Muhammad Ali Begged George Foreman to End Retirement to Beat a Man: ‘I Can’t But You Can’

When Muhammad Ali losing to Ken Norton in March 1973, there was a growing sense that the best of the fluttering butterfly and the stinging bee might be gone.

Norton earned a split decision victory in San Diego, a verdict that undoubtedly flattered Ali, who also suffered a broken jaw in the first round.

Ali narrowly avoided a second defeat in the rematchrallying late to earn a split decision of his own after winning the 12th round. With the rivalry locked at 1-1, a rubber match would have to wait.

What so troubled “The Greatest” against Norton proved no obstacle for Georges Foreman. A year later, in Caracas, Venezuela, the reigning heavyweight champion demolished the chiseled challenger in less than two rounds, flooring him with sledgehammer blows. The 6ft 3in, 224¾lb heavyweight later said he would beat Ali in two rounds.

Instead, Ali did the unthinkable. In 1974, at The Rumble in the Jungle, he stopped Foreman to reclaim the heavyweight crown. Two years later, Ali and Norton met for a third time at Yankee Stadium in New York. “The Greatest” was given the nod again, although the decision proved controversial and Norton immediately called for a fourth fight.

This never came to fruition. Years later, however, Foreman revealed on The Jim Lampley Show that his old enemy had asked him for help after Foreman’s retirement in 1977. Ali, eager to avoid a fourth meeting with Norton, thought his old rival could do him a favor.

“I don’t know how he got my number. He called me and complimented me for about twenty minutes, then he said, ‘George, will you do me a favor?’ I said, “Certainly.” He said, “Please come back and beat Ken Norton and fight him for me…I can’t beat him.” George, you can. He’s afraid of you. I’ll let you use my training camp and everything, but please come back and beat him for me.

Who knows how history might have changed if this scenario had happened. If Foreman had granted his rival’s wish, he might have earned the opportunity to avenge his most humiliating defeat.

Instead, Foreman remained retired until the 1980s, before achieving a different kind of immortality in 1994 when he stopped Michael Moorer to become the oldest heavyweight champion in history.