George Foreman

At 75 years old, George Foreman has this physical status:

George Edward Foreman (born January 10, 1949) is an American retired professional boxer who competed from 1969 to 1997.

He is a two-time world heavyweight champion and an Olympic gold medalist, Nicknamed "Big George."

He is also an author and entrepreneur outside of boxing. Foreman's troubled youth, he took up amateur boxing and earned a gold medal in the heavyweight division of the 1968 Summer Olympics.

He won the world heavyweight title with a second-round knockout of then-undefeated Joe Frazier in 1973, having turned professional the next year.

Before Foreman's first professional loss to Muhammad Ali in "The Rumble in the Jungle" in 1974, two successful title defenses were made.

Foreman retired after a defeat to Jimmy Young in 1977, and he was unable to win another title. Foreman became an ordained Christian minister after what he referred to as a religious epiphany.

Ten years later, he began a comeback and regained a part of the heavyweight championship by defeating 26-year-old Michael Moorer in 1994, IBF, and lineal titles.

Foreman is the second oldest world heavyweight champion and the second oldest in any weight class since Bernard Hopkins (at light heavyweight).

He retired in 1997 at the age of 48, with a total of 76 victories (68 knockouts) and 5 losses. Foreman has been inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame and the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

Foreman is rated as the eighth top heavyweight of all time by the International Boxing Research Organization.

By The Ring magazine, he was named one of the top fighters of the past 80 years in 2002.

The Ring rated him as the ninth greatest puncher of all time.

He served as a Ringside analyst for HBO's boxing coverage for ten years before 2004.

He is a well-known entrepreneur and known for his George Foreman Grill, which has sold more than 100 million units around the world.

He sold the naming rights to the grill in 1999 for $138 million.

Personal life

Foreman has been married to Mary Joan Martelly since 1985. He had four previous marriages: Adrienne Calhoun from 1971 to 1979, Cynthia Lewis from 1977 to 1980, and Andrea Skeete from 1982 to 1985.

Foreman has twelve children: five sons and seven daughters. George Jr., George III ("Monk"), George IV ("Red"), George IV ("Red"), George IV ("Red"), George IV ("Red"), George IV ("Red"), George V ("Red"), and George VI ("Little Joey") are among his five sons. "I named all my boys George Edward Foreman so they'd have something in common," Foreman says on his website. "If one of us goes up, we all go up together, and if one of us falls, we all go down together, and we all go down together." George III, along with his father, has pursued a career in boxing and entrepreneurship. George IV appeared on the second season of the reality television series American Grit, where he landed seventh.

Natalia, Leola, Freeda, Michi, Georgetta, Isabella, and Courtney were among his seven children. Natalia and Leola are both from his marriage to Mary Joan Martelly. He and his children were separated from their former spouses, Freeda, Michi, and Georgetta. Isabella Brandie Lilja (Foreman) was adopted in 2009 by a father, and Courtney Isaac (Foreman) in 2012. Freeda set a 5-1 record as a pro boxer, retired in 2001, and died in 2019 at the age of 42 in apparent suicide. Isabella Foreman lives in Sweden, where she has blogged since 2010 under the name BellaNeutella.

During the 95th National Convention in 2013, the American Legion recognized Foreman's patriotism and community service by awarding the James V. Day "Good Guy" Award.

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Early life and amateur career

George Foreman was born in Marshall, Texas. He and six siblings grew up in Houston, Texas, in the Fifth Ward neighborhood. Despite the fact that he was raised by J. D. Foreman, who his mother had married when George was a child, Leroy Moorehead was his biological father. George was a troubled youth by his own admission in his autobiography. At the age of 15, he dropped out of school and spent time as a mugger. After seeing an advertisement for the Corps on TV, Foreman had a change of heart and persuaded his mother to enroll him in the Job Corps. Foreman obtained his GED and trained to be a carpenter and bricklayer as part of the Work Corps. He began to train after moving to Pleasanton, California, with the assistance of a boss. Foreman was passionate about football and idolized Jim Brown, but it was not given up for boxing.

At the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games, Foreman received a gold medal in the boxing/heavyweight division. Foreman defeated Jonas epulis of the Soviet Union in the finals; the referee brought the game to a halt in the second round. pulis' face was already bleeding in the first round from Foreman's punches and was forced to take a standing eight count early in the second round. Epulis, a 29-year-old veteran with a 12-year-old amateur career, had over 220 fights in his career, was younger than Foreman, and was ten years older than Foreman.

Foreman walked around the arena carrying a tiny American flag and bowing to the crowd after winning the gold medal competition. Foreman maintained that winning the Olympic gold medal was the achievement he was most proud of in his boxing career, more so than any of his world championships.

Professional career

With a three-round knockout of Donald Walheim in New York City, a foreman turned pro in 1969. He had a total of 13 fights this year, winning all of them (11 by knockout).

Foreman's 1970 fight began as he progressed toward the undisputed heavyweight title, winning all 12 of his matches (11 by knockout). Gregorio Pereza, who had ruled at Madison Square Garden, was among the opponents beaten, but Pereman showed that Foreman was vulnerable to a fast counter-punching blend with an assertive boxing style. In three rounds, Foreman defeated George Chuvalo by physical injury (TKO). Foreman defeated Charlie Polite in four rounds and Boone Kirkman in three after this triumph. Foreman's first international recognition was won by Pereman and Chuvalo. Per the Ring, Perpeta was the world's top ranked heavyweight in January 1970, while Chuvalo was the world's top 10 in the world in March 1971.

Foreman won seven fights in 1971, including a rematch with Perez, who was eliminated by knockout in the 10th and final round in Oakland, California, and a victory over Leroy Caldwell, who was knocked out in the second round. He was ranked as the number one challenger by the World Boxing Association and World Boxing Council after amassing a record of 32–0 (29 KO).

Foreman was due to face undefeated and undisputed World Heavyweight Champion Joe Frazier in 1972, who was unbeaten and with an impressive knockout record. Despite suffering from the void resulting from Muhammad Ali's resignation, Frazier had won the title and defended his crown four times since, including a 15-round unanimous decision over Ali's previously undefeated Ali in 1971. Despite Foreman's fame and fame, he was not expected to defeat Frazier and was a 3:1 underdog going into the fight.

Down goes Frazier!

Down goes Frazier!"

Foreman was often described by the media as an aloof and antisocial king. He always wore a sneer, but was not often available to the media, according to them. Foreman's demeanor during this period as an imitate of Sonny Liston, for whom he had been a brief sparring partner. During his first tenure as champion, Foreman defended his title twice. His first defense, in Tokyo, pitted him against Puerto Rican Heavyweight Champion José Roman. Roman was not regarded as a top contender, but he managed to defeat a few good opponents, including EBU champion Spain Jose Manuel Urtain, and was ranked the number seven heavyweight in the March 1973 issue of The Ring. Foreman had just two minutes to call off the match, one of the fastest knockouts in a heavyweight championship match.

Foreman's next defense was against a much more adamant adversary. Ken Norton (who was 30–2), a boxer known for his uncomfortable cross-arm boxing style, crab-like defense, and heavy blow (a style Foreman imitated in his comeback), had broken Muhammad Ali's jaw in a points triumph a year earlier. Norton had a good match against Ali in their two matches, winning the first on points and barely winning the second. (Norton was known for his nerves against strong hitters, despite this war.) Foreman stabbed Norton in round two with an uppercut a minute into round two, throwing him into the ropes after an even first round. Norton did not reach the canvas, but instead, on wobbly legs, evidently not recovering, and he went down a few times in quick succession, with the referee intervening and stopping the battle. When he first started, Ken was amazing.' When interviewed years later, Foreman said, "I didn't want him to get into the fight." This war became known as the "Caracas Caper" in the Philippines.

Foreman had cruised past two of the top companies in the rankings. With 37 knockouts, Win gives him a 40-0 record.

Foreman's next title defense, against Muhammad Ali in Kinshasa, Zaire, on October 30, 1974, was historic. Even the wildest hopes were disregarded during the bout, which was dubbed the "Rumble in the Jungle."

A cut over his eye was sustained during preparation in mid-September, prompting postponement of the match by a month. The injury affected his training program, as it meant he could not sparget in the build-up to the war and put the chance of being reopened. "It was the best thing that happened to Ali when we were in Africa," he later said, "I had to get up for the fight without being able to box." Ali toured Zaire, endearing himself to the public and taunting Foreman at every opportunity. Foreman was favored, defeating undefeated heavyweight champion Joe Frazier and toppled formidable challenger Ken Norton both within two rounds.

Ali became more aggressive than expected when Foreman and Ali eventually met in the ring, outscoring Foreman with their unrivaled punching power. Ali retreated to the ropes, shielding his head and striking Foreman in the first round at any opportunity. Ali's sides were smashed by a foreman, but Foreman was unable to land several heavy punches on Ali's head. The ring ropes were unusually loose, and Foreman later discovered that Angelo Dundee (Ali's longtime trainer) had loosened them as part of Ali's tactic to lean back and away from the wild swings before clinching Foreman behind the head; Dundee said he did not even tighten the ropes because they were so loose due to the heat, but Ali's long-dope" was entirely on his own Ali had been described as a speed and mobility killer, but the rope-a-dope tactic went exactly to plan, since Foreman had not had a fight since 1971.

Ali continued to suffer severe head to Foreman's head in exchange for the opportunity to land a harbinger to his head. Ali later said he was "out on his feet" twice during the match. As Foreman's legs began to tire, his punches started to wane and became more intense. Ali began to taunt the exhausted veteran tenaciously by mid-bout, who had been reduced to nothing more than pawing and landing harmless rubber-armed blows. Ali fell off the cordons in the eighth round with a string of increasingly stronger and more precise right hooks to the side and back of Foreman's head, leaving him dazed and careening backwards. Ali was defeated in the match by a lightning two-punch clash that ended him down, leaving Foreman windmilling hard to the canvas for the first time in his career.

"It't my night," the foreman later stated. The foreman later said he was drugged by his trainer prior to the match. Despite wanting a rematch with Ali, he was unable to find one. Ali was allegedly ducking him in quarters, facing low-risk opponents such as Chuck Wepner, Richard Dunn, Jean Pierre Coopman, and Alfredo Evangelista. Ali defeated formidable opponents, such as Ron Lyle, and gave rematches to the still-dangerous Frazier and Ken Norton, the only two men to have ever defeated him. And after the dazing tumultuous tumultuous scene in Zaire, Foreman lost his advantage. Nonetheless, a potential million-making comeback with Foreman never occurred, whatever the reason.

During 1975, Foreman was inactive. He announced a comeback and announced his intention of securing a rematch with Ali in 1976. Ron Lyle, who had been defeated by Ali in 1975 by an 11th-round TKO, would be his first opponent. At the time of the Ring's March 1976 issue, Lyle was the world's top-weight. Lyle landed a hard right that sent Foreman thrashing across the arena at the end of the first round. Foreman pounded Lyle against the ropes in the second round, potentially scoring a KO, but the time was delayed due to a timekeeping mistake, but Lyle survived. Foreman pressed forward in the third round, with Lyle preparing to break the ropes. A brutal slugfest erupted in the fourth. Lyle's Foreman was sent by a series of power punches. Lyle staggered him again when Foreman got up, but Lyle retaliated with a hard right to the head, knocking down Lyle. Lyle won the count but then pulled Foreman down for the second time. Foreman defeated the odds once more. Later, the foreman said he had never been struck so hard in a fight, and recalled looking down at the canvas and seeing blood. Both fighters continued to ignore defense and traded their hardest punches in the fifth round, appearing crude. Both men staggered the other, and each man seemed to be about dead, and both appeared to be on his feet. Then, as if they were exhausted, Lyle stopped punching, and Foreman delivered a dozen unanswered blows until Lyle collapsed to the canvas. Lyle remained down, giving Foreman a KO victory. The Ring called the fight "The Fight of the Year" and "The Fight of the Year."

Foreman's next fight, he selected Joe Frazier over a rematch. Frazier was then the world's top-three heavyweight, according to The Ring. Few expected him to win despite one-sided Foreman's victory in their first fight, as well as the fact that Frazier had received a significant amount of punishment from Ali a year before. Frazier was 32–3, having lost only to Foreman and Ali twice, and Foreman was 41–1, with Ali's sole defeat at his hands. However, their match got off to a competitive note, with Frazier's quick head movements causing Foreman to miss with his hardest punches. Frazier was wearing a contact lens for his vision, which was knocked loose during the brawl. Frazier was eventually floored twice by Foreman in the fifth round, putting the game to a halt, as he was unable to recover a serious offense. Foreman defeated Scott LeDoux in three rounds, and prospect John Dino Denis in four rounds to end the year.

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