06.12.06 – By Kirk Allen: Former heavyweight and light heavyweight champion Michael Moorer (47-4-1, 37 KO’s) makes his boxing comeback this Saturday night against Cliff Couser (25-10-2, 13 KO’s) at the Seminole Hard Rock Arena, in Hollywood, Florida. Couser, 35, who resembles a mini Mike Tyson, and fights much in the same manner, should give be a strong test for the ring rusty Moorer. Between them, they have a collective age of 74, which means anything can happen.
It’s been two years since Moorer last fought. In his last fight, before retiring from boxing, Moorer, 39, stopped Vassily Jirov in the 9th round on December 9th, 2004. In that fight, Moorer was badly trailing on all three judges scorecards going into the 9th round, when he suddenly stunned Jirov with three huge right hooks, followed by a chopping left that knocked Jirov out.
After winning the fight, Moorer was back in the thick of things in the heavyweight division. However, instead of going forward and challenging a top heavyweight contender, Moorer suddenly retired from boxing. At the time, it was said that Moorer wanted to go out on top, rather then fighting on and eventually losing to some young, hungry fighter. Despite Moorer’s seemingly strange decision, it actually made sense, since he hadn’t been the same awesome fighter that he once was ever since losing to George Foreman, back in 1994.
Though, Moorer was able to regain the IBF heavyweight title, when he won a 12-round decision over Axel Schultz in 1996, for whatever reason, Moorer, a fighter with tons of talent, appeared to lose interest in boxing, and drifted along during the next 10 years, losing his IBF heavyweight title when he suffered an 8th round knockout to Evander Holyfield in 1997, followed by a 1st round knockout to David Tua, in 2002, and a 10-round decision loss to Eliseo Castillo in 2004. During this time, Moorer retired from boxing for 3 years, after his loss to Holyfield.
The main problem for Moorer, it would seem, is his own self belief. He always had the talent, and could likely have regained the heavyweight title long ago if he had just stayed in there and dedicated himself to boxing. In particular, after his loss to Holyfield, in 1997, Moorer was still in the top 3 of heavyweights in the division and could have easily have regained the title, in my view of things. Instead, however, he stepped away from boxing and lost three years of his career when he retired.
Nevertheless, even with all the years that have been lost due to his two retirements from boxing, Moorer still has the potential to defeat any of the heavyweight champions right now, considering the marginal talent level. However, if he hopes to get a shot at a future title, Moorer is going to have to move quickly and take on a top challenger, that is, if he indeed defeats Couser this Saturday night.