George Foreman once faced five opponents in one night after ‘Rumble in the jungle’ defeat

One boxing fight at the elite level would be considered too much for some, but how about five in one night?

George Foreman is one of the best heavyweight boxers of all time and had a career that spanned over 28 years.

Foreman made boxing history at 45-years-old by becoming the oldest-ever heavyweight champion in 1994 by defeating Michael Moorer in Las Vegas.

The boxing star has been an icon for many, with Tony Bellew naming Foreman as the biggest puncher he has seen.

But, even the best have bad days and it was Muhammad Ali who handed Foreman his only stoppage defeat during ‘Rumble in the Jungle’.

Ali was a shock victor that night and Foreman planned to return to the ring in emphatic style and he certainly did that with his next choice of fight.

George Foreman faced five opponents in one night

In 1995, ‘Big George’ chose to give himself the ultimate test.

On paper it was simple: Five fighters, back-to-back, across three three-minute rounds.

Before the contest, Foreman promised “nothing but violence” and was actually greeted with his first fight before stepping into the ring as he previous conqueror Ali watched on from the sidelines.

Fight one: Alonzo Johnson

Five journeymen opponents awaited Foreman with the first of those Alonzo Johnson. It wasn’t smooth for the American, however, who was only fighting in front of a half-full stadium at Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens.

He got the job done in the first fight but didn’t look like someone prepared to go another four times.

Fight two: Jerry Judge

Opponent number two Jerry Judge gave Foreman an even bigger scare as he recovered from being knocked down early to land a brutal right-hand shot that left the crowd audibly gasping.

There was tension between the two at the end of the bout as the two ended up wrestling on the canvas after exchanging verbal blows and shoving each other.

Fight three: Terry Daniels

Terry Daniels – who was challenging for world heavyweight titles three years prior – was next and he provided limited trouble and Foreman made sure it was three second round stoppages from three but it wasn’t without controversy as he personally waved in the referee, leading to scraps between Foreman and Daniels’ team.

Fight four: Charley Polite

Charley Polite was next and failed to live up to his namesake by blowing kisses towards Foreman before the fight. That was something he’d live to regret as he fell to defeat, although he was the first to go the distance despite how one-sided it was.

Once again, Foreman was embroiled in controversy as he began to unleash an erratic range of shots, including windmill uppercuts that quite frankly looked bizarre.

Fight five: Boone Kirkman

With one fight to go, it was evident that the night’s event was catching up. “I’m tired, man,” Foreman said before his final fight.

Boone Kirkman looked like he was getting the upper hand as Foreman stood off and circled around but it turned out to be a ploy.

Fight five would eventually go on to be Foreman’s best fight of the night as he landed a crisp combination to send Kirkman to the canvas.

Kirkman did last all three rounds and as the final bell went Foreman was still booed as he jumped in the air to click his heels.