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| Date | June 7, 1993 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | Thomas & Mack Center, Paradise, Nevada | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | WBO Heavyweight Championship | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Morrison defeated Foreman by 12th round unanimous decision | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
George Foreman vs. Tommy Morrison, billed as the Star-Spangled Battle, was a professional boxing match contested between George Foreman and Tommy Morrison on June 7, 1993, for the vacant World Boxing Organization Heavyweight Championship. [1]
After WBO Heavyweight champion Michael Moorer opted to vacate the title in February 1993, the WBO sanctioned a match between popular 44-year-old ex-WBC and WBA heavyweight champion George Foreman and then up-and-coming 24-year-old prospect Tommy Morrison to determine who would be the next WBO Heavyweight champion. [2] Both fighters were looking to claim the title after losing their previous heavyweight title fights. Foreman had come up short to Evander Holyfield in a bid to become the oldest Undisputed Heavyweight champion two years prior, while Morrison had unsuccessfully challenged fellow undefeated contender Ray Mercer for the WBO title, in what was his first (and at the time of his fight with Foreman, only) professional loss. Prior to the fight, Foreman announced that his fight with Morrison would "probably (be) the last fight I'll ever have" while adding that he wanted to go out "right" by getting a "title belt around my waist". [3] Foreman was a 7 to 5 favorite to win.
Though the bout was promoted as a match between two of boxing's hardest punchers, neither fighter scored a knockdown nor had their opponent in any real danger. Morrison abandoned his usual aggressive style while Foreman was the aggressor for the duration of the fight, stalking the agile Morrison, who in turn circled the older and bigger Foreman, scoring with sharp punches before quickly retreating. Though the pro-Foreman fans voiced their disapproval by showering Morrison with boos, Morrison's tactic ultimately paid off. Morrison won the bout in a lopsided unanimous decision with two scores of 117–110 and one score of 118–109, becoming the new WBO Heavyweight champion in the process. [4] Unofficial HBO scorer Harold Lederman had 116-111 in Morrison's favor.
Morrison's victory not only made him the WBO heavyweight champion, but also a legitimate contender to the three major heavyweight titles sanctioned by the WBA, WBC and IBF. Morrison first agreed to defend his newly won title against his Rocky V co-star Michael Williams in what was billed as real-life Tommy Gunn vs. Union Cane (the characters that Morrison and Williams played in the film) matchup. However, Williams refused to leave his dressing room and Morrison was forced to face unknown journeyman Tim Tomashek, winning the bout after four rounds when Tomashek's corner refused to let him continue. Morrison then agreed to a lucrative WBC title shot against champion Lennox Lewis, [5] but opted to defend his WBO title against little-known Michael Bentt in what was perceived to be a warmup before facing Lewis. However, Bentt would unexpectedly score three knockdowns over Morrison en route to a first-round knockout victory that cost Morrison his title match against Lewis. [6]
Foreman initially stuck with his retirement plans and spent a year and a half without participating in a boxing match. However, Foreman decided to challenge the newly crowned WBA and IBF heavyweight champion Michael Moorer for his titles to which Moorer accepted. Moorer appeared to have the fight in hand and was ahead on all three scorecards when Foreman hit him with a sudden right hand in the 10th round that dropped Moorer for the count and made Foreman the oldest heavyweight champion in boxing history.
Confirmed bouts: [7]
| Country | Broadcaster |
|---|---|
 Canada | TSN |
 France | Canal+ |
 Philippines | GMA Network |
 United Kingdom | Sky Sports |
 United States | HBO |
Evander Holyfield is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1984 and 2011. He reigned as the undisputed champion at cruiserweight in the late 1980s and at heavyweight in the early 1990s, and was the only boxer in history to win the undisputed championship in two weight classes in the "three belt era", a feat later surpassed by Terence Crawford, Naoya Inoue and Oleksandr Usyk, who became two-weight undisputed champions in the four-belt era. Nicknamed "the Real Deal", Holyfield is the only four-time world heavyweight champion, having held the unified WBA, WBC, and IBF titles from 1990 to 1992, the WBA and IBF titles again from 1993 to 1994, the WBA title a third time from 1996 to 1999; the IBF title a third time from 1997 to 1999 and the WBA title for a fourth time from 2000 to 2001.
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.
Riddick Bowe vs. Evander Holyfield II, billed as Repeat or Revenge, was a professional boxing match that took place on November 6, 1993, for the WBA and IBF heavyweight championships.
Evander Holyfield vs. Michael Moorer was a professional boxing match contested on April 22, 1994, for the WBA and IBF heavyweight championships.
Michael Moorer vs. George Foreman, billed as One for the Ages, was a professional boxing match contested on November 5, 1994 for the WBA and IBF heavyweight championships.
Evander Holyfield vs. Michael Moorer II was a professional boxing match contested November 8, 1997 for the WBA and IBF heavyweight championships.
Evander Holyfield vs. Lennox Lewis, billed as Undisputed, was a professional boxing match contested on March 13, 1999 for the WBA, WBC, and IBF undisputed heavyweight championship.
Riddick Bowe vs. Michael Dokes, billed as The Homecoming, was a professional boxing match contested on February 6, 1993 for the WBA and IBF heavyweight championships. The fight emanated from Madison Square Garden in New York, New York.
Herbie Hide vs. Riddick Bowe was a professional boxing match contested on March 11, 1995, for the World Boxing Organization Heavyweight Championship. The bout took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, Nevada, and was televised by HBO. Hide was making the first defense of the title he had won from Michael Bentt in a fight that resulted in Bentt suffering career ending injuries while Bowe was trying to find his way back into the world championship picture sixteen months after he lost his place as champion to Evander Holyfield. Bowe defeated Hide in the 6th round.
Riddick Bowe vs. Jorge Luis González, billed as "Mortal Enemies", was a professional boxing match contested on June 17, 1995 for the WBO Heavyweight Championship.
Lennox Lewis vs. Tony Tucker, billed as Star Spangled Glory, was a heavyweight professional boxing match contested between WBC champion Lennox Lewis and the WBC's number one ranked contender Tony Tucker. The bout took place on May 8, 1993 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Paradise, Nevada, U.S. Lewis retained his WBC title via unanimous decision.
Lennox Lewis vs. Tommy Morrison, billed as "Laying It All on the Line", was a professional boxing match contested on October 7, 1995 for the IBC heavyweight championship.
Ray Mercer vs. Tommy Morrison, billed as Test of Courage, was a professional boxing match contested on October 18, 1991 for the WBO Heavyweight Championship.
Tommy Morrison vs. Michael Bentt, billed as "The Tulsa Shootout", was a professional boxing match contested on October 29, 1993 for the WBO Heavyweight Championship.
George Foreman vs. Shannon Briggs was a professional boxing match contested on November 22, 1997, for the Lineal heavyweight championship.
Evander Holyfield vs. Vaughn Bean, billed as "The Power and the Glory", was a professional boxing match contested on September 19, 1998 for the WBA and IBF heavyweight championships.
Lennox Lewis vs. Lionel Butler was a professional boxing match contested on May 13, 1995. The fight was a WBC "eliminator" bout with the winner scheduled to become the number one contender for the WBC heavyweight title.
Tommy Morrison vs. Tim Tomashek, billed as Bringing It Home, was a professional boxing match contested on August 30, 1993, for the WBO heavyweight title. Morrison's original opponent Mike Williams, who had appeared opposite Morrison in the film Rocky V, withdrew from the fight only 90 minutes before it was scheduled to take place. Rather than cancel the event, the promoters of the event selected journeyman Tim Tomashek as a last minute replacement.