Evander Holyfield vs. Michael Moorer II In an effort to unify the three titles, the WBA and IBF organizations announced a unification bout between Holyfield and Moorer set for November 8, 1997. The two men had previously fought each other on April 22, 1994 for Holyfield's WBA, IBF and "Lineal" Heavyweight championships. In a close fight, Moorer earned an upset victory over Holyfield to become the first southpaw to win a major Heavyweight title. However, his reign would not last long as he was defeated by 45-year-old George Foreman via 10th-round knockout in his first defense of the titles. Foreman, however, would eventually be stripped of
Michael Moorer vs. George Foreman title by split decision. This would set up a rematch between Moorer and the man he had previously defeated to win the titles, Evander Holyfield, who was once again the WBA Heavyweight champion after twice defeating Mike Tyson. With both men's titles on the line, Holyfield dominated the fight, knocking down Moorer five times en route to a victory via referee technical decision after referee Mitch Halpern stopped the fight following round 8. After the loss, Moorer would retire from boxing, eventually returning three years later. Foreman settled back into life as a preacher, author, pitchman and motivational speaker in