NYT – George Foreman, a heavyweight boxing champion who returned to the sport to regain his title at the improbable age of 45, and who parlayed his fame and his amiable personality into a multimillion-dollar grill business, died on Friday night in Houston. He was 76.
His family announced the death, in a hospital, on his Instagram account. Roy Foreman, George’s brother, said the cause was not known.
When Foreman returned to the ring after 10 years away, there was skepticism that a fighter of his years could beat anyone younger, much less come back to the top of the game. But in 1994, he shocked the world by beating the undefeated Michael Moorer to reclaim the world title.
Foreman’s career spanned generations: He fought Chuck Wepner in the 1960s, Dwight Muhammad Qawi in the ’80s and Evander Holyfield in the ’90s.
With his fellow heavyweights Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali, Foreman embodied a golden era in the 1970s, when boxing was still a cultural force in America. The three great champions thrilled fans with one classic bout after another. Foreman was the last living member of the trio.
George Foreman passed away on Friday at the age of 76. I thought (and wanted) Large to write a tribute to him. He’s one of the best boxing minds I know, and I love reading anything and everything he writes about the sport. If not him, then I was hoping Rear Ad would pen something. He is one of the best writers we have here, who sadly, doesn’t write way more. His tribute blogs are some of the best material that gets posted on this site.
For people my age, we grew up remembering George Foreman for two things: The first, for fighting in the twilight of not just his career, but his life. The guy was out there fighting guys in the prime of their careers when he was almost 50 years old.
And secondly, and more famously, for being THE television infomercial pitchman.
The George Foreman Grill Lean Mean Fat Grilling Machine was one of the biggest home kitchen appliances AND pop culture phenomenons of all time.
I remember going away to college my freshman year, and every single dorm room I ever went into had a Foreman grill somebody bought and brought with them to school. (They made A+ hot dogs and sneaky really good grilled cheese sandwiches).
My friends and I used to hear stories from our fathers and uncles about what a dangerous and scary fighter the old, flabby, bald guy stalking around the ring in those later years had actually been during his youth. How he was such a hard puncher, and delivered so many devastating knockouts that people were afraid he was literally “going to kill Muhammad Ali in the ring.”
I’ve heard and read so many good Foreman stories over the years, I figured it would make a decent blog. So here it is.
Ali vs. Frazier
George Foreman’s early career was marked by raw power and a determination that made him nearly unstoppable. His nickname, “Big George”, was synonymous with the aggressive, powerful force that smashed through opponents like a freight train. Born in the rough Fifth Ward of Houston, Foreman’s life started far from the glitz and glamour of boxing fame. By his early teens, he had fallen into petty crime, a stark contrast to the disciplined fighter he would soon become.
But, in just a few short years, Foreman went from troubled youth to Olympic gold medalist at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics,
and then from a novice to a professional boxer with a flat out ridiculous 37-0 record.
He didn’t just dominate opponents in the ring. He beat their ass.
Foreman was so big, and so strong, and threw punches so fast for his size that nobody could withstand the onslaught.
Evander Holyfield is on the record saying Foreman hit harder than any boxer he’d ever faced. Tyson included.
His aggressive style and punching power immediately threatened anyone standing across from him in the ring. Foreman’s dominant victory over Joe Frazier in 1973, where he knocked Frazier down six times in two rounds to win the heavyweight title, remains one of the most iconic moments in boxing history. The famous call from Howard Cosell, “Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier!” still echoes through sports history.
The fact that this is one of the most dominant beat downs you will ever see in professional boxing, and that Joe Frazier was farrrrrr from some slouch, is still shocking to watch, even when you already know the result.
Foreman wasn’t just winning, though. He was terrifying the boxing world. As his trainer, Teddy Atlas, once said, Foreman’s early persona was that of a “bully,” the kind of figure “who needed to be feared.“
As somebody who grew up knowing and seeing only the gentle, God fearing George of the later years, and the personification of the tv pitchman, this is pretty crazy to hear. And adds to the remarkableness of Foreman completely turning his persona around.
“The Rumble In The Jungle” and it helping him to find God
In the year 1974 Foreman was on top of the world. He had conquered Frazier and was seen as the indomitable champion. However, Muhammad Ali arrived back , a man who would completely transform Foreman’s world.
“The Rumble in the Jungle” in Zaire was the fight of all fights. Bigger than Tyson Holyfield the rematch. Bigger than McGregor Mayweather. Even bigger than Jake Paul vs. the tiktok influencer. This was the 25-year-old Foreman, at his absolute peak. Who had never lost, and was an overwhelming favorite to defeat the older, returning Ali, one of the most polarizing and famous athletes in the entire world.
There had never been anything so hyped up and heavily promoted before. It was legitimately an international spectacle.
And it actually delivered on the hype.
What followed was one of the greatest upsets in sports history. Ali’s legendary “rope-a-dope” strategy wore Foreman down, and in the eighth round, Ali knocked him out.
It was the moment that defined both Ali’s greatness and Foreman’s resilience.
(The ESPN Classic special “Rumble In The Jungle” is absolutely must watch.)
The loss sent Big George into a period of self reflection and transformation. The once feared and angry fighter took a deep, spiritual turn that forever changed his life. As Ali’s daughter Rasheda Ali-Walsh credited Foreman, “He and my dad became really good friends… Foreman inspired my dad into being a pastor and a spiritual advisor.”
But before reaching that point, Foreman was an angry and confused man.
He was ashamed of the loss, something he had never experienced professionally before, so he turned to a circus stunt/cash-grab exhibition that saw him take on 5 boxers in one night.
No, really.
The fight, billed as “Foreman vs. Five”, took place on April 26, 1975, and was Foreman’s desperate attempt to reclaim his “killing machine” reputation after being humiliated by Ali in the “Rumble in the Jungle”.
Foreman, extremely out of shape, still demonstrated his raw power and tenacity by knocking out three opponents and surviving through the other two bouts.
Ali surprised Foreman at the event by showing up at ringside to commentate and mocked him, yelling out, “Get on the ropes, he’ll get tired.” The night descended into a clown show and though Foreman later said it was a “satisfactory night” for him, it did not re-establish him as a heavyweight title contender.
Dying and coming back to life
After the Ali fight, Foreman’s career took another big hit.
He struggled to regain the same form and intensity that had once made him the most feared man in boxing. In 1977, he faced another loss to Jimmy Young (above) that would forever change him.
After the fight, Foreman went back to his dressing room and claimed he suffered death but was saved by God.
“There is a living God and I’m proof of it,” he told Christian Headlines in a recent interview.
“I was in the dressing room … walking back and forward and saying, ‘I don’t care about this boxing match I lost. I’m still George Foreman.’ You know, I can win this [next match] and I got my movie career, I got my money in the bank. And I could go home and retire now and die. That sneaked into my conversation – ‘die.’ And I couldn’t get it out. All of a sudden, I faced death, and I knew I was about to die. So, with that in mind, I heard a voice within me say, ‘You believe in God, why are you scared to die?’ And I was afraid – I really was. And I started fighting to keep my life in me. I eventually lost the fight,” he continued.
Foreman died in that dressing room that night after his bout with Jimmy Young, but Foreman stated that God brought him back to life.
“I was gone out of this life. Above me, under me, all around me was nothing,” Foreman explained. “The most sad thoughts that you can even come to mind – multiply it. I was in a dump yard of nothing and sorrowfulness. … I remember thinking there was no hope for me – like someone had dropped me out in a sea. There was no land.”
At that moment, Foreman cried out, “I still believe there’s a God!”
Abruptly, “a hand reached in and pulled me out of nothing and death.”
“I was alive [and] breathing in that dressing room,” Foreman said. “… [I] fought eight men to get into the shower. I started screaming, ‘Jesus Christ has come alive in me’ after I saw blood on my head and hands. … They couldn’t stop me. I started kissing everybody in the dressing room. I tried to make a break for the door. They said, ‘George, you don’t have clothes on.’ They had to hold me down. … I got a second chance to live.”
From that day forward, Foreman became an inspirational and motivational figure, helping people from all walks of life that struggled with adversity, by finding strength and perseverance through God.
For his biopic he co-produced (above) Big George Foreman, he wrote something to promote it that was really profound and stuck with me since reading it.
“During my boxing career I conquered most of the challenges I faced in the ring. But the challenge of being genuinely happy was another matter,” he shared in a Guidepost article.
Foreman’s success in the ring made him famous, and even when he lost to Muhammad Ali, he received a $5 million check. However, money didn’t him the joy he desperately wanted.
“But if you think that that five million made me happy, think again. I’ve been poor with millions of dollars, and I’ve been rich when I was broke,” Foreman said. “Money never gave me any real joy, but with God in my heart I’m a rich man no matter what.”
“It’s not our circumstances that determine our happiness,” he added.
“It’s our attitude toward those circumstances. The Bible says, ‘And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God,’” Foreman stated. “Those words don’t promise that only good things will happen to you if you love God. But they do promise that if you love him, whatever happens can turn out to be in your favor.”
When Hurricane Katrina hit his hometown of Houston, Texas, Foreman realized that “no matter how good you have it in this life, it could be gone in a second.”
“A single storm can sweep through and take it all away. But if you’ve got God, you’ll be okay,” he added.
Foreman can attest that God can turn any loss into a win, sharing more about his fight with Muhammad Ali. They weren’t just opponents, they were enemies, and after the loss, Foreman only thought about how he could defeat Ali again.
However, when Foreman trained for his comeback, he fought Jimmy Young, a journeyman fighter. Foreman lost, and in that moment, Foreman realized that life without God left him empty.
“Soon after that experience, I called Muhammad and let him know what had happened to me. I told him I didn’t hate him anymore. In fact, I told him I loved him! He responded to my kindness, and a true friendship developed between us,” Foreman stated.
“It doesn’t matter what your own worst moment is. Storms of all kinds rage through our lives, and sometimes they can take everything from us,” Foreman added. “But if you have faith, your own worst moment can become your best.”
“Adversity is never far from us in this earthly life. But neither is the help we need in getting through it. If I have the Lord in my heart, I have the one thing that truly matters,” Foreman concluded.
Foreman retired from boxing, and opted to dedicate his life to religion. He became a preacher and established the George Foreman Youth Center in Houston. He launched it and kept it running with his own money, that he really didn’t have much of at the time.
The comeback tour- a 45-year-old heavyweight champion
Ten years after retiring from boxing, he made the unthinkable decision to return to the ring in 1987 at the age of 38. By then, he was far from the man who had dominated in his youth. Yet, his will to fight, fueled in part by his need to support his youth center, which was struggling to stay afloat due to lack of donations, drove him to continue pursuing the dream of being a champion again. Again, truly admirable stuff.
His return was met with tons of skepticism. But Foreman defied expectations and, in 1994, became the oldest heavyweight champion in history. At 45 years old, he knowed Michael Moorer out in the 10th round, in one of the most improbable comebacks in sports history.
The George Foreman Grill era
Foreman’s life after boxing was perhaps even more remarkable than his time in the ring. In the mid-1990s, he became the face of the George Foreman Grill, an infomercial product that would go on to become one of the most successful kitchen appliances of all time. At first, Foreman was skeptical. But after his wife convinced him to try the product, he realized just how effective it was. What followed was a partnership with Salton, Inc., and the grill became a cultural phenomenon.
Foreman’s success with the grill transformed him into a beloved figure in American homes. His warmth and affability, qualities that were previously hidden beneath the tough exterior of his boxing persona, made him a perfect pitchman. Over the years, the George Foreman Grill sold more than 100 million units, and Foreman’s financial success from the product far surpassed his boxing earnings.
(It was estimated that Foreman was raking in at least $5 million a month. Which back in the 90s was no joke and still isn’t by today’s standards.)
(Sidebar – throughout the years, theres been this myth that the George Foreman Grill was passed over by Hulk Hogan and was very close to becoming The Hulk Hogan Grill, but Hogan instead opted to go with a meatball making appliance.
This video and its narrator shed light and debunk that, with facts such as the inventor of the George Foreman grill specifically mentioned choosing George Foreman as the pitchman due to his family being “burger freaks”, and never mentioning Hulk Hogan. Also the fact that Hogan has told multiple inconsistent versions of the story about being offered the George Foreman grill endorsement first. Hogan also asserted he was initially offered the role of “Randy the RAM” in the movie “The Wrestler”, but director Darren Aronofsky has refuted this claim, showing Hogan still likes to embellish and exaggerate.)
Foreman continued to pour money he made off the grill sales into his hometown of Houston and his youth centers, and stayed a steady voice promoting boxing, youth mentorship, and the power and love of God through the rest of his life.
He developed a deeply close relationship with his former rival Muhammad Ali that lasted up until Ali’s passing in 2016.
George Foreman was a giant, both literally and figuratively, in the annals of boxing history. But more importantly, he was also a genuinely great human being who did a lot for the world and his community outside of boxing. Rest in peace Big George.
