Mac Foster

MacArthur "Mac" Foster (June 27, 1942 – July 19, 2010) was a 20th-century American heavyweight professional boxer.

He competed from 1966 to 1976, winning 30 of his 36 professional bouts, with all his victories achieved by knockout. He stopped heavyweight contenders Thad Spencer, Cleveland Williams, whom he defeated twice, and Zora Folley. Foster went the distance against Muhammad Ali in April 1972, losing by a 15-round unanimous decision.

Early life

Foster was born in Alexandria, Virginia,^[1] a son, and the third of eleven children, of a Mississippi sharecropping family.^[2] He spent his childhood years in Fresno, California, where his father found employment as a nurse. Foster picked grapes and cotton as a youth. Fresno State University offered him a track and field scholarship out of Washington High School, but he declined the opportunity, choosing instead to enlist with the United States Marines. Whilst serving with the Marines he won fourteen amateur boxing titles, and was deployed for two combat tours in the Vietnam War.^{[citation needed]} After a discharge from the Marines with the rank of sergeant, Foster turned professional, becoming the third Fresno boxer of note (Young Corbett III was a world welterweight champion and Wayne Thornton rose through the rankings to become a number one heavyweight contender in 1970). He trained with Pat DiFuria at the Merced Street Gym.^{[dead link][2]}

Boxing career

Standing at 6 ft 2" in height and known as "Big Mac The Knife from Fresno", Foster made his professional debut in 1966, winning his first 24 fights by knockout, and was named The Ring's Progress of the Year for 1969. Britain's Boxing Illustrated wrote, "He could certainly whack!"^{[citation needed]}

Whilst being employed as a sparring partner for Sonny Liston, Foster was reputed to have knocked down the former world champion,^[3] causing Liston two days later to work Foster over during another sparring session before handlers could intervene between the two men to stop it.^[4]

Big fights

In 1969 Foster knocked out contender Thad Spencer in the first round, and twice knocked out a past his prime Cleveland Williams.

By 1970 Foster was ranked as the world's number one heavyweight contender and seemed set for a title shot, but his 24–0 winning streak came to an end when as favourite he was stopped in six rounds by the more experienced Jerry Quarry in June 1970. After the Quarry fight, Foster knocked out ageing and by then unranked Zora Folley in one round.

Versus Muhammad Ali

In April 1972 Foster faced Muhammad Ali in Tokyo in a rare 15-round, non-title bout. Although he defied Ali's prediction of a fifth-round stoppage by lasting the distance, Foster lost a clear decision to the former champion, winning just two rounds, one round, and no rounds on the three judges' respective scorecards. Foster had never been in a professional fight longer than eight rounds before facing Ali.

Last fights

Foster followed up his loss to Ali with knockouts of journeymen Sam McGill and Charles Williams. He was then outpointed by Bob Stallings, Joe Bugner, and Henry Clark in consecutive bouts.

Foster served as George Foreman's sparring partner for Foreman's world title bout with Ken Norton in 1974. He retired from boxing in 1976 after losing his fourth consecutive decision, this time to prospect Stan Ward. Foster's final record was 30–6, with all 30 of his wins coming by knockout.

Later life

After retiring, Foster volunteered his time as boxing coach for youth.^[2]

Death

Foster died at the age of 68 of MRSA on Monday, July 19, 2010. His body was buried at the San Joaquin Valley National Cemetery in Santa Nella, California.

Personal life

He married Yolanda, the marriage producing four children, Gregory, Joshua, Nathaniel and Nicole.

Professional boxing record

30 Wins (30 knockouts), 6 Losses (1 knockout, 5 decisions) [5]
Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	30–6	Stan Ward	UD	10	February 26, 1976	San Jose Civic Auditorium, San Jose, California
Loss	30–5	Henry Clark	UD	10	May 30, 1974	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California	1–7, 1–7, 3–7
Loss	30–4	Joe Bugner	PTS	10	November 13, 1973	Empire Pool, Wembley, London	96.5–100
Loss	30–3	Bob Stallings	SD	10	June 30, 1973	Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, Illinois
Win	30–2	Charles "Hercules" Williams	KO	10	May 3, 1973	Chicago, Illinois
Win	29–2	Sam McGill	TKO	9	April 11, 1973	Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, Illinois
Loss	28–2	Muhammad Ali	UD	15	April 1, 1972	Nihon Budokan, Tokyo	65–73, 67–75, 66–74
Win	28–1	Giuseppe Ros	KO	8	December 26, 1971	Hallenstadion, Zurich
Win	27–1	Billy Joiner	KO	5	July 29, 1971	Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California
Win	26–1	Mike Boswell	TKO	4	March 25, 1971	Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California
Win	25–1	Zora Folley	KO	1	September 29, 1970	Selland Arena, Fresno, California	Folley knocked out at 3:04 of the first round.
Loss	24–1	Jerry Quarry	KO	6	June 17, 1970	Madison Square Garden, New York City	Foster knocked out at 2:05 of the sixth round.
Win	24–0	Jack O'Halloran	KO	1	April 9, 1970	Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California
Win	23–0	Jimmy Rossette	KO	4	March 24, 1970	Selland Arena, Fresno, California
Win	22–0	Bob Felstein	KO	2	December 16, 1969	Selland Arena, Fresno, California
Win	21–0	Cleveland Williams	KO	3	November 18, 1969	Sam Houston Coliseum, Houston, Texas
Win	20–0	Cleveland Williams	TKO	5	September 13, 1969	Selland Arena, Fresno, California	Referee stopped the bout at 1:35 of the fifth round.
Win	19–0	Roger Russell	TKO	3	August 19, 1969	Selland Arena, Fresno, California
Win	18–0	Thad Spencer	KO	1	May 20, 1969	Selland Arena, Fresno, California
Win	17–0	Roger Rischer	KO	4	January 21, 1969	Selland Arena, Fresno, California
Win	16–0	Joe Hemphill	TKO	3	November 27, 1968	Silver Slipper, Las Vegas, Nevada
Win	15–0	Tommy Fields	TKO	5	August 16, 1968	Centennial Coliseum, Reno, Nevada
Win	14–0	Tommy Burns	KO	1	August 8, 1968	Seattle Center Arena, Seattle, Washington
Win	13–0	Curtis Bruce	TKO	3	July 9, 1968	Selland Arena, Fresno, California
Win	12–0	Sonny Moore	KO	2	April 2, 1968	Selland Arena, Fresno, California	Moore knocked out at 2:50 of the second round.
Win	11–0	Steve Grant	TKO	2	February 27, 1968	Selland Arena, Fresno, California
Win	10–0	Hubert Hilton	TKO	5	January 23, 1968	Selland Arena, Fresno, California
Win	9–0	Roy Wallace	KO	7	November 28, 1967	Selland Arena, Fresno, California
Win	8–0	Ray Junior Ellis	KO	2	October 11, 1967	Selland Arena, Fresno, California
Win	7–0	Floyd Joyner	TKO	7	August 29, 1967	Selland Arena, Fresno, California	Joyner down in the sixth and seventh rounds. Foster caught Joyner in a barrage of punches and the referee stopped the bout at 1:45.
Win	6–0	Lino Armenteros	KO	3	June 13, 1967	Selland Arena, Fresno, California	Armentiros knocked out at 0:59 of the third round. Armenteros retired after this bout.
Win	5–0	Lou Phillips	KO	3	May 9, 1967	Selland Arena, Fresno, California	Phillips knocked out at 1:53 of the first round.
Win	4–0	L.J. Wheeler	TKO	6	March 14, 1967	Selland Arena, Fresno, California	Wheeler down in the third round and three times in the sixth.
Win	3–0	Sam Wyatt	KO	1	February 6, 1967	Selland Arena, Fresno, California	Wyatt knocked out at 0:13 of the first round. One of the quickest fights in Boxing history.
Win	2–0	Leroy Birmingham	KO	1	January 5, 1967	Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California	Birmingham knocked out at 2:12 of the first round.
Win	1–0	Jimmy Gilmore	KO	3	November 28, 1966	Las Vegas, Nevada

References

External links

• Boxing record for Mac Foster from BoxRec (registration required)
• Mac "The Knife" Foster at Find a Grave