HBO World Championship Boxing is an American sports television series on premium television network HBO. It premiered on January 22, 1973, with a fight that saw George Foreman defeat Joe Frazier in Kingston, Jamaica.
Gerald Arthur Cooney is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1977 to 1990. He challenged twice for world heavyweight titles in 1982 and 1987. He is widely regarded as one of the hardest punchers in heavyweight history. He beat Ken Norton and S. T. Gordon and Ron Lyle and Jimmy Young late in their careers. He boasts an impressive 85.7% knockout to win percentage.
George Edward Foreman is an American former professional boxer, entrepreneur, minister, and author. In boxing, he competed between 1967 and 1997 and was nicknamed "Big George". Widely regarded as one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all-time, he is a two-time world heavyweight champion and an Olympic gold medalist. As an entrepreneur, he is known for the George Foreman Grill.
Jimmy Young was an American heavyweight professional boxer. Young was known for his awkward, defensive style and counterpunching. He was one of the top contenders of the 1970s, losing a controversial unanimous decision against Muhammad Ali in 1976 and earning a victory over George Foreman in 1977. Young fought many other significant fighters of his era, including twice outpointing Ron Lyle and losing only by a split decision to then-number one contender Ken Norton in a title eliminator in late 1977. Fellow boxer Bobby Watts was his cousin.
George Foreman vs. Muhammad Ali, billed as The Rumble in the Jungle, was a heavyweight championship boxing match on October 30, 1974, at the 20th of May Stadium in Kinshasa, Zaire, between undefeated and undisputed heavyweight champion George Foreman and Muhammad Ali. The event had an attendance of 60,000 people and was one of the most watched televised events at the time. Ali won by knockout in the eighth round.
Michael Lee Moorer is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2008. He won a world championship on four occasions in two weight classes, having held the WBO light heavyweight title from 1988 to 1991; compiling 22 straight KOs in 22 fights and the WBO heavyweight title from 1992 to 1993; the unified WBA, IBF and lineal heavyweight titles in 1994; and regained the IBF heavyweight title again from 1996 to 1997 becoming a three-time heavyweight world champion.
Tommy Morrison was an American professional boxer and mixed martial artist who competed from 1988 to 2009. Best known for his left hook and formidable punching power, Morrison won the WBO heavyweight title in 1993 with a unanimous decision victory over George Foreman. He lost the title in his second defense to Michael Bentt that same year. Morrison's other boxing highlights include his fight with Ray Mercer in 1991, and with Donovan Ruddock in 1995. Morrison is also known for his acting career, having starred alongside Sylvester Stallone in the 1990 film Rocky V as Tommy Gunn. He retired from boxing in 1996 after testing positive for HIV.
Tony Craig Tucker is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1980 to 1998. He won the IBF heavyweight title in 1987, and was the shortest-reigning world heavyweight champion at just 64 days. In an interview with Barry Tompkins, he referred to himself as the "invisible champion," due to the press and general public largely neglecting him. He is best known for giving Mike Tyson in his prime a relatively close fight, in which he, in the words of Larry Merchant, "rocked Tyson" in the first round. However, Tyson went on to win a unanimous decision. As an amateur, he won the 1979 United States national championships, the 1979 World Cup, and a gold medal at the 1979 Pan American Games, all in the light heavyweight division.
Earnie Dee Shaver, best known as Earnie Shavers, was an American professional boxer who competed between 1969 and 1995. A two-time world heavyweight championship challenger, he is known as one of the hardest punchers in heavyweight boxing history. He scored 70 knockout wins, including 23 in the first round, for a 76.7% overall knockout rate.
Ronald David Lyle was an American professional boxer who competed from 1971 to 1980, and in 1995. He challenged unsuccessfully for the world heavyweight championship, losing to Muhammad Ali in 1975. Known for his punching power, crowd-pleasing fighting style, and his courage and determination in the ring, Lyle defeated Buster Mathis, Oscar Bonavena, Jimmy Ellis, Vicente Rondón, Earnie Shavers, Joe Bugner, Gregorio Peralta and Scott LeDoux, but is best known for his fight against George Foreman in 1976, which was voted Fight of the Year by The Ring magazine.
USA Tuesday Night Fights is a television boxing show. It aired from October 1, 1982 to August 25, 1998 on the USA Network; at one time it was the longest-running boxing show on television. The show debuted on October 1, 1982, and was originally called Friday Night Boxing, which aired from 1982 to 1984, and then in 1984, the boxing program moved to Wednesday nights and was called Wednesday Night Fights, which aired from 1984 to 1986, and in 1986, the boxing program moved to Thursday nights, and was called Thursday Night Fights, which aired from 1986 to 1990. In 1987, the boxing program finally moved to Tuesday nights, and the show was called Tuesday Night Fights.
Shannon Briggs is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1992 and 2016. He held the World Boxing Organization (WBO) heavyweight title from 2006 to 2007. Briggs was known for his formidable punching power and aggression, possessing an 88.3% knockout-to-win percentage with 37 knockout wins in the first round.
Charles Lamont Shufford, Jr. is an American former professional boxer. He challenged once for the WBO world heavyweight title in 2001.
Ti'a James Senio Peau, known professionally as Jimmy Thunder, was a Samoan-born New Zealand professional boxer who held the IBO heavyweight title from 1994 to 1995. He held multiple regional heavyweight titles, including the OPBF title from 1989 to 1991 and the Australian title twice between 1992 and 1994.
Andre Purlette is a Guyanese former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2009. Known as "Tombstone", Purlette turned pro in 1992 and won his first 32 bouts, including a victory over Jimmy Thunder. He later lost to veteran Jeremy Williams in 2003 and KOd by Aaron Williams in 2008.
Evander Holyfield vs. George Foreman, billed as The Battle of the Ages, was a professional boxing match contested on April 19, 1991 for the WBA, WBC, and IBF heavyweight championships.
George Foreman vs. Shannon Briggs, billed as The Legend Continues..... was a professional boxing match contested on November 22, 1997, for the lineal heavyweight championship.
Tony Fulilangi is a former heavyweight boxer from Tonga. He has fought Bert Cooper, and Jimmy Young. He also once fought George Foreman. He is also a boxing coach and has coached Paea Wolfgramm.
George Foreman vs. Crawford Grimsley was a professional boxing match contested on November 3, 1996, for the WBU, lineal and vacant IBA heavyweight titles.
George Foreman vs. Lou Savarese, billed as Power Brokers was a professional boxing match contested on April 26, 1997, for the WBU and lineal heavyweight titles.
