Mac Foster

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

Not to be confused with Marc Forster.

Mac Foster
Statistics
Real nameMacArthur Foster
Nickname(s)Big Mac 'The Knife' from Fresno
Height6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
NationalityAmerican
Born(1942-06-27)June 27, 1942
Alexandria, Virginia, United States
DiedJuly 19, 2010(2010-07-19) (aged 68)
Fresno, California, United States
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights36
Wins30
Wins by KO30
Losses6

He competed from 1966 to 1976, winning 30 of his 36 professional bouts, with all his victories coming by way of knockout. He scored notable stoppages of heavyweight contenders Thad Spencer, Cleveland Williams, whom he defeated twice, and Zora Folley. Foster went the distance against a prime Muhammad Ali in April 1972, losing by a fifteen 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. 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.[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!"

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 but well rated Zora Folley in one round.

No longer undefeated

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.

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.[5]

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) [6]
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
  1. "Professional boxing record for Mac Foster". BoxRec. Retrieved April 7, 2008.
  2. Jeff Davis (July 19, 2010). "Mac Foster, former boxer from Fresno, dies". The Fresno Bee. Archived from the original on July 22, 2010. Retrieved July 20, 2010.
  3. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=R2AOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=POsFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5755,2105803&dq
  4. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10326509/mac_fostersonny_liston/
  5. Mac "The Knife" Foster at Find a Grave
  6. http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=9388&cat=boxer
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.