Alex Stewart, a heavyweight contender who fought Mike Tyson and nearly beat George Foreman, has died. He was 52.
Stewart died last week after being rushed to a hospital in Mount Vernon, New York, said Mike Gilberg, a close friend of the former fighter. He had a blood clot in his lung, Gilberg said.
Stewart lost twice to Evander Holyfield at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, and was knocked out in the first round of his December 1990 fight with Tyson, which was also in A.C. But it was his April 1992 fight with Foreman in Las Vegas that was the highlight of his career.
Foreman was in the middle of a comeback that he would cap two years later by knocking out Michael Moorer to become the oldest man to win the heavyweight championship at the age of 45 when he met Stewart in a scheduled 10-round bout.
Foreman knocked Stewart down twice in the second round and was battering him in the third, when Foreman motioned to referee Richard Steele to stop the fight. But Steele let it continue, and Stewart began pummeling Foreman around the ring.
Stewart would lose a controversial majority decision, but it was Foreman who looked like loser after the fight with his face hidden behind large sunglasses.
Stewart lost his second fight to Holyfield the next year, then spent the remainder of his career mostly as an opponent for younger fighters to measure themselves against. He retired with a record of 43-10 with 40 knockouts after losing his last fight in 1999 to Jorge Luis Gonzalez by second round knockout.
Stewart was born in London and raised in Jamaica and fought for Jamaica in the 1984 Olympics before turning pro.