ART (TIGER) FOSTER
Lightweight
1940-1949

Art Foster was one of the best amateur boxers ever to come out of the Buffalo area. Born in October, 1919 in Rolla, Missouri, he started fighting at an early age, and was a member of the crack Brown Bombers A.C. team from St. Louis. It was here that Foster won the Ozark A.A.U. featherweight title. Later, after moving to Buffalo, he won the local Golden Gloves featherweight championship in 1939, and the following year won the Diamond Belt and Golden Gloves in the lightweight division. His amateur record totaled 59 wins with 36 knockouts.

Art turned pro in late 1940, and his early record shows that he fought Johnny Greco six times in Canada, winning 3 and losing 3. Greco later went on to become Canadian welterweight champion.

In 1943, Foster joined the U.S. Army, serving in the South Pacific, and attaining the rank of Sergeant. It was during this time that he won the Army's Pacific welterweight title in Auckland, New Zealand. After his discharge in late 1945, and weighing 155, Art got down to 139 pounds in his next fight in. March 1946.

After a few more wins, Art was stopped by 18 year old Ron Delaney of Akron, Ohio, and decided to quit boxing. He later became a painter and a carpenter, retiring from the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority after 25 years of service. Foster died on November 4, 2000 after a short illness.

Tonight, the Buffalo Veteran Boxers Association is proud to induct Art Foster into our Hall of Fame.