Foreman to be Schulz guide to a new world
Foreman to be Schulz guide to a new world
LAS VEGAS, Nevada (Reuter): George Foreman on Saturday night
will take Axel Schulz to a world he has never been to -- a
heavyweight championship fight.
Local TV station RCTI will show the bout live from Nevada at 9
am. this morning West Indonesia Time.
Even if the German's anemic 21-1-1 record against the dimmer
lights of the boxing profession is not enough to make him the
subterranean underdog to take away Foreman's International Boxing
Federation title, the glitz and glare of the neon capital of the
world might be.
This is Foreman's town.
Foreman came to this capital of long-shots in 1987 as a fat,
old, joke of a washed-up fighter looking for a few more paydays.
He left it last November, maybe not much slimmer, certainly
not any younger, but a glittering hero to anyone who has ever
dreamed.
And it can be assumed the cheers for the old guy that will
rock the MGM Grand's arena from the cheap seats to the chairs at
ringside will not take the knocking out of Schulz' knees.
Everyone--Schulz, too--remembers the night that the former
heavyweight champion of the world became the new and at 46 the
oldest heavyweight champion ever with a short, right hand to the
face of Michael Moorer.
Schulz, 26, has to remember the sudden destruction wrought by
the punching preacher, and he also must realize that it was
against the reigning heavyweight champion, not a fighter who
fought all but two of his bouts in Germany.
"Once you get into the ring and that bell rings it turns into
a whole another world that operates on itself," Foreman said.
"I've been doing this since 1966. It's been a mysterious
world. I wish I had some control over it, but it seems to control
you," said Foreman who first won the title in 1973, and lost it
the next year to Muhammad Ali.
Favorite
Foreman, a 6 1/2-1 favorite, is also accustomed to using that
force for his own designs, like triggering that short right hand
that needs to travel only about 12 inches (30 cm) before those
256 pounds (116 kg) behind it provide the after-shock.
"You can't control it. Instead, it controls you. It can make
you do strange things. Axel is going to jump into that ring and
find out," said the 73-4 Foreman, being paid US$10 million to
fight Schulz, who is getting $500,000.
At 6'4" (1.93 meters) Schulz is the same height as Foreman and
at 221 pounds (100.24 kg) he is 35 pounds (15.8 kg) lighter.
Among Schulz' best boxing attributes seem to be that he is
respectful, soft-spoken and very glad to be here fighting for the
"biggest title in the world.
"I'm looking forward to that fight," Schulz said. "I think I
will give everything to make sure that the title goes to
Germany."
Schulz fought to a draw against Henry Akinwande in Berlin in
1992 for the European title and lost to him the next year. Schulz
once was the German heavyweight champion but gave it up.
Schulz, who has fought outside Germany only twice, won a 10-
round decision against former heavyweight champion James
"Bonecrusher" Smith last September in Germany.