A legend has unfortunately left us, George Foreman, world heavyweight champion, passed away at age 76.
The professional boxer had an inspiring career and proved time and time again that he was a boxing master, becoming one of the fiercest and most feared heavyweights in history.
A retrospective on George Foreman
His career began well before becoming a professional fighter, in the streets of Houston’s notorious Fifth Ward, an infamous neighborhood at the time known for being a pipeline form street to prison. Against all odds, he managed to escape his fate thanks to boxing and made the USA team for Mexico City a where he won the gold medal, kickstarting his career.
After this he went pro, and this is when he started to make an indelible mark in a sport that, while it has known many greats, it is quite hard to separate from the pack. The sport of boxing has not always been as it is today, and back in Foreman’s day it was a lot more vicious than it is now and rules were not as clear or as followed. Fighters at the time had to be tough, in and out of the rink, and he embodied the stereotype to the T.
He was big and appeared to be constantly on guard, probably a remnant of his childhood. This helped his reputation and his persona, allowing him to build a brand that painted him as a winner well before he ever stepped in the rink. Foreman fought 81 times as a professional boxer, losing five in total and knocking out 68 of the 76 men he beat.
His career was as remarkable as it was varied, he took a ten year exile form the sport, managed to win the Olympic title in 1968 and won his first world heavyweight title in 1973. This fight has gone down in history as one of the best benchmarks for the sport and for good reason.
It was Foreman’s 38th fight, the previous 37 he had been unbeaten, and persuaded heavyweight champion, Joe Frazier, to get in the ring with him. Set in Jamaica in 1973 the fight was a massacre, even for the sport. Called the “Sunshine Showdown” Frazier was sent tumbling and flying to the canvas six times and stopped in two rounds.
He still had a ways to go in his career, but the two times he defended the title were just as unsettling. Both Ken Norton and Jose Roman lasted a total of 420 seconds and were sent home in stretchers, beaten to a pulp.
One of the few that overpowered him the rink was none other than Muhammad Ali, another of the greats of the sport. Their first fight was called the “Rumble in the Jungle”, and although Ali was not an unknown at the time, Foreman was a massive fan favorite. Newspapers plotted the rout the ambulance would have to take to take Ali to the hospital and no one seemed to support the theory that the fight might go in his favor, but, proving that he was already well on his way to the sport’s hall of fame, Ali had done his homework. He won by tiring Foreman out and managed a rare feat. He was only the second person to beat him.
Just over two years later, with 47 fights and two losses under his belt, Foreman left the rink in favor of proselytizing. This was unexpected, but more so his return after two years, with a change of attitude and a dream, to be heavyweight champion of the world. A now veteran of the sport, his comeback was questioned, an many accused him of having only easy fights, but victories over Gerry Cooney and Bert Cooper put paid to those complaints.
Still, the road was not easy, In 1991, after 24 more wins with 23 knockouts, Foreman lost a world heavyweight title fight to Evander Holyfield, and two years later he lost another title fight to Tommy Morrison. But he did not give up. In a Las Vegas fight against Michael Moorer in 1994 at the age of 45, foreman became the new IBF and WBA heavyweight champion of the world and the oldest heavyweight champion in history.
His story did not end there, he continued to fight for a while, and made TV and movie cameos helping grow his legend. The world has lost one of its greats and the sport and the fans cry as we say goodbye to an epic fighter.
