Bob Foster: Light Heavyweight Legend

Bob Foster was born on April 27, 1938 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and would remain a New Mexico man all his life. He played football in high school, and while he was very good at it, he was always more attracted to boxing. In a scuffle after school he once fractured another boy's skull with one punch, so he certainly had natural talent for punching. In an indication of how much things have changed since the 1950s, Foster felt he could make more money as a professional boxer than as a pro footballer, and he said that is what drew him to the sport.

Foster joined the Air Force, and quickly made their boxing team as both a fighter and a coach. It was in the latter role that he gave pointers to future heavyweight contender Doug Jones. He went to the Pan American Games in 1959 and won the Silver there. At those games, he met the young Cassius Clay, also a light heavyweight. It would be Clay who blocked Foster's progress to a place on the 1960 Olympic Team, and the two men would glove up and meet in the center ring in the future.

Turning pro in March 1961, even in the early stages of his career Foster had a knack for mixing it up with heavyweights. Standing 6'3" and with a 79" wingspan, Foster was a lanky, devastating puncher of the mold that foreshadowed the famed Thomas "Hitman" Hearns. His main weapons were a snapping jab and a monster left hook. Although his career high weight was a modest 188 lbs, making him a solid light heavyweight, Foster was the type of fighter who would get in the ring with anybody, and fight to win. In the modern era, obsessed as it is with "undefeateds," career planning like that would doom a fighter's chances of ever getting a title shot. In Foster's case, it cemented his fearsome reputation.

In 1962 and in only his tenth pro fight, Foster met his old protege Doug Jones. Jones had recently lost three fights, but all were to established heavyweight contenders with vastly more experience. The losses had shaped Jones up into the lion who would give Cassius Clay his first severe test the following year. Now the learner was the master, and Jones knocked the smaller Foster out in the 8th.

Foster kept on campaigning against both 175 pounders and the big guys. Between 1963, he lost a few times, but usually to heavyweights. In 1963, he traveled to Peru and faced light heavyweight contender Mauro Mino on his home turf and dropped a hometown decision that Foster bitterly contested. Future heavyweight champion Ernie Terrell, also a tall, lanky fighter, wore Foster out and then stopped him in 1964. Finally, he lost on points to veteran contender Zora Folley and his masterful jab in 1965.

The Champion

After Foley, Foster won eight fights with seven knockouts. However, he was basically just marking up time until he could get the financial backing to pay World Light Heavyweight Champion Dick Tiger the purse Tiger was demanding. They met in May 1968. Foster took control after the 2nd Round with his jab, using it to avoid Tiger's power. In the 4th he threw a 1-2, followed by a short hook. Tiger slipped the right, but the hook landed squarely on the button and took the full force of Foster. Counted out, it was the first time the great Tiger had ever been knocked out, and only the second time he had even been on the canvas. 29-4 and 30 years old, Bob Foster was now the Light Heavyweight Champion of the World.

Foster won all of his next eleven bouts by knockout, including one outing with a heavyweight. In November 1970, he went up again, but this time to challenge the reigning World Heavyweight Champion "Smokin" Joe Frazier. Foster was determined to climb the mountain no other 175 pound fighter had yet achieved: to be both the light heavyweight and heavyweight champion of the world. However, in challenging Frazier he was trying to go one bridge too far. Foster came in at what was for him a beefy 188 lbs. Frazier, four inches shorter, weighed 209 lbs and was the most feared puncher in the world at that time. Foster came out and started lobbing bombs and Frazier, which was entirely the wrong thing to do against "Smokin" Joe. In the 2nd, Frazier's left hook found its mark and put Foster on the canvas. Shaken to the ankles, Foster rose at the count of nine, only to be blasted by a second hook and flattened.

The loss to Frazier did not change Foster's status as the 175 lbs champ. He went back to wreak havoc on his own division, winning eight more fights with seven knockouts, including knockout wins over Venezuelan contender Vincente Rondon and Mike Quarry, the undefeated brother of Jerry Quarry.

In November 1972, Foster again tried to challenge a major heavyweight, this time in the form of his old amateur obstacle Muhammad Ali. Ali at the time was the NABF champion, and working at getting another shot at the world title. In what was Mills Lane's first major bout as referee, Foster was knocked down in the 5th, twice in the 7th, and out in the 8th. Foster has since made the dubious and extremely odd claim that Ali was not really able to hurt him, and that Foster threw the fight to save himself for a title defense two months later.

Returning to 175 pounds, Foster then made two defenses against contender Pierre Fourie of South Africa, winning both by Unanimous Decision. The second bout was notable as it was held in apartheid South Africa.

The End

By 1974, Bob Foster was 51-6 and 36 years old. His body had taken a lot of punishment, especially in its repeated matches against solid heavyweights. When he met Jorge Victor Ahumada of Argentina, he was sluggish and looked spent, and was lucky to earn a Draw. Foster announced his retirement shortly thereafter. Foster vacated the World Light Heavyweight crown. He never lost it in the ring.

However, he did not remain retired long. The gloves were back on by June of 1975. He ran up a winning streak over tomato cans, but when he stepped up to journeymen he suffered a win followed by two losses in 1978. The second was by a humiliating knockout at the hands of a man he had already defeated. Foster retired a second time, and this time for good.

Retirement and Legacy

Foster joined the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department after boxing and became a detective. He also became engaged in training boxers, and later MMA fighters as well. He is retired from police work, but continues to train fighters.

Foster is a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame. He retired with a record of 56-8-1 with 46 KOs, and successfully defended the light heavyweight crown 15 times over 6 years. During his reign he also had a number of other bouts that were not recognized title defenses. The Ring rated him as the 3rd greatest light heavyweight boxer of all time, and his name routinely appears on lists of pound for pound all time great fighters and punchers.

Sources: boxrec.com; www.newmexicoboxing.com/history_newmexico_boxing/bobfoster.html; The Ring, Old Fight Footage on YouTube; ESPN Classic Sports