George Foreman, two time Heavyweight Champion of the World and at a time when that title still meant something in the sporting world, died last week at the age of 76, and what an amazing life story he had. Born in the rough part of Houston, Texas, Foreman, like many such youths, took to amateur boxing, and this is where that led him.
- He was the Golf Medalist in the heavyweight class for the USA in the 1968 Olympics
- Turned professional after the Olympics and in 1973, he defeated Joe Frazier for the Heavyweight Championship
- Lost the championship in 1974 to Muhammed Ali in the famous "Rumble in the Jungle
- Retired from boxing and became a Born Again ordained non-denominational Christian minister serving, mainly, at-risk youths in his native Texas
- After ten years of retirement, he returned to the ring - he needed the money to support his ministry - and, improbably, won the Heavyweight title again at the age of 46, the oldest man to ever win the title.
- Soon after one of boxing's alphabet soup governing bodies stripped him of his title, he retired again and began endorsing a line of indoor electric grills, and here is where a whole new life began for Foreman
The George Foreman Grill, the "Lean, Mean, Fat Burning Machine" took off like a rocket, and made Foreman wealthy beyond anything that boxing ever delivered unto him. Raise your hands out there if you have never at one time in your life owned a George Foreman Grill. Nobody? Didn't think so.
So it was that Foreman, a once brooding, foreboding, and not very likable prizefighter turned into one of America's jolliest and most lovable commercial pitchmen. In the late 1990's he sold the commercials rights to his grills for $138 million, and it is estimated that over the course of his life, he made over $200 million from the grills. No wonder he said "It's so good, I put my name on it."
There was time when boxing mattered in the world of sports, and for one brief era, it was dominated by three seminal figures: Muhammed Ali, Joe Frazier, and George Foreman. Ironically, there are no doubt thousands, if not millions, of owners of George Foreman Grills who have no idea just exactly who George Foreman actually was. Another irony pointed out by Tony Kornheiser in his comments on him, that as great as Foreman was (he was only defeated five times), he is probably most remembered for a fight that he lost, to Ali that 1974 night in Zaire.
One more Fun Fact: George Foreman married five times in his life and fathered twelve children, five of them sons, each of whom is named George.
RIP George Foreman. It was quite a life, and here are some pictorial highlights.
Olympic Champion
Mexico City
1968
"Down goes Frazier. Down goes Frazier"
A New Champion - 1973
Losing to Ali
The Rumble in the Jungle
Zaire - 1974
When giants walked the earth.
Frazier, Foreman, Ali
"It's so good I put my name on it."
RIP Champ
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