Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, January 10, 1995                   TAG: 9501100101
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

AP THINKS `BIG GEORGE' IS THE GREATEST

Twenty years later, the honor was Big George's, and his selection was greeted by Ali with praise and a prediction.

``George is a good man,'' Ali said. ``He deserves it ... and next year I'll win it.''

At 45, Big George became the oldest heavyweight champion in history by knocking out Michael Moorer in the 10th round for the IBF-WBA titles Nov.5 at Las Vegas.

``Isn't it odd, that's something,'' Foreman said of being named AP Athlete of Year for 1994, two decades after he played a major role in Ali getting the award. Ali had regained the undisputed title by knocking out Foreman in the eighth round on Oct.30, 1974, at Kinshasa, Zaire.

``Can you believe it - the Athlete of the Year for a 46-year-old man,'' Foreman said of his selection, which was announced Monday on the eve of his 46th birthday.

Foreman received 204 points in voting by sportswriters and sportscasters to 138 points for runner-up Hakeem Olajuwon of the NBA champion Houston Rockets. Golfer Nick Price of South Africa, winner of the British Open and PGA, finished third with 111 points.

Foreman is the fourth boxer to be Athlete of the Year in the 64-year history of the award.

Joe Louis won in 1935, and Ingemar Johansson won in 1959.

USOC honors speedskaters

Speed skaters Dan Jansen and Bonnie Blair were selected by the U.S. Olympic Committee as its 1994 Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year.

Jansen won the gold medal in the 1994 Lillehammer Games in the 1,000-meter sprint, ending years of frustration. Blair, the most decorated U.S. female Olympian, won two gold medals at Lillehammer, raising her total to five.

Speed skaters have not swept both USOC honors since 1980, when siblings Eric Heiden and Beth Heiden were selected.

Track athlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee and skier Tommy Moe were runners-up for the 1994 honors.

A Robeson County (N.C.) man charged with killing Michael Jordan's father said he helped dispose of the body after his friend shot the father of the NBA star, according to a statement he gave police.

The statement was introduced during a hearing to suppress it. Attorneys for Larry Martin Demery sought to have the statement thrown out, but it had to be in the record before a judge could rule on the request. Demery, 19, and Daniel Andre Green, 20, are charged with capital murder, armed robbery and conspiracy to commit armed robbery in the July 22, 1993, slaying of James Jordan.