It was a rare instance for George Foreman, a fighter known for his no-doubt knockouts, being left in suspense by a boxing official.
No matter how much Foreman pleaded with him, Ron Lipton refused to divulge to him if he had won.
See, this was an imaginary bout between Foreman and Sonny Liston, part of a segment that Lipton wrote for The Ring magazine’s “Mythical Matches,” featuring hypothetical meetings of greats who never squared off.
Liston, 17 years his senior, served for Foreman as a role model and influenced his boxing style. The two had only ever met in the ring during sparring sessions when Foreman was an amateur, but there always was great reverence.
Lipton, a Poughkeepsie resident and former referee, considered those two the hardest punchers in the sport’s history, hence the make-believe matchup. Foreman agreed that it was a worthy showdown and said such a bout would’ve been epic.
But, he anxiously kept asking the author, “Who won the fight?” Lipton couldn’t reveal it, insisting that he read the article and be as surprised at the conclusion as the typical reader.
Not long after that phone call, Lipton tweeted at Foreman a link to the writeup online. The boxing legend replied on April 5, 2022: “I was honored to read; you did a great job for Sonny and I. Grateful always.”
News of Foreman’s passing two weeks ago saddened the boxing world and devastated Lipton, a lifelong boxing aficionado whose friendship with Foreman dated back to 1969.
“It ripped my heart out,” said Lipton, who got word of that death shortly after returning home from the funeral of another close friend and former colleague in the East Orange Police Department. “George was a sweet, wonderful man and one of the most genuinely nice people I’ve ever met. He always had a big Kodiak (bear) hug for me and my son when we saw each other.”
