Known as a hard-hitting boxing champion, ‘Big’ George Foreman grew up in poverty in the small town of Marshall, Texas. The fifth of seven children, his father, a railroad worker, and his mother, a homemaker, worked hard, but due to lack of finances, they moved to Houston in what was known as the Fifth Ward, a rough area.
George would drop out of school and the streets would lead him astray. He found himself in pool halls and gambling houses. He found himself in fights all the time because of his size. He was rebellious at home and would disappear for days at a time.
In 1965, at the age of fifteen, he joined the Job Corps, where George met a supervisor and boxing trainer, Doc Broadus, who found in him not only strength, but also aggression. George wasn’t interested in boxing at first, but found it an outlet for his anger, a way to focus his energy. Under Broadus, he learned discipline.
In just three years George found himself a rising start in the boxing world. In 1968, he would represent the United States at the Olympics in Mexico. He won the gold medal and walking around the ring waving an American flag was iconic.
That led him into a professional boxing career under trainer Dick Sadler and legendary promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank. He would turn professional in June 1969 and win his first thirty-seven fights, thirty-four by knockout, including a stoppage over Canadian George Chuvalo, 59-15-2, and a decision over South American challenger Gregorio ‘Goro’ Peralta, 74 -5-8, both at Madison Square Garden.
In January 1973 in Kingston, Jamaica, George would stop champion undefeated, 29-0, and former Olympic gold medalist ‘Smokin’ Joe Frazier in two rounds, going down six times. After knockout defenses over Joe ‘King’ Roman, 44-7-1, in Tokyo in the first round and future champion Ken Norton, 30-2, coming off a two-fight split with Ali, Caracas, Venezuela, stopping him in two rounds, he faced former champion Muhammad Ali, 44-2, in Zaire, Africa, where he lost his title and was stopped in eight rounds.
Foreman bounced back with victories over Ron Lyle, 31-3-1, in a match Ring Magazine named the 1976 match ‘Fight of the Year’. For four rounds they traded punch after punch until he stopped Lyle in the fifth round. Then the rematch with Frazier dropped him twice in the fifth before stopping him.
Then, after scoring three knockouts, he faced Philly’s Jimmy Young, 20-5-2, in San Juan, PR, was dropped in the twelfth and final round, lost a decision in June 1977 and retired from the ring. In his dressing room he saw a vision of Jesus Christ that would eventually lead him into ministry.
George would return to the ring after an absence of nearly ten years, winning twenty-four consecutive matches, facing champion Evander ‘The Real Deal Holyfield, 25-0, in Atlantic City, losing on a decision.
After winning three matches, George would lose to Tommy ‘The Duke’ Morrison, 36-1, in Las Vegas. Despite a loss in November 1994, he would somehow fight for the world title at the age of 45 against WBA and IBF champion Michael ‘Double M’ Moorer, 35-0, in Las Vegas. Trailing on all scorecards, he knocked out Moorer in the tenth round for the title.
George was stripped of his WBA title when he refused to fight Tony ‘TNT’ Tucker. He returned to the ring in April 1995, winning a controversial majority decision over Germany’s Axel Schulz, 21-1-1, in Las Vegas to add the vacant WBU title. He was then stripped of his IBF title for refusing to give Schulz a rematch.
In November 1996, George returned to the ring in Japan where he defeated Crawford ‘The Terminator’ Grimsley, 20-0, over 12 rounds and added the IBA belt. In April 1997, he won a split decision over Lou Savarese, 36-0, in Atlantic City.
In November, George’s career ended, losing a controversial decision to Shannon ‘The Cannon’ Briggs, 29-1, in Atlantic City. His final record was 76-5 with 68 knockouts.
George would go on to make a fortune selling George Foreman Grill.
