George Foreman

George Foreman
Data
Birth Name	George Edward Foreman
Fight name	Big George
Weight class	Heavyweight
nationality	US-american
birthday	January 10, 1949
place of birth	Marshall
style	Left delivery
size	1.93 m
Range	1.99 m
Combat Statistics
Struggles	81
Victories	76
Knockout victories	68
Defeats	5

George Edward Foreman (born January 10, 1949 in Marshall , Texas ) is a former undisputed heavyweight boxing world champion , Olympic champion and Christian clergyman , who was surprisingly dethroned as world champion by Muhammad Ali in 1974 , but was again world champion 20 years later. In 2003 Foreman was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame .

Life and Achievements

Amateur until 1968

Foreman played relatively few amateur fights, but he managed 22 wins out of four defeats. In 1968 he became US amateur champion. At the Olympic Games in Mexico City in 1968 , the 19-year-old won the gold medal; in the final he won against the experienced Soviet boxer Jonas Čepulis by knockout. In contrast to other black US athletes who protested against the racist conditions in their home country with raised fists at the award ceremony , he waved the US flag.

Professional career 1969–1977

George Foreman 1973

Foreman played his first professional fight on June 23, 1969. In just four years he won 37 times, including against Chuck Wepner , Gregorio Peralta and George Chuvalo . As early as 1972 he was considered an almost invincible fighter who relentlessly knocked out his opponents within a few rounds. Nevertheless, he went on January 22nd, 1973 in Kingston, Jamaica , as a clear outsider in the title fight against the reigning world champion Joe Frazier , who was known because of his fighting style as black Marciano or black tank (black tank) . Foreman defeated Frazier in just two rounds, knocking him down six times. The fight was called The Sunshine Showdown . Frazier underestimated Foreman, did not seem well trained and went into the ring clearly overweight. The bout was named Bout of the Year by Ring Magazine .

He then effortlessly defended the world title against José Roman and Ken Norton , who had previously beaten Muhammad Ali. He knocked Roman out in round one, Norton in round two, knocking him down three times. He was the undisputed world champion and had a match record of 40: 0 with 37 knockouts. Quite a few experts now saw in him the most dangerous, strongest, perhaps best heavyweight boxer of all time and thought it likely that he would dominate the scene for ten years.

He was also the clear favorite for the fight against Muhammad Ali in Zaire on October 30, 1974, which was marketed as Rumble in the Jungle . But Ali withstood Foreman's blows by hiding behind a double cover, leaning back on the slack ropes (" Rope-a-Dope ") and thus weakening the effect of Foreman's blows. In addition, he talked to his rival incessantly during the fight to unsettle him. Foreman, who had not been in the ring for more than five rounds in any of his fights for three and a half years and had knocked out his last eight opponents all in the first two rounds, was apparently overwhelmed with this unusual situation. Despite heavy body hits, Ali was outwardly unimpressed and countered more and more often with lightning-fast combinations in the course of the fight. Finally, Foreman, exhausted and demoralized, knocked out in the eighth round. In a later interview, he confessed that after the fifth round he knew he would not win.

Shocked by his first defeat, he did not play any official professional fights until 1976 and instead only completed a series of exhibition fights during this time. So he defeated five opponents in a row on April 26, 1975 in Toronto in one afternoon. It wasn't until January 1976 that Foreman returned to the professional ring against Ron Lyle . His spectacular knockout win against Lyle, in which he also went down twice, was the fight of the year for many. He then defeated Frazier a second time prematurely, but this time only in round five. Despite three further knockout victories against opponents who were building up , Foreman's performance remained mixed during this time, his psyche had clearly suffered from the Ali fight: above all, he seemed less determined and self-confident than before the defeat.

Ali denied him a rematch. Therefore, Foreman planned to compete against all of Ali's ex-opponents to force him to a second fight. On March 17, 1977, he boxed against Jimmy Young . In 1976 he had only just lost to Ali and was considered a top opponent. But as in Zaire, Foreman did not have a "plan B" when he did not succeed in the short knockout. Not only did he lose clearly on points, but he even went down against a man with a knockout rate of 20% in the last round. Again he hadn't divided his powers properly.

While still in the locker room, he decided to dedicate his life to Christianity and became a pastor in the Pentecostal Apostolic Church of the Lord Jesus Christ in Houston , Texas . The former arrogant fighter with a beard and afro-look mane became a friendly, humorous bald man who became popular on television in the 1980s. He devoted himself primarily to an orphanage he had set up for disadvantaged children and donated most of his fortune earned in professional fights.

Second career 1987–1997

Also because of the financial difficulties of his orphanage, he surprisingly started a comeback in 1987 with several development battles. His personal friendship with HBO boxing boss Seth Abraham helped him here. He defeated the first eighteen opponents after his return to the ring prematurely, including beating Gerry Cooney and Bert Cooper , who later became Evander Holyfield 's opponent .

Before Foreman had built up enough reputation again to be able to fight Mike Tyson for the world championship , as he wanted, he was surprisingly dethroned by James Douglas . On April 19, 1991, however, there was a fight against the new world champion Evander Holyfield, who had previously defeated Douglas. Foreman lost unanimously on points, but sold his performance as a moral victory, as he had proven that a 42-year-old could survive the full twelve rounds against the world champion.

After a narrow points win against Alex Stewart , in which he sustained facial injuries, he competed in 1993 for the new WBO title against Tommy Morrison , who clearly defeated him on points.

On November 5, 1994, Foreman beat the new world champion Michael Moorer , who had previously narrowly defeated Holyfield, in the tenth round knockout. He had set two new records: At the age of 45, he became the oldest heavyweight world champion of all time, and was also involved twenty years is the longest period between losing and regaining the world title. Foreman was honored with the Associated Press Athlete of the Year award in 1994 for this achievement .

On April 22, 1995 Foreman defended his IBF title with a controversial victory on points against Axel Schulz , but refused Schulz the ordered rematch and also gave this title back. The WBA had previously stripped his title because he refused to defend it against mandatory challenger Tony Tucker .

He announced that he was still the legitimate world champion, the so-called " linear world champion " , even without an association title, and then boxed for titles from new organizations such as the IBA and WBU (some of which were founded in the 1990s) against Crawford and Grimsley Lou Savarese , whom he defeated on points. In November 1997 he lost the linear title to the highly rated Shannon Briggs , who had not yet boxed any world-class opponents, controversial on points. While Foreman had benefited from an incomprehensible point judgment against Axel Schulz, this time he himself was the victim of a dubious judge's evaluation. Here, too, it was suspected that various promoters were exerting influence, which, according to these speculations, placed greater hopes in the young, eccentric Briggs as regards future marketing potential than in the 48-year-old old master. Foreman, who did not complain about the verdict, probably recognized the signs of the times and announced his final retirement from boxing while still in the ring.

A fight against Larry Holmes scheduled for 1999 was canceled by the now 50-year-old Foreman. A comeback announced for his 56th birthday in 2005 also failed because of his wife's veto.

Foreman 2016

Today Foreman can be seen in various US television commercials in which electric grills are marketed under his name ("George Foreman's Lean Mean Fat Reducing Grilling Machine").

List of professional fights

76 wins (68 knockout wins), 5 defeats , 0 draws
year	Day	place	opponent	Result for Foreman
1969	23rd June	Madison Square Garden , New York City , New York USA	Don Waldhelm	Victory / TKO 3rd round
	July 1	Houston , Texas , USA	Fred Askew	Victory / KO 1st round
	July 14th	Rosecroft Raceway, Oxon Hill, Maryland , USA	Sylvester Dullaire	Victory / TKO 1st round
	18th of August	Madison Square Garden , New York City, USA	Chuck Wepner	Victory / TKO 3rd round
	September 18	KeyArena , Seattle , Washington USA	Johnny Carroll	Victory / KO 1st round
	September 23rd	Sam Houston Coliseum, Houston, Texas, USA	Roy Wallace	Victory / KO 2nd round
	October 7th	Sam Houston Coliseum, Houston, Texas, USA	Vernon Clay	Victory / TKO 2nd round
	October 31	Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, USA	Roberto Davila	Points victory (unanimously) / 8 rounds
	November 5th	Scranton , Pennsylvania , USA	Leo Peterson	Victory / KO 4th round
	November 18	Sam Houston Coliseum, Houston, Texas, USA	Max Martinez	Victory / KO 2nd round
	6th of December	Las Vegas Hilton , Las Vegas , Nevada , USA	Bob Hazelton	Victory / TKO 1st round
	December 16	Auditorium, Miami Beach , Florida USA	Levi Forte	Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds
	December 18th	KeyArena, Seattle, Washington, USA	Gary Hobo Wiler	Victory / TKO 1st round
1970	6th January	Sam Houston Coliseum, Houston, Texas, USA	Charley Polite	Victory / KO 4th round
	January 26th	Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, USA	Jack O'Halloran	Victory / KO 5th round
	February 16	Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, USA	Gregorio Peralta	Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds
	March 31	Sam Houston Coliseum, Houston, Texas, USA	Rufus Brassell	Victory / TKO 1st round
	17th April	Felt Forum, New York City, New York, USA	James J. Woody	Victory / TKO 3rd round
	April 29	Cleveland Arena, Cleveland , Ohio , USA	Aaron Eastling	Victory / TKO 4th round
	May 16	The Forum , Inglewood , California , USA	George Johnson	Victory / TKO 7th round
	20th of July	Philadelphia Spectrum , Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , USA	Roger Russell	Victory / KO 1st round
	5th of August	Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, USA	George Chuvalo	Victory / TKO 3rd round
	November 3rd	Oklahoma City , Oklahoma , USA	Lou Bailey	Victory / TKO 3rd round
	November 18	Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, USA	Boone Kirkman	Victory / TKO 2nd round
	December 18th	Mercer Arena, Seattle, Washington, USA	Mel Turnbow	Victory / TKO 1st round
1971	February 8	Roy Wilkins Auditorium, Saint Paul , Minnesota , USA	Charlie Boston	Victory / KO 1st round
	3rd of April	Playboy Club Hotel, Lake Geneva , Wisconsin , USA	Stamford Harris	Victory / KO 2nd round
	10th of May	Oracle Arena , Oakland , California, USA	Gregorio Peralta NABF Heavyweight Championship	Victory / TKO 10th round
	September 14th	El Paso County Coliseum, El Paso , Texas, USA	Vic Scott	Victory / KO 1st round
	21st September	Beaumont , Texas, USA	Leroy Caldwell	Victory / KO 2nd round
	October 7th	Municipal Auditorium, San Antonio , Texas, USA	Ollie Wilson	Victory / KO 2nd round
	October 29th	Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, USA	Luis Faustino Pires	Victory / TKO 5th round
1972	February 29th	Austin , Texas, USA	Joe Murphy Goodwin	Victory / KO 2nd round
	7th March	Beaumont, Texas, USA	Clarence Boone	Victory / KO 2nd round
	10th of April	The Forum, Inglewood, California, USA	Ted Gullick	Victory / KO 2nd round
	May 11th	Oracle Arena, Oakland, California, USA	Miguel Angel Paez	Victory / KO 2nd round
	October 10th	Salt Palace, Salt Lake City , Utah , USA	Terry Sorrell	Victory / KO 2nd round
1973	22nd of January	National Stadium , Kingston , Jamaica	Joe Frazier WBA / WBC World Heavyweight Championship	Victory / TKO 2nd round
	September 1	Nippon Budōkan , Tokyo , Japan	José Roman WBA / WBC heavyweight title defense	Victory / KO 1st round
1974	26th of March	Poliedro de Caracas, Caracas , Venezuela	Ken Norton WBA / WBC Heavyweight Title Defense	Victory / TKO 2nd round
	30th of October	Stade Tata Raphaël , Kinshasa , Zaire	Muhammad Ali WBA / WBC Heavyweight Title Defense	Loss / KO 8th round
1976	January 24th	Caesars Palace , Las Vegas, Nevada, USA	Ron Lyle NABF Heavyweight Championship	Victory / KO 5th round
	15th June	Nassau Coliseum , Hempstead (New York) , USA	Joe Frazier NABF Heavyweight Title Defense	Victory / TKO 5th round
	August 14th	Utica Memorial Auditorium, Utica , New York, USA	Scott LeDoux	Victory / TKO 3rd round
	15th October	Hollywood Sportatorium, Hollywood , Florida, USA	John Dino Denis	Victory / TKO 4th round
1977	22nd of January	Civic Auditorium, Pensacola , Florida, USA	Pedro Agosto	Victory / TKO 4th round
	17. March	Roberto Clemente Coliseum, San Juan , Puerto Rico	Jimmy Young	Loss of points (unanimously) / 12 rounds
1987	9th March	Sleep Train Arena , Sacramento , California, USA	Steve Zouski	Victory / TKO 4th round
	July 9	O.co Coliseum , Oakland, California, USA	Charles Hostetter	Victory / KO 3rd round
	September 15th	Springfield , Missouri , USA	Bobby Crabtree	Victory / TKO 6th round
	21st November	Orlando Sports Stadium, Orlando , Florida, USA	Tim Anderson	Victory / TKO 4th round
	December 18th	Bally's Las Vegas , Las Vegas, Nevada, USA	Rocky Sekorski	Victory / TKO 3rd round
1988	January 23	Sheraton Twin Towers, Orlando, Florida, USA	Tom Trim	Victory / KO 1st round
	February 5th	Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA	Guido Trane	Victory / TKO 5th round
	19th March	Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA	Dwight Qawi	Victory / TKO 7th round
	May 21	Sullivan Arena, Anchorage , Alaska , USA	Frank Lux	Victory / TKO 3rd round
	June 26th	Tropicana Casino & Resort Atlantic City, Atlantic City , New Jersey , USA	Carlos Hernandez	Victory / TKO 4th round
	August 25	Lee County Civic Center, Fort Myers , Florida, USA	Ladislao Mijangos	Victory / TKO 2nd round
	September 10	Palace of Auburn Hills , Auburn Hills , Michigan , USA	Bobby Hitz	Victory / TKO 1st round
	October 27	Civic Center, Marshall , Texas, USA	Tony Fulilangi	Victory / TKO 2nd round
	December 28th	Casa Royal Hotel, Bakersfield , California, USA	David Jaco	Victory / TKO 1st round
1989	January 26th	War Memorial Auditorium, Rochester , New York, USA	Mark Young	Victory / TKO 7th round
	February 16	Atlantis Theater, Orlando, Florida, USA	Manoel De Almeida	Victory / TKO 3rd round
	April, 30th	Moody Center, Galveston , Texas, USA	JB Williamson	Victory / TKO 5th round
	June 1st	Pride Pavilion, Phoenix , Arizona , USA	Bert Cooper	Victory / abandonment 2nd round
	20th of July	Tucson Convention Center, Tucson , Arizona, USA	Everett Martin	Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds
1990	15. January	Atlantic City Convention Center, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA	Gerry Cooney	Victory / KO 2nd round
	17th April	MontBleu, Stateline , Nevada, USA	Mike Jameson	Victory / TKO 4th round
	June 16	Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA	Adilson Rodrigues	Victory / KO 2nd round
	July 31	Edmonton Expo Center, Edmonton , Canada	Ken Lakusta	Victory / KO 3rd round
	25th of September	New London Arena, London , UK	Terry Anderson	Victory / KO 1st round
1991	April 19th	Atlantic City Convention Center, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA	Evander Holyfield IBF / WBA / WBC World Heavyweight Championship	Loss of points (unanimously) / 12 rounds
	December 7th	Reno-Sparks Convention Center, Reno , Nevada, USA	Jimmy Ellis	Victory / TKO 3rd round
1992	11 April	Thomas & Mack Center , Las Vegas, Nevada, USA	Alex Stewart	Points victory (majority decision) / 10 rounds
1993	January 16	Reno-Sparks Convention Center, Reno, Nevada, USA	Pierre Coetzer	Victory / TKO 8th round
	June 7th	Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA	Tommy Morrison vacant WBO world heavyweight championship	Loss of points (unanimously) / 12 rounds
1994	November 5th	MGM Grand Hotel , Las Vegas, Nevada, USA	Michael Moorer IBF / WBA World Heavyweight Championship	Victory / KO 10th round
1995	April 22	MGM Grand Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA	Axel Schulz IBF heavyweight title defense	Points victory (majority decision) / 12 rounds
1996	November 3rd	Tokyo Bay NK Hall, Urayasu , Japan	Crawford Grimsley	Points victory (unanimously) / 12 rounds
1997	26th of April	Atlantic City Convention Center, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA	Lou Savarese	Points win (split decision) / 12 rounds
	22nd of November	Trump Taj Mahal, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA	Shannon Briggs	Point loss (majority decision) / 12 rounds
Source: George Foreman in the BoxRec database

Private

Foreman has eleven children, each of his five sons has the name George: George Jr., George III, George IV, George V and George VI. His four younger sons are distinguished by their nicknames: "Monk", "Big Wheel", "Red", and "Little George". He adopted a daughter in 2009: Isabella Brandie Leelja.

His second son, George III ("Monk", born 1983), began a career as a professional boxer after completing his studies in 2009 (without having previously competed in an amateur fight). He has played 16 fights so far, all of which he was able to win (15 of them by knockout), but also beat opponents that were rather weak for beginners.

Awards (excerpt)

• 2002: Gold Medal of Honor for Services to the Republic of Austria

Web links

Wikiquote: George Foreman  - Quotes

• George Foreman in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• George Foreman in the BoxRec database
• George Foreman in the BoxRec Encyclopaedia
• George Foreman interview (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The daily mirror . Berlin October 24, 2004, p. S 1 .

predecessor	Office	successor
Joe Frazier	Heavyweight Boxing Champion ( WBC ) January 22, 1973 to October 30, 1974	Muhammad Ali
Joe Frazier	Heavyweight Boxing Champion ( WBA ) January 22, 1973 to October 30, 1974	Muhammad Ali
Michael Moorer	Heavyweight Boxing Champion ( WBA ) November 5, 1994 to March 4, 1995	Bruce Seldon
Michael Moorer	Heavyweight Boxing Champion ( IBF ) November 5, 1994 to June 29, 1995	Michael Moorer

predecessor	Office	successor
Bob Fitzsimmons	Oldest boxer to ever win a world title regardless of weight class (aged 45 years, 9 months, 3 weeks and 5 days) November 5, 1994 - May 21, 2011	Bernard Hopkins

predecessor	Office	successor
	Oldest boxer to ever win a world heavyweight title (at the age of 45 years, 9 months, 3 weeks and 5 days) November 5, 1994 - current	-

predecessor	Office	successor
Archie Moore	Oldest boxing world champion of all time, regardless of weight class (at the age of 46 years, 5 months, 2 weeks and 5 days he was still world champion) November 5, 1994 - July 4, 2011	Bernard Hopkins