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.