With a limited amateur background, former heavyweight world champion Big George Foreman won a gold medal at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.
He defeated the Soviet Union’s Ionas Chepulis, stopping him in two rounds, and then walked around the ring with American flags in his hands.
Foreman turned pro in June 1969. He won his 28th straight fight, defeating South American champion Gregorio Peralta, 74-5-8, at Madison Square Garden.
In August 1970, he stopped iron-chinned Canadian George Chuvalo, 59-15-2, at the Garden. Before that, Chuvalo had only been stopped by ‘Smokin’ Joe Frazier, and that was the only time he was stopped in his career.
In January 1973, Foreman won the world heavyweight title, destroying Frazier 29-0 in Kingston, Jamaica, in two rounds.
In September 1974, he stopped Ken Norton, 30-2, in Caracas, Venezuela. In October, he lost his title to former champion Muhammad Ali, 44-2, by stoppage in Zaire, Africa.
Foreman returned in one of the biggest heavyweight fights in January of 1976, stopping Ron Lyle, 31-3-1, for the NABF title that Ring Magazine called “Fight of the Year.” In June, in a rematch with Frazier, he stopped him in 5 rounds at the Nassau Coliseum, New York.
Four wins later, Foreman was upset by Philly’s Jimmy Young, 20-5-2, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. His whole life was changed while he was in the locker room when he saw a vision of Jesus that would eventually lead him to become a preacher.
In April 1991, Foreman won 26 fights in a row before losing to champion Evander ‘The Real Deal’ Holyfield, 25-0, in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
He then won three in a row before losing to Tommy ‘The Duke’ Morrison, 35-1, in Las Vegas. In his next fight, he regained the world title, knocking out champion Michael ‘Double M’ Moorer 35-0, while trailing on all cards, in ten rounds in Las Vegas. At the age of 45, he became the oldest boxer to ever win the title.
Foreman won a disputed majority decision against Germany’s Axel Schulz, 21-1-1, in April 1995 in Las Vegas. Two fights and two years later, he defeated Lou Savarese, 35-0, in Atlantic City. He was stripped of his title after refusing to give Schulz a rematch and won the WBU title.
Next, in November of 1997, in what would be his last final, he lost a contested majority decision to Shannon ‘The Cannon’ Briggs, 29-1, in Atlantic City and retired from boxing.
His final record was an impressive 76-5 with some 68 knockouts.
Foreman would go on to make millions in advertising for the “Foreman Grill”.
