Foreman was certainly wearing a mask by the time Stewart had finished pounding his face. I've never seen a boxer so hideously disfigured by a fight. Foreman looked like a monster.
hell if that fight was a 12 rounder foreman prolly would have been stopped..stumbling around, throwing wild punches, face rearranged and bloody, and was having trouble breathing at the final bell
Larry Merchant pretty much used the monumental struggle that Foreman had with Stewart to explain why George didn't want to fight any good heavyweights. How George would be better off going back to fighting the "amateur imposters" that he had feasted on during his earlier comeback.
I had Stewart up by a point. Foreman's face was a mess. I remember watching that fight and thinking to myself, Foreman would have retired if he did not get the decsion. Boxing seldom gives harsh decisions to its golden gooses. Foreman back then was very popular.