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 to what was known as the fifth ward,’ a rough area.
George would leave school, and the streets would lead him astray. He found himself in pool halls and gambling houses. He constantly found himself in fights due to 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 a rising start in the boxing world. In 1968, he would represent the United States in the Olympics in Mexico. He won the gold medal and walking around the ring waving an American flag was iconic.
This led him into a professional boxing career under trainer Dick Sadler and legendary promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank. He would turn pro in June 1969 and win his first thirty-seven fights, thirty-four by knockout, including stoppage over Canadian George Chuvalo, 59-15-2, and a decision over South American contender 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, dropping him six times. After first-round knockout defenses against Joe ‘King’ Roman, 44-7-1, in Tokyo and future champion Ken Norton, 30-2, who split two fights with Ali, Caracas, Venezuela, who stopped him in two rounds time , he faced former champion Muhammad Ali, 44-2, in Zaire, Africa, and lost his title, stopping in eight rounds.
Foreman returned with victories over Ron Lyle, 31-3-1, in a fight that Ring Magazine called the 1976 bout ‘The Fight of the Year’. For four rounds they traded punch after punch until he stopped Lyle in the fifth round. Then the return match with Frazier dropped him twice in the fifth before he stopped.
Then, after scoring three knockouts, he faced Philly’s Jimmy Young, 20-5-2, in San Juan, PR, falling in the twelfth and final round, losing a decision in June 1977 and stepped out of the ring. In his dressing room he saw a vision of Jesus Christ, who would eventually lead him into ministry.
George would return to the ring after an absence of nearly ten years and win twenty-four fights in a row, defeating champion Evander ‘The Real Deal Holyfield, 25-0, in Atlantic City, losing by decision.
After winning three fights, George would lose to Tommy ‘The Duke’ Morrison, 36-1, in Las Vegas. Somehow, despite a loss in November of 1994, at the age of 45 he would fight for the world title against WBA and IBF champion Michael ‘Double M’ Moorer, 35-0, in Las Vegas. Trailing on all scorecards, he knocked out Moorer for the title in the tenth round.
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, adding the vacant WBU title. He was then stripped of his IBF title for refusing to give Schulz a rematch.
In November of 1996, George returned to the ring in Japan and defeated Crawford ‘The Terminator’ Grimsley 20-0 over 12 rounds and added the IBA belt. In April of 1997, he won a split decision over Lou Savarese, 36-0, in Atlantic City.
In November, George’s career came to an end, 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 the George Foreman Grill.
