Mac Foster

MacArthur "Mac" Foster (June 27, 1942 – July 19, 2010) was an 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. He also lost a title fight against former WBC champion Marty Lewis by 7th-round KO.

Early life Foster was born in Alexandria, Virginia, the third of eleven children, of a Mississippi sharecropping family. 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. causing Liston two days later to work Foster over during another sparring session before handlers could intervene between the two men to stop it.

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.

Loss 30–6

UD 10 February 26, 1976

Loss 30–5

UD 10 May 30, 1974

Loss 30–4

PTS 10 November 13, 1973

Loss 30–3

SD 10 June 30, 1973

Win 30–2

KO 10 May 3, 1973

Win 29–2

TKO 9 April 11, 1973

Loss 28–2

UD 15 April 1, 1972

Win 28–1

KO 8 December 26, 1971

Win 27–1

KO 5 July 29, 1971

Win 26–1

TKO 4 March 25, 1971

Win 25–1

KO 1 September 29, 1970

Loss 24–1

KO 6 June 17, 1970

Win 24–0

KO 1 April 9, 1970

Win 23–0

KO 4 March 24, 1970

Win 22–0

KO 2 December 16, 1969

Win 21–0

KO 3 November 18, 1969

Win 20–0

TKO 5 September 13, 1969

Win 19–0

TKO 3 August 19, 1969

Win 18–0

KO 1 May 20, 1969

Win 17–0

KO 4 January 21, 1969

Win 16–0

TKO 3 November 27, 1968

Win 15–0

TKO 5 August 16, 1968

Win 14–0

KO 1 August 8, 1968

Win 13–0

TKO 3 July 9, 1968

Win 12–0

KO 2 April 2, 1968

Win 11–0

TKO 2 February 27, 1968

Win 10–0

TKO 5 January 23, 1968

Win 9–0

KO 7 November 28, 1967

Win 8–0

KO 2 October 11, 1967

Win 7–0

TKO 7 August 29, 1967

Win 6–0

KO 3 June 13, 1967

Win 5–0

KO 3 May 9, 1967

Win 4–0

TKO 6 March 14, 1967

Win 3–0

KO 1 February 6, 1967

Win 2–0

KO 1 January 5, 1967

Win 1–0

KO 3 November 28, 1966