Who's bright idea was it to put Jose Roman against Foreman?

What can you say? Both the WBA and WBC had him ranked No. 9 and he’d won 23 of his last 24 fights, against less than stellar opposition though.

 

Three years later he went 10 with Jimmy Young on the Ali-Coopman undercard and OMG I just looked up coverage of the fight, and even though Young pitched a shutout Roman closed his eye with a thumb and according to the Philly Daily News coverage “did everything but bite,” writer said he scored well “to the knees, thighs, cup, had his best flurries after the bell … and used his head like a spear.”

 

Yeah, okay, sure, yeah, but did he stick his tongue out at him?

 

George's KO of Roman was the most brutal of his career IMO. George was really telegraphing a lot of his shots, but it didn't matter in this one. Roman just went completely limp when that last uppercut landed. He looked in a state of shock as he laid on the canvas, completely out of it.

 

Roman barked at George during the referee instructions.

I think that was a mistake.

 

Here’s a 2022 story catching up with Roman.

https://www.tampabay.com/life-cultu...champ-gets-a-west-tampa-mural/?outputType=amp

 

Jose deliberately needled Foreman all the way going into the fight. He really had George angry, possibly even more than Foreman was in Zaire.

It’s one thing to employ psychological warfare but your opponent’s resulting anger has to manifest to your advantage - unfortunately for Roman, it only served to well and truly seal his fate.

 

He had just fought Frazier & Norton was looming large on the horizon. Standard choice from your management team to give you an easy night’s work sandwiched between…well as it turns out, two other nights of easy work, but highly-rated opponents.

 

Joe King Roman made Peter McNeeley look like Jack Dempsey. His was as bad a showing in a championship bout -- in any weight division -- as I've ever seen, and I've been around a long time. Hideously overmatched, he was thrown in there with no possibility of him defending himself. Disgraceful.

 

One famous Cuban sportscaster in Puerto Rico, Rene Molina, once said on TV he went to a pharmacy and bought 15 candles the day of the fight, offering to "the saints" to light up one for every round Roman lasted on his feet and that, obviously, the next day, he had to throw them all away unlighted.

 

Roman beat Jose Urtain, who probably was Foreman's (and Frazier's first choice) and I've seen film on Roamn from that time period where he looks pretty solid. I think the result makes it look worse in hindsight, but I feel you here. Roman looked like a fly getting swatted to one side.

On the other hand, in 1973, from the list of available contenders, who would have been a surefire more credible choice for an in-between title defense serving as a warmup? Would Henry Clark or Larry Middleton have fared much better at that time than Frazier/Roman/Norton?

 

Roman did fight and stay the distance with a lot of tough fighters. Can't take that away from him. He didn't belong in a ring with Foreman. Very few people did in 1973. Possibly only one.

 

He was top ten ranked.

 

"I'm going to sit you on your ass!"