George Foreman vs. Joe Frazier II Norton by knockout in the first and second rounds respectively. Foreman, however, lost his titles to Muhammad Ali in "The Rumble in the Jungle" in October 1974, by KO in the eighth round. The following year, Frazier finally got his first chance to regain the heavyweight titles, challenging Ali in a fight dubbed the "Thrilla in Manila", though he lost by technical knockout in the 14th round. After his defeat at the hands of Ali, Foreman was out of boxing for over a year, sitting out all of 1975. He returned in January 1976 to defeat Ron Lyle and capture
George Foreman vs. Gerry Cooney Foreman. However, Foreman's opponents had ranged from complete unknowns to career journeyman (including Martin, David Jaco and Bert Cooper) with few notable victories, with his most decorated opponent being former light heavyweight and cruiserweight world champion, as well as future hall-of-famer Dwight Muhammad Qawi, who was dwarfed by Foreman and had never fought in the heavyweight division prior to that fight. With Cooney, however, Foreman was taking on a former heavyweight title contender who held victories over former contenders and Foreman advisaries Ken Norton, Ron Lyle and Jimmy Young, whose victory over Foreman in 1977 sent him into a 10-year