Some 55 long years ago in New York, a future two-time heavyweight king and an absolutely beloved figure met a future movie star who would appear in at least two films we all love to the core. It was on this day in 1970 when George Foreman ran into a guy as big as he was the form of Jack O’Halloran. The two fought at Madison Square Garden, and for a few rounds, these two big guys rumbled on even terms.
In the fifth round, 21 year old Foreman, still raw and, comparative to O’Halloran, who was quite experienced (Jack had been in with Joe Roman, Joe Bugner, Carl Gizzi, and Manuel Ramos) knocked his man down. To this day, O’Halloran swears he was stopped prematurely after having beaten the count. In any event, Foreman was now 15-0, while Jack was now 18-6-2. Over the coming months if not years, O’Halloran would fight names like Mac Foster, Cleveland Williams, Ron Lyle, Ken Norton, and Rahman Ali. Foreman would go on to stop George Chuvalo, Boone Kirkman, and then, in a stunning upset to win the world title, Joe Frazier.
But O’Halloran went on to become a lovable giant on the silver screen. Jack, having been mentored by the great Robert Mitchum, starred in ‘Superman,’ and ‘Superman II,’ his portrayal of the deaf and dumb ‘Non’ character endearing him to millions.
Jack, now aged 81, spoke to Slater’s Boxing on YouTube to discuss his career and the Forman fight in particular.
“I really wanted to fight Muhammad Ali. My entire career, that’s the fight I wanted. I called him up often, and he told me many times he’d fight me. But that fight never happened,” Jack said. “Anyway, they were looking to make a title fight between Manuel Ramos and Ali. But I got on a plane and I went and I knocked Ramos out. And nobody would fight me after that. I had to fight Foreman after that! But in that fight, I was beating George for the first two rounds. George and I are good friends [today]. It was my mistake, I walked into a hell of a punch. But I got up, and they stopped that fight right away. I got up and I said, ‘what the hell are you doing!’ I really went nuts (laughs). But anyway, Foreman would never fight me again.”
It’s so interesting to listen to Jack, one of the last survivors of the golden 1970s heavyweight era, but at the same time, it’s tough to believe that he would have ever had a chance of beating Foreman. George, as we know, went on to destroy multiple fighters, such as Frazier, Norton, Ron Lyle, and later Gerry Cooney, Michael Moorer, and others.
But O’Halloran scored a direct KO at the movies, his cherished performance as ‘Non’ holding up to this day. In short, giant Jack was only a good fighter, but he might have been a great actor.
