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. José Roman title) George Foreman vs. José Roman George Foreman vs. José Roman was a professional boxing match contested on September 1, 1973 for the WBA, WBC and "The Ring" heavyweight championships. In his previous fight, George Foreman had dominated Joe Frazier, knocking the champion down six times in less than two rounds to become the new undisputed heavyweight champion on January 22, 1973. For his first defense, it was announced that Foreman would travel to Tokyo to take on little-known Puerto Rican challenger Jose "King" Roman. Prior to landing his title match against Foreman, Roman had little success at that point,