> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.grumpybuck.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # On This Date: George Foreman Wins the Heavyweight Title at 45 (Nov. 5, 1994) - URL: https://www.grumpybuck.com/on-this-date-george-foreman-wins-the-heavyweight-title-at-45-nov-5-1994/ - Published: 2026-11-05T12:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-05T11:59:59.000Z - Description: On Nov. 5, 1994, George Foreman, 45, knocked out Michael Moorer in the 10th round to regain the heavyweight title, 20 years after losing it to Ali. - Author: Brad Riddell - Tags: Sports History, On This Date, Boxing George Foreman lost the heavyweight championship to Muhammad Ali in Zaire in 1974\. 20 years later, at 45, he won it back, wearing the same red trunks. On Nov. 5, 1994, in Las Vegas, Foreman knocked out Michael Moorer with 1 right hand in the 10th round. He was losing on every scorecard when he threw it. ![“THE CHAMP!” Foreman’s hometown paper. (Houston Chronicle, Nov. 6, 1994, p. A1, via Newspapers.com)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/c02-12.jpg) “THE CHAMP!” Foreman’s hometown paper. (Houston Chronicle, Nov. 6, 1994, p. A1, via Newspapers.com) ## The Preacher After the Ali fight, Foreman never got another shot at the title. In 1977 he lost a decision to Jimmy Young in Puerto Rico, had what he described as a religious experience in his dressing room and quit boxing. ![Foreman as champion in 1974. (Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/foreman_1974c.jpg) Foreman as champion in 1974\. (Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons) He spent the next 10 years as a preacher in Houston. In 1987, at 38, he came back to raise money for the youth center he’d started. People laughed. He was heavy and bald and slow, and he fought a long list of nobodies. ![Foreman preaching in Houston.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/foreman_preaching.jpg) Foreman preaching in Houston. ![Sports Illustrated, July 17, 1989: “Blast From the Past.”](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/si_1989_blast.jpg) Sports Illustrated, July 17, 1989: “Blast From the Past.” ![“Plodding Foreman pummels Zouski.” The comeback begins. (The Sacramento Union, March 10, 1987, p. 15, via Newspapers.com)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/c13-4.jpg) “Plodding Foreman pummels Zouski.” The comeback begins. (The Sacramento Union, March 10, 1987, p. 15, via Newspapers.com) But he kept winning. In 1991 he went 12 rounds with heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield and lost a decision. In 1993 he lost again, to Tommy Morrison. That should have been the end. ![Sports Illustrated, April 29, 1991: “Slugfest.”](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/si_1991_slugfest.jpg) Sports Illustrated, April 29, 1991: “Slugfest.” ![“Youth wins ‘Battle of Ages.’” Foreman after going 12 rounds with Holyfield. (Houston Chronicle, April 20, 1991, p. A1, via Newspapers.com)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/c12-5.jpg) “Youth wins ‘Battle of Ages.’” Foreman after going 12 rounds with Holyfield. (Houston Chronicle, April 20, 1991, p. A1, via Newspapers.com) ## The Champion Michael Moorer was 26 and had never lost, 35-0\. In April 1994 he beat Holyfield to win the WBA and IBF titles and became the 1st left-handed heavyweight champion. For his 1st defense, he picked the 45-year-old. ![Michael Moorer in 2009. (Photo: Pamela Ribon, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/moorer_2009.jpg) Michael Moorer in 2009\. (Photo: Pamela Ribon, [CC BY 2.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0?ref=grumpybuck.com), via Wikimedia Commons) ## 9 Rounds For 9 rounds, it went the way everybody expected. Moorer was faster and younger, and he hit Foreman with combinations. Foreman’s left eye began to swell. He kept walking forward and kept throwing his jab, but going into the 10th, Moorer led 88-83 on 2 judges’ cards and 86-85 on the 3rd. By one count he had landed 348 punches to Foreman’s 199. ![Foreman and Moorer at the MGM Grand.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/foreman_moorer_exchange.jpg) Foreman and Moorer at the MGM Grand. ![The punch stats going into the 10th. (The Houston Post, Nov. 6, 1994, p. B1, via Newspapers.com)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/c06-9.jpg) The punch stats going into the 10th. (The Houston Post, Nov. 6, 1994, p. B1, via Newspapers.com) ## The 10th Midway through the 10th, Foreman threw a jab and then a short right hand that landed on the point of Moorer’s chin. Moorer went straight down onto his back and lay there looking up, his gloves reaching for the lights. Referee Joe Cortez counted him out at 2:03 of the round. ![Moorer on the canvas. (Houston Chronicle, Nov. 6, 1994, p. 23B, via Newspapers.com)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/c04_h-3.jpg) Moorer on the canvas. (Houston Chronicle, Nov. 6, 1994, p. 23B, via Newspapers.com) “I probably got lackadaisical,” Moorer said. “I just got caught.” ![“HE DID IT!” (Houston Chronicle, Nov. 6, 1994, p. 1B, via Newspapers.com)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/c03-9.jpg) “HE DID IT!” (Houston Chronicle, Nov. 6, 1994, p. 1B, via Newspapers.com) ![“POW!” (The Houston Post, Nov. 6, 1994, p. B1, via Newspapers.com)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/c05-5.jpg) “POW!” (The Houston Post, Nov. 6, 1994, p. B1, via Newspapers.com) Foreman went to his corner and knelt down to pray. His brother Roy fainted in the middle of the ring. ![Foreman kneels in his corner after the knockout.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/foreman_kneels.jpg) Foreman kneels in his corner after the knockout. “For all of my old buddies in the nursing homes and in jail,” Foreman said afterward, “I remember the old saying, ‘When you wish upon a star, you can accomplish anything.’” Then he said he wanted to get home to Houston in time for his Sunday service. He was the oldest man ever to win the heavyweight championship, by about 8 years, and it had been 20 years and 6 days since he lost the title to Ali. He was wearing the same red trunks he’d worn in Kinshasa. “That was the single biggest punch in boxing history,” said promoter Bob Arum. ![Foreman’s arm is raised.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/foreman_arm_raised.jpg) Foreman’s arm is raised. ![Sports Illustrated, Nov. 14, 1994: “By George!”](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/si_by_george.jpg) Sports Illustrated, Nov. 14, 1994: “By George!” ![The Los Angeles Times’ list of the oldest heavyweights in title fights, with Foreman and Archie Moore in 1974. (Los Angeles Times, Nov. 6, 1994, Part C, via Newspapers.com)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/c11-6.jpg) The Los Angeles Times’ list of the oldest heavyweights in title fights, with Foreman and Archie Moore in 1974\. (Los Angeles Times, Nov. 6, 1994, Part C, via Newspapers.com) ## What Came After Foreman fought on until 1997 and retired for good at 48\. By then most people knew him less as a fighter than as the smiling man selling the George Foreman Grill, which made him far more money than boxing ever did. ![Foreman and the grill.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/foreman_grill.jpg) Foreman and the grill. He died in March 2025, at 76.