 For his first defense, it was announced that Foreman would travel to Tokyo to take on little-known Puerto Rican challenger Jose "King" Roman.Prior to landing his title match against Foreman, Roman had little success at that point, fighting mostly unknown jorneyman, losing seven times and was not viewed as legit threat to take Foreman's titles.Roman would nevertheless make history as the fourth Hispanic and first Puerto Rican fighter to challenge for a major heavyweight title.