Astrodome, has been canceled, according to a source close to the fight.

A formal announcement is expected today.

The bout was doomed from the moment it was announced that the much-anticipated return to the ring of Mike Tyson, another former heavyweight champion, would occur in Las Vegas on Jan. 16, one week before Foreman-Holmes. It is extremely difficult to sell viewers on purchasing pay-per-view fights on consecutive weeks.

Promoter Roger Levitt had offered Foreman $10 million and Holmes $4 million for the fight, which would have come 13 days after Foreman’s 50th birthday.

Each fighter has already received 10% of his purse, and that’s nonrefundable.

Last Thursday was the deadline for the remainder of the money to be paid via letters of credit. Levitt had asked for an extension until Monday. When he missed that deadline as well, the fight was called off.

Foreman has said that he wants to fight at age 50 and he plans to continue training to fulfill that goal.