Editing Bob Foster (boxer) (section)

==Boxing career==
Foster started his professional career on the night of March 27, 1961, against Duke Williams, in [[Washington, D.C.]], winning by [[knockout]] in two rounds. The first 12 bouts of his career were spent campaigning in the United States' Eastern coast and in Canada. In his tenth bout, he made his first of multiple forays into the heavyweight division, and suffered his first loss, at the hands of  [[Doug Jones (boxer)|Doug Jones]], by a knockout in the eighth round.

After two more wins, he went in 1963 to [[Peru]], where he lost to South American champion [[Mauro Mina]] by a decision in ten rounds at [[Lima, Peru|Lima]]. This was his first major Light Heavyweight bout, but it wouldn't be his last.

Three more fights back in the States resulted in quick knockout wins for him, and then, in 1964, he made his second attempt at entering the heavyweight rankings, being knocked out in the seventh by future world Heavyweight champion [[Ernie Terrell]]. He finished the year by posting three more knockout wins at Light Heavyweight, two of them in the month of November. The night of November 11 was Foster's first win of note as a light-heavyweight. One month after knocking out Don Quinn  in the first round, he stepped up in the ring again and faced former world title challenger Henry Hank. He beat Hank by a knockout in the tenth.

In 1965, he had five fights, winning four and losing one. He beat Hank again, by decision in 12 rounds, and lost to [[Zora Folley]], by a decision in ten rounds, in another attempt at joining the heavyweight top ten.

In 1966 he defeated Leroy Green in two rounds.

By 1967, Foster, although his attempts to become a top heavyweight were being frustrated, was a ranked light heavyweight. He decided to stick to the light-heavyweight division for the time being, and he won all seven of his fights, six by knockout. Among the fighters he beat were [[Eddie Cotton]], Eddie Vick, and Sonny Moore. After defeating Moore, Foster became the world's number one ranked light heavyweight challenger.

===World light-heavyweight champion===
In 1968, Foster got his first shot at a world title. At [[Madison Square Garden]] in [[New York, New York|New York]], on the night of March 24, Foster became world champion by knocking out [[Dick Tiger]] in four rounds. Tiger had been a two-time world middleweight champion and was defending his world light heavyweight crown that night. Foster then decided to box at heavyweight once again, and beat Charlie Polite by a knockout in three. He ended that year defeating Vick again, and his future world title challenger [[Roger Rouse]], both by a knockout.

In 1969, he began by rising off the canvas to knock out [[Frankie DePaula|Frank DePaula]] in the same first round and retain his belt. It is believed that was the first time ever a boxer won a world title fight in the first round after being floored in that same round.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}} It is also believed that that fight is one of only three times that's happened...{{citation needed|date=April 2022}} the second time being in 1984, when [[Juan Meza]] rose off a knockdown to dethrone world Jr. Featherweight champion [[Jaime Garza (boxer)|Jaime Garza]] in the same first round too. It also happened in the 21st century, when Kendall Holt was dropped twice, only to knockout Ricardo Torres in round 1, for the WBO 140&nbsp;lb title.

Foster's next fight in 1969 was against Andy Kendall, whom he beat in four rounds by knockout, to once again retain the crown. He closed the 1960s with two more knockout wins.

===Frazier vs Foster===
In 1970, Foster made two more trips to the heavyweights. In the first, he beat fringe contender Lee Wallace in six rounds by knockout. This was followed by a return to the light-heavyweight division to defend his title against Rouse. Infuriated by some comments that Rouse's manager had made before the bout concerning the fact that even though Foster knocked out Rouse in their first bout he was not able to drop him, Foster dropped Rouse five times en route to a fourth-round knockout victory. A knockout in 10 to retain the title against Mark Tessman followed, and then he was given the chance to challenge for the world heavyweight title. Facing world champion [[Joe Frazier]] on the night of November 18 in [[Detroit]], he was knocked out in two rounds.

After defeating Hal Carroll by a knockout in four rounds to defend his crown, the [[World Boxing Association|WBA]] stripped him of the title, but he was still recognized by the [[World Boxing Council|WBC]] as a champion. Foster became enraged at the WBA, which proceeded to have [[Vicente Rondon]] of [[Venezuela]] and [[Jimmy Dupree]] fight for the world title. Rondon won, becoming the second [[Latin American]] world light-heavyweight champion (after [[José Torres (boxer)|José Torres]]), and Foster set his eyes on him. Foster went on defending his WBC title, and he defeated challengers [[Ray Anderson (Boxer)|Ray Anderson]], [[Tommy Hicks]], and [[Brian Kelly (boxer)|Brian Kelly]]. Of those three, it was Anderson who was the only one to last the 15 round distance with Foster.

===Ali vs Foster===
Foster and Rondon met in [[Miami]] on April 7, 1972, in a unification bout. Foster became the undisputed world champion once again, by knocking Rondon out in the second round. In his next fight, he used what many critics have called one of the best punches in history to retain his title by a knockout in four against [[Mike Quarry]]. Foster then went up in weight and faced former and future world heavyweight champion [[Muhammad Ali]], on November 21, 1972, in what was legendary referee [[Mills Lane]]'s first bout of note as a referee. Foster lost to Ali by a knockout in the eighth, after being knocked down 7 times.

In 1973, Foster retained his title twice against [[Pierre Fourie]], both by decision. Their second fight had a distinct social impact because it was fought in [[apartheid]]-ruled [[South Africa]], Foster being Black and Fourie being White. Foster became a hero to South African Blacks by beating Fourie the first time around, and in their rematch, the first boxing fight in South Africa during apartheid featuring a White versus a Black, he cemented that position by defeating Fourie on points again.

Piet Koornhoff was the South African Minister of Sport at that time and he had to be persuaded to allow the fight. He had to amend the regulations relating to the prohibition of "mixed sport" in order to do so. Foster was allowed into the country on condition that he refrain from making any political comments or speeches. In a post fight interview he diplomatically responded to a question that he liked the country and would be willing to come back again. This explains the sentiment of [[Mark Mathabane]] as noted in his [[autobiography]] ''[[Kaffir Boy]]'', that South Africa's black population felt betrayed by Foster since he did not address apartheid during his time in South Africa.

His last defense as world light-heavyweight champion came in 1974, when he was dropped by [[Argentina|Argentinian]] [[Jorge Ahumada]], but managed to keep the title with a draw. After that, he announced his retirement, leaving the world's light-heavyweight championship vacant.<ref>{{cite news|title=Foster Keeps Title on Draw|date=June 18, 1974|access-date=January 13, 2010|publisher=St. Petersburg Times|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=scYNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=SXMDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5922,2878802&dq=jorge+ahumada+foster&hl=en|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120721224451/http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=scYNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=SXMDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5922,2878802&dq=jorge+ahumada+foster&hl=en|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 21, 2012}}</ref>

Foster returned to boxing in 1975, before retiring from the sport in 1978 at the age of 36.