Wednesday morning at God’s House Church in Albuquerque, family and friends paid tribute to the King of light heavyweights in the late sixties and early seventies. In today’s era of seventeen weight divisions and multiple sanctioning bodies there are four champions per division. In the era that Bob Foster contended there was one champion per division and he was the true Lineal CHAMPION! If you suffered through last Saturday’s heavyweight title fight (?) between Wladimir Klitschko and Tyson Fury, take the time to watch a video of a true craftsman; Bob Foster. You’ll see all the skills that a P4P great possesses that were not on display on HBO this past weekend.

Time and again during the services yesterday speakers would proclaim Foster the greatest light heavyweight ever. Archie Moore, Michael Spinks, Roy Jones Jr. were all acknowledged as outstanding talents, but talents who would fall to Foster. It was ironic that no one mentioned Ezzard Charles, because that is the boxer who Foster had at the top of his list. But in talking to me in 2012, Bob made it clear he would have liked to see what would happen if he landed his left hook on the Cincinnati Cobra’s chin. He was also very high on the talents of Billy Conn and Harold Johnson. If Foster had lived in Vermont would these same speakers still have placed the champ at number one? Without question he belongs in the discussion of the all time greats. Anyone tipping the scales at 175 pounds or less would place the challenge of the “Duke City” banger under high alert.

How impressive was he rein as light heavyweight champ. The only way he lost a piece of his title was to politics. In 1971 the WBA stripped Foster of his title for not defending against Jimmy Dupree. When Vicente Rondon knocked out Dupree he was declared the new WBA champ.   A title he held until he faced an angry Bob Foster. In less than two rounds Foster showed both the WBA and Mr. Rondon who the true light heavyweight champion of the world really was and his initials were not VR.

Although he invaded the heavyweights, Bob told me he was cursed in that he was unable to put on weight. When he fought Joe Frazier, he had to conceal a ten pound weight belt when he stood on the scales. He tried many diets but nothing worked in trying to gain weight. But he never offered excuses when discussing his losses. He never suffered a defeat because he failed to pack his lucky socks in his gym bag. As a result, he never wanted to hear any excuses on the part of his victims.

Sadly most of the boxing fraternity in attendance Wednesday was over fifty. This is probably as much Foster’s fault as it is today’s pugilistic community in the “Land of Enchantment.” Foster was always bitter because of a slight he suffered in high school over basketball and did not always put himself out there to the boxing public. Today’s promoters, trainers, matchmakers, fighters and fans for the most part have no knowledge of the cause of Foster’s bitterness and just assumed the champ was less than approachable.

In comparing great champions, this town was owned by the late bantamweight champion Johnny Tapia. When he passed away in 2012 his wake and funeral caused major traffic jams. He always had a big smile, firm hand shake and warm greeting. That just wasn’t Foster’s way. If approached he was very accessible and would take the time to answer questions.   But you would never think he was going to run for mayor. When I sat down with Foster in 2012 for our interview, he was very cordial. Whenever I spoke to Tapia, he made me feel like his best friend.

In assessing the guest speakers yesterday, some might accuse them of hyperbole, but Bob Foster would have been an outstanding boxer in any era. Albuquerque said good bye to the legend on December 2, 2015.

Rest in Peace Champ!