George Foreman became the heavyweight champion of the world in his 20s, only to lose his belt to Muhammad Ali in perhaps the most memorable fight in boxing history.
A full 20 years later in 1994, the 45-year-old Foreman became the oldest man to win the heavyweight championship, throwing one perfect combination to steal Michael Moorer’s title in an epic upset. Few fighters ever had more big moments than Big George Foreman – and even after he finally left the ring, he was only getting started. The fearsome heavyweight, who lost the “Rumble in the Jungle” to Ali before his inspiring second act as a surprising champion and a successful businessman, died Friday night. Foreman was 76.
Foreman’s family announced his death on social media, not saying how or where he died.
“A devout preacher, a devoted husband, a loving father and a proud grand- and great-grandfather, he lived a life marked by unwavering faith, humility and purpose,” his family wrote. “A humanitarian, an Olympian and two-time heavyweight champion of the world, he was deeply respected. A force for good, a man of discipline, conviction, and a protector of his legacy, fighting tirelessly to preserve his good name- for his family.”
A native Texan, Foreman began his boxing career as an Olympic gold medalist who inspired fear and awe as he climbed to the peak of the heavyweight division by stopping Joe Frazier in 1973. His formidable aura evaporated only a year later when Ali pulled off one of the most audacious victories in boxing history in Zaire, baiting and taunting Foreman into losing his belt.
Foreman left the sport a few years later, but returned after a 10-year absence and a self-described religious awakening.
The middle-aged fighter then pulled off one of the most spectacular knockouts in boxing history, flooring Moorer – 19 years his junior – with a surgical right hand and claiming Moorer’s two heavyweight belts. Foreman’s 20 years is easily the longest gap between heavyweight title reigns.
Foreman’s transformation into an inspirational figure was complete, and he fought only four more times – finishing 76-5 with 68 knockouts – before moving onto his next career as a genial businessman, pitchman and occasional actor. Outside the ring, he was best known as the face of the George Foreman Grill, which launched in the same year as his victory over Moorer. The simple cooking machine sold more than 100 million units and made him much wealthier than his sport ever did.
“George was a great friend to not only myself, but to my entire family,” Top Rank president Bob Arum said. “We´ve lost a family member and are absolutely devastated.” In the first chapter of his boxing career, Foreman was nothing like the smiling grandfather who hawked his grills on television to great success. Foreman dabbled in petty crime while growing up in Houston´s Fifth Ward, but changed his life through boxing. He made the U.S. Olympic team in 1968 and won gold in Mexico City as a teenager, stopping a 29-year-old opponent in a star-making performance. Foreman rose to the pinnacle of the pro game over the next five years, but was also perceived as an aloof, unfriendly athlete, both through his demeanor and through the skewed racial lenses of the time.
Jim Lampley, the veteran boxing broadcaster who worked alongside Foreman for many years at HBO, told The Associated Press on Friday night that Foreman’s initial demeanor was an attempt by his camp to emulate Sonny Liston, the glowering heavyweight champ of the 1960s.
“At some point somewhere along the way, he realized that wasn´t him,” Lampley said.
Foreman stopped Frazier in an upset in Jamaica in January 1973 to win the belt, with his knockout inspiring Howard Cosell´s iconic call: “Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier!”
Foreman defended his belt against Ken Norton before accepting the fight with Ali in the now-immortal bout staged in Africa by promoter Don King. Ali put on a tactical masterclass against Foreman, showing off the “rope-a-dope” strategy that frustrated and infuriated the champion. Foreman was eventually knocked down for the first time in his career, and the fight was stopped in the eighth round. Foreman told the BBC in 2014 that he took the fight almost out of charity to Ali, who he suspected to be broke.
“I said I was going to go out there and kill him, and people said, `Please, don´t say you´re going to kill Muhammad,´” Foreman said. “So I said, `OK, I´ll just beat him down to the ground.´ That´s how easy I thought the fight would be.”
Exhausted and disillusioned, Foreman stopped fighting in 1977 and largely spent the next decade preaching and working with kids in Houston after his religious awakening. He returned to boxing in 1987 in his late 30s with a plan to defy time through frequent ring appearances, and he racked up a lengthy series of victories before losing to Evander Holyfield in a surprisingly competitive title fight in 1991. Three years later, Foreman got in the ring with Moorer in Las Vegas, more for his celebrity than for his perceived ability to beat Moorer. The champion appeared to win the first nine rounds rather comfortably, with Foreman unable to land his slower punches. But Foreman came alive in the 10th, hurting Moorer before slipping in the short right hand that sent Moorer to the canvas in earth-shaking fashion.
Lampley, who was calling the fight, named his upcoming autobiography – which includes a prologue about Foreman – after his famous call of that moment: “It Happened!” Foreman quit the ring for good in 1997, although he occasionally discussed a comeback. He settled into a life as a boxing analyst for HBO and as a pitchman for the grills that grew his fame and fortune. Much of the world soon knew Foreman as both a lovable friend and a ferocious fighter. “He started performing as this pitchman, this product pitchman with the big, ever-present giant grin on his face,” Lampley recalled. “When I was working with him, people would say, `George is a big clown.´ And I would say, `Well, you can call him a clown, but he´s actually a genius.