LAS VEGAS - Muhammad Ali wants George Foreman. Bad.
"Tell George I'm coming back," Ali, 52, said Sunday of boxing's new 45-year-old heavyweight champion.
All right, so the old master's teasing. Larry Holmes is not. A Foreman-Holmes rumble for the undisputed championship in 1995 would be a fight for the (old) ages - a combined 91.
Whether they tangle for the FOY (Fountain of Youth) title remains to be seen, but it might happen. After Foreman's 11th-hour knockout of Michael Moorer Saturday at the MGM Grand, anything can happen.
Like the MGM's lion in Wizard of Oz, the ever-popular preacher and thudding puncher suddenly is king of the heavyweight forest. He had the courage, heart and, at 45, he found his brains, almost 20 years to the day Ali outfoxed the sullen KO artist in Africa.
Sunday morning, Foreman found his way back home to Kansas, uh, Houston to celebrate his historic triumph.
"Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high, blue birds sing . . . why, oh why, can't I?" Foreman sang, sort of, after he became the oldest champion in boxing history.
His stirring victory raises the possibility of Foreman defending his WBA and IBF titles against ex-champ Holmes, 45, a grandfather. Though it's not finalized, Holmes plans to challenge WBC champion Oliver McCall in January.
"If we got into the ring, the smell of Ben-Gay would be great," Foreman said.
Said Holmes: "George has never wanted to fight me. Put a gun up side his head, because I'm willing to do it."
Saturday, after Foreman wrapped his hands in his dressing room while he sang Strangers In The Night, he strode to the ring to Sam Cooke's inspirational If I Had A Hammer. For most of the night, however, it was Moorer who nailed the challenger like he was an upright 2-by-4.
It would take until the 10th round before he clipped Moorer with the ol' 1-2, a jab followed by a short, but straight-down-the-pipe, right hand that nailed Moorer right in the mouth.
"The only pain I felt," Moorer said afterward, "was my son crying."
Foreman called it "a hambone to the chin." Broadcaster Gil Clancy, a former Foreman trainer, said it was "the most significant punch in the history of boxing."
For Bert Sugar, publisher of Boxing Illustrated, it was The Shot Heard 'Round the World, Part II: "It reminds me of `The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!,' " Bobby Thomson's stunning home-run swat in 1951, which enabled New York to beat Brooklyn.
Moorer lay spread-eagle, blood trickling on his chest from a busted lip. He momentarily lifted his head a couple of inches, then it fell to the canvas. He rolled over but was counted out. Foreman returned to his corner and knelt.
"I wanted to let the Almighty know I sure appreciate living this long," he said.
After the swift reversal of fortunes, Roy Foreman, the fighter's younger brother, sprang into the ring shouting, "Catfish! Catfish!" Later, he said, "George loves fishing, and he always talked of gutting a man. You know, like a catfish."
When a stretcher was hoisted into the ring moments later, many assumed Moorer would be carried out. The stretcher was for Roy Foreman, who had fainted. "He's always fainting," said big brother. "Too much excitement."
The frenzy continued when Foreman paraded through the casino in a victory lap. "I touched him," gasped a woman. Hard-core craps shooters and mom-and-pop slot-machine types alike stopped gambling to cheer.
Foreman plopped his weary body into a roped-off section of a hotel restaurant with family and friends. "He drives to Dallas just to eat my chicken," Lula Franklin said proudly. "You couldn't ask for a better cousin."
A waiter placed a steak in front of the new king. Foreman attacked the poor slab of meat as if it threatened his new title. "There's going to be some eatin' tonight," said Foreman, diving into a heaping mound of mashed potatoes and gravy.
When the champ spotted Gene Kilroy, an Ali confidante, they hugged, and Foreman invited him to sit down. "I had a brain this time," Foreman said. "When I fought Muhammad, I had power and no brains. It took all those years. Unbelievable. I knew he wasn't going to get up. It's a miracle. The Ageless Warrior - here he is."
Someone asked Foreman why he remained so calm after he realized Moorer had been separated from his senses and his title. "I'm a teacher," he said. "I have to make sure I conduct myself in a way that I don't leave a bad impression for younger fighters."
He was asked if the incredible outcome stunned him the way it did everyone. "Knockouts never come as a surprise to me," said the man who has the greatest percentage of knockouts in heavyweight history. "And this time, I knew I had to have a knockout."
Robert Lord, his Houston-based lawyer, said, "I was with him the night he beat Joe Frazier, but nothing compares to this. Tonight, he represents millions of people."
Foreman reminisced about fighting Frazier in '73 in Jamaica, where likewise few gave him a chance. "Some guy writes, `By 8:15 tonight, you're going to hear a big sound. It will be George Foreman hitting the floor.' Well, about that time, Frazier hit the floor."
Not once. Not twice. Five times Frazier hit the deck - and five times he valiantly rose. The sixth, it was over.
After the Ali defeat in 1974, Foreman stayed out of the ring for 16 months, then made his comeback. As earlier in his career, the media harpooned him for fighting easy marks. In '77, he lost a 12-round decision to Jimmy Young in San Juan, Puerto Rico, but that end marked a beginning. In the dressing room, Foreman, who was delirious, said he had died, heard God speak to him, then was reborn a Christian. He quit fighting and became a storefront preacher.
When he returned to the ring in 1987 after a 10-year retirement, Foreman again heard detractors claim he fought nothing but bums. In some cases, they were right. But Foreman never let the harping seep into his consciousness.
"That's my gift," he said. "I let that negativity roll off me like water off a duck's back. If it's not positive, I didn't hear it. If you can overcome that, fights are easy. A lot of people right now are saying, `I told you so.' Including all my friends at the nursing home."
Punch chart
A breakdown of the punches thrown Saturday in the IBF and WBA heavyweight title fight between Michael Moorer and George Foreman, as provided by CompuBox Inc.:
Moorer Foreman
Total punches 641 496
Punches connected 369 229
Pct. connected 58 46
Jabs thrown 450 268
Jabs connected 259 115
Pct. connected 58 43
Power punches thrown 191 228
Power punches connected 110 114
Pct. connected 58 50
Knockdowns 0 1
Foreman wins the IBF and WBA heavyweight titles with a knockout of Moorer at 2:03 of the 10th round.
