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It was announced that George Foreman died on March 21, 2025, at the age of 76.\u00a0 No cause of death was given.\u00a0 George Foreman was a boxer, preacher and business man.<\/p>\n
George Foreman was just 19 years old with 20 amateur fights when he represented the United States in the 1968 Olympics.\u00a0 In four Olympic bouts, only one went the distance.\u00a0 George Foreman won the Heavyweight Olympic Gold Medal.<\/p>\n
The following year, George Foreman turned pro.\u00a0 Mr. Foreman was 37 – 0, with 34 knockouts when he fought Joe Frazier for the Heavyweight title.\u00a0 Mr. Frazier was 29 – 0 with 25 knockouts.\u00a0 George Foreman won the title with a technical knockout in the second round.\u00a0 (Joe Frazier suffered six knockdowns in two rounds before the ref stopped the fight.)<\/p>\n
George Foreman defended his title against Jos\u00e9 Roman (KO, round 1) and Ken Norton (TKO, round 2) before taking on Muhammad Ali in the fight known as The Rumble in the Jungle<\/em>.\u00a0 Ali, using a strategy he later called “Rope-a-Dope” leaned back on the unusually loose ropes with his guard up and let Foreman wail away.\u00a0 Ali took some heavy shots but was able to weather the storm.\u00a0 In the eighth round, with Foreman arm weary, Ali came off the ropes and with his own flurry of punches ended the fight.\u00a0 Ali had won the Championship.<\/p>\n George Foreman fought some exhibition bouts and five more sanctioned fights earning wins over Ron Lyle (KO, round 5), Joe Frazier (TKO, round 5); Scott LeDoux (TKO, round 3); John Denis (TKO, round 4) and Pedro Agosto (TKO, round 4).\u00a0 Mr. Foreman then lost a unanimous 12 round decision to Jimmy Young.<\/p>\n In his dressing room after the fight, George Foreman became ill and felt as if he was dying.\u00a0 At this point, Mr. Foreman wasn’t religious, but felt as if God was telling him to change his ways.\u00a0 Although he didn’t retire, he stopped fighting and became an ordained minister.\u00a0 He preached on street corners before becoming the minister of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ in Houston.\u00a0 Mr. Foreman also opened a youth center.<\/p>\n Then in 1987, at the age of 38, George Foreman announced a boxing comeback.\u00a0 He said the money would be used to help his youth center.\u00a0 Although very heavy and out of shape, George Foreman won the comeback fight by KO in four rounds.\u00a0 Big George (as he came to be known) won four more fights (1 by KO and 3 by TKO) before the year was out.\u00a0 In 1988, he had nine fights (!) winning all by KO or TKO.\u00a0 In 1989, George went undefeated with five wins.<\/p>\n Despite his age, George was piling up wins and getting closer to another title fight.\u00a0 He also had endeared himself to the public.\u00a0 Before his comeback, George Foreman acted much like Sonny Liston (a fighter he admired for his tough no-nonsense persona).\u00a0 Now George was outgoing, happy and modest.\u00a0 He began to do advertisements.\u00a0 George Foreman worked out a deal to be spokesman and allow his name to be used on the George Foreman Grill which became a national best-seller.\u00a0 Mr. Foreman earned more from sales of the grill than he did as a professional boxer!<\/p>\n After going undefeated in five (all by TKO or KO) fights in 1990 the title fight was getting closer.\u00a0 In 1991, Big George lost a unanimous decision to Evander Holyfield.\u00a0 Mr. Foreman won three more fights and then finally got another shot at the title.<\/p>\n On June 7, 1993, at the age of 44, George Foreman won a unanimous decision over Tommy Morrison to win the WBO Heavyweight title.\u00a0 Then in November, Mr. Foreman defeated Michael Moorer by KO in the 10th to win the WBA and IBF heavyweight titles.\u00a0 He defended his titles four more times.\u00a0 He lost by decision to Shannon Briggs in 1997.\u00a0 George Foreman was nearly 49 years old!<\/p>\n I was always a fan of George Foreman, especially after his comeback.\u00a0 In his first fights I was in awe of his strength and power.\u00a0 I loved that he won a Gold medal for the U.S. in the 1968 Olympics.\u00a0 For his comeback, I enjoyed the transformation for Liston-like personality to someone that seemed to enjoy life and inspire others.\u00a0 George Foreman was one of a kind.<\/p>\n Our thoughts and prayers go out to George Foreman’s family, friends and fans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It was announced that George Foreman died on March 21, 2025, at the age of 76.\u00a0 No cause of 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