He won his first title, the World Boxing
Organization (WBO) junior lightweight championship, in March 1994. De La
Hoya knocked out title holder Jimmi Bredhal of Denmark in only his twelfth
professional fight. He added his second title, the WBO lightweight title,
in July 1994 by knocking out Jorge Paez in the second round.
Article 7 of 10, Article ID:
9402180188 Published on July 15, 1994, Miami Herald, The (FL)Grand Jury Indicts
Promoter KingDon King, the flamboyant
promoter and one of the most powerful men in boxing, was charged Thursday
with wire fraud for allegedly filing a fraudulent insurance claim after a
1991 boxing match was canceled.The nine-count indictment alleges that
King, the president of Fort Lauderdale-based Don King Productions Inc.,
made a false claim to Lloyd's of London after the cancellation of the
match between Julio Cesar Chavez and Harold Brazier."I am completely
innocent," King said in a statement issued...
Boxing: 'Dinosaur' Foreman returns from the brink of extinction
- Nov 1994-By Art Spander
FOR nine rounds the bout had lived down to expectations. George
Foreman, a name from the Jurassic era, plodded about a boxing ring in Las
Vegas, taking up space and taking punches, his face battered.
The left eye was nearly closed. So was the book on his career. The hope
was for him to make it through the next three rounds. But in the 10th,
with a Niagara of perspiration dripping from his huge body, Foreman seemed
unlikely to make it through three more seconds, never mind three more
rounds.
And then, suddenly, remarkably, came a two-punch combination. A
left jab to the head of heavyweight champion Michael Moorer, a straight
right hand that could not have carried more than six inches but carried to
the point of Moorer's chin.
The referee could have counted to 50
Moorer crashed to the floor, raised his head a trifle and then lowered
it again. Referee Joe Cortez could have counted to 50, much less 10.
Fantasy had swallowed reality. A 46-year-old, 250lb man was the new
heavyweight champion of the planet. "I got caught," said Moorer.
"I'm going to have to live with it."
Moorer had all but won the fight, as he was supposed to. Two judges had
him ahead 88-83. Another had him in front 86-85. "Keep moving,"
Moorer's trainer had reminded between rounds. "Remember what I told
you. He's an old car. You're a new car. Don't let the old car go along
slowly to keep up." But Moorer did, and so boxing has its oldest champion to date, far
older than Jersey Joe Walcott, who was 37 when he knocked out Ezzard
Charles to take the heavyweight title in 1951. And Foreman has his redemption. "I exorcised the ghost once and
forever," said Foreman. He meant the spectre of Muhammad Ali, who on
an autumn evening 20 years ago, rope-a-doped Foreman in Zaire. Foreman lost the championship in 1974. Now, in 1994, he has regained
it, and those who were writing his epitaph are compelled to write his
praises.
Foreman wore the same boxing trunks he had worn against Ali
On Saturday night in Las Vegas, Foreman wore the same boxing trunks he
had worn against Ali in Zaire. "They were faded," said Foreman,
"but you could still read 'George Foreman, Heavyweight
Champion'." As Moorer lay in the middle of the ring, Foreman knelt in the corner.
"I was offering thanks to the Lord," said the new champion.
Yesterday morning, Foreman arose before dawn to fly home to Houston,
where he gives church sermons. "I would have preached about never
giving up a dream," he said.
'You definitely haven't seen the last of George Foreman yet'
When pressed about his future, Foreman, hiding swollen eyes behind
sunglasses, laughed. "I've still got a great fear of retiring. I'll
think about things for 10 days. You definitely haven't seen the last of
George Foreman yet."
Michael Moorer perhaps never wants to see him again.
Tainted Fights Allegations - Foreman
Tarnished Record-Miami Herald In 1994, George
Foreman became the world's oldest heavyweight champion after a masterful
seven-year comeback. Six years later, there's talk of tainted fights.
Miami Herald, by Ken Rodriguez and Herald researcher Elisabeth Donovan who
contributed to this report...... The boxing comeback that turned
George Foreman into an American icon was marked by deceit and fraud,
according to sworn statements, fight records and interviews with
opponents. Depositions and interviews with fighters and boxing managers
indicate that Foreman, now 51, benefited from fixed or tainted fights.
Nobody interviewed said Foreman knew about the fraud. Foreman won a series
of dubious fights before securing a 1994 title match that made him
history's oldest heavyweight champion at age 45. Associates of Foreman
manipulated his comeback masterfully, matching him against weak, sometimes
injured opponents and some who fought under fraudulent credentials. Full
Story on - Miami Herald
