When I was a kid, I used to go to the Scranton Catholic Youth Center whenever there was a card every two or three months. There were a few local fighters, including a crowd favorite and heavyweight, Jerry Foley, who would usually win as they would bring in a punching bag for him from some place. He wasn't really good, and I believe he was mildly retarded. The crowd would chant "Fo-Ley", much like the way other crowds were chanting"Ali."
My family was shocked therefore when we turned on ABC Wide World of Sports around 1980 and saw him fighting in France with Ken Norton providing the color commentary as if Foley were legitimate. It turns out that a good fighter was supposed to fight this star French heavyweight, but cancelled out two days before. ABC had trouble getting a replacement, so Foley was brought in and gave the Frenchman a surprisingly good fight, hitting him with a few good punches.
Oddly enough, I remember the name Jerry Foley, although I'm not sure why.
I looked him up... he fought Mitch Green (who beat him) in Green's first pro bout. Green went on to fight Mike Tyson some time later and went ten rounds with him (only to lose in a unanimous decision). I don't remember the details, but there was some bad blood between Tyson and Green before the fight. Tyson was still undefeated at that point in his career but he couldn't knock Green out!
