Former German heavyweight star Axel Schulz said he was more disappointed at failing to land a rematch with Francios Botha than he was George Foreman.

Schulz last fought back in 2006 when he came back for a fight with Brian Minto, but he remains a celebrated figure in Germany.

Now 57, he lost a tight majority decision to Foreman back in 1995 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Almost 4m homes tuned in to watch in Germany and Schulz appeared hard done by on the scorecards. When the IBF ordered a rematch, Foreman vacated the title.

But Schulz wasn’t bitter.
Instead, in his next fight, he faced South African Botha for the vacant belt in Stuttgart, Germany. Some 18.03m watched on German TV station RTL, making it the most-seen boxing event in German history. 

Botha won a controversial split decision but tested positive for steroids and was eventually stripped. That injustice rankled - and still does.

Does he ever feel angry about not fighting Foreman again, in a more lucrative match? He made about $350,000 the first time and would have made much more for a return.

“No, not at all,” Schulz told BoxingScene. “But I was upset about Botha. I would have liked to have that again. I was more upset by that one than I was fighting Foreman again.”

“But it’s a long time ago. It’s 30 years ago.”

That all led to him fighting Michael Moorer for the vacant title – his third IBF shot in a row, and his third tight decision loss in succession. The American southpaw won a split decision in Germany following a fight that was labelled the biggest in the country since Muhammad Ali fought Karl Midenberger.

"I think the decision was okay,” Schulz said after the fight. “I can live with it, because I think Moorer’s one of the best fighters around.”

Today, the sentiment remains the same. “It was the fight with Francois Botha that I wanted again, after that fight it was a bit crazy for me,” Schulz said. “I had a fight with Michael Moorer, it was very close but that is also okay.

“The doping scandal then [against Botha] actually turned out to be quite a catalyst for change in the industry and that, because of that, there was more attention on doping, to prevent more of it. The motivation behind today’s doping plan is thanks to that particular event. I felt there was an injustice and my motivation was to get a rematch, because of the injustice.”

Schulz has become a success story in life after boxing. He has TV work as an analyst, goes to live events and – for the last 13 years – he’s had his own food and drink company.

“It’s been very interesting,” he said. “I’ve been a very busy man. I go to live shows, and I have other projects. For 13 years, I’ve been in the food and beverage business, and my main focus is on barbecue sauce and barbecue rub.”

His rival, Foreman, also went into the barbecue business. Was it because of Foreman that Schulz wound up in a similar space? 

“It was a coincidence and now I have 31 licensed products in supermarkets and online,” he said, adding that a gin was the latest offering that can be found on the shelves in Germany.