George Foreman, eyeing a heavyweight title chance with the zest that he normally reserves for a hamburger stand, knocked out Adilson Rodrigues of Brazil in the second round Saturday night for the 22nd straight victory on his comeback tour.
The bout was a co-feature of a Caesars Palace card that had Mike Tyson's comeback fight against Henry Tillman.Rodrigues was Foreman's first Top 10 opponent since he launched a title chase three years ago. The Brazilian was ranked No. 10 by the World Boxing Association. The 41-year-old Foreman was ranked seventh by the World Boxing Council.
Foreman, who weighed a more than ample 263 pounds, lost the first round, but he was the sharper fighter in the second despite temperatures in an outdoor ring at Caesars Palace near 90 degrees.
Rodrigues started strong, nailing Foreman with three left hooks in the first 90 seconds of the bout. Foreman sighed while the Brazilian circled to his left, then tagged Rodrigues with a left jab to the chin.
Foreman closed ground in the second round and Rodrigues winced when he was slammed with a left-right combination to the body 70 seconds in. Foreman, fighting with his tongue hanging out, slowed Rodrigues further with two left uppercuts to the chin.
Rodrigues was backed to the ropes with less than a minute left. Foreman hurt the Brazilian with another left-right, then sent Rodrigues down and nearly through the ropes with a finishing left hook.
Rodrigues struggled to get up, but was counted out by referee Carlos Padilla as the arena crowd of about 15,000 cheered loudly.
Foreman improved to 67-2 with his 63rd knockout. Rodrigues dropped to 36-4.
Foreman followers warmly greeted his 1987 return following a 10-year retirement, but others viewed it as a publicity stunt designed for no-risk paydays.
For two years, a puffed-up Foreman turned down ranked opponents to face the likes of Tom Trimm, Guido Trane and Ladislas Mijangos. Quick KOs of J.B. Williamson and Bert Cooper in 1987 set Foreman up for a $1 million purse for a bout with Gerry Cooney last January.
Cooney hit Foreman as hard as he had ever been hit, but Foreman finished off Cooney in the second round with flurry of punches.
Saturday night's purse of $1 million put Foreman, from Marshall, Texas, over $3 million in earnings since the return.
A date pitting Foreman with Francesco Damiani of Italy is being discussed for September.
Foreman, a 6-1 favorite against Rodrigues, won the undisputed heavyweight title with a second-round knockout of Joe Frazier in 1973.