Happy birthday to the ‘Great’ George Foreman

With limited amateur training, former world heavyweight champion Big George Foreman won a gold medal at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City.

He defeated Ionas Chepulis of the Soviet Union, stopping him in two rounds, and then walked around the ring with American flags in his hands.

Foreman turned professional in June 1969. He won his 28th consecutive fight, defeating South American champion Gregorio Peralta, 74-5-8, at Madison Square Garden.

In August 1970, he stopped Canadian George Chuvalo, 59-15-2, at the Garden. Prior to this, Chuvalo had only been stopped by ‘Smokin’ Joe Frazier, and this was the only time he had been stopped in his career.

In January 1973, Foreman won the world heavyweight title, destroying Frazier, 29-0, in Kingston, Jamaica, in two rounds.

In September 1974, he stopped Ken Norton, 30-2, in Caracas, Venezuela. In October, he lost his title to former champion Muhammad Ali, 44-2, by knockout in Zaire, Africa.

Foreman bounced back in one of the biggest heavyweight fights in January 1976, stopping Ron Lyle, 31-3-1, for the NABF title that Ring magazine called “Fight of the Year.” In June, in a rematch with Frazier, he stopped him in 5 rounds at the Nassau Coliseum, New York.

Four wins later, Foreman was defeated by Philadelphia’s Jimmy Young, 20-5-2, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. His entire life changed while he was in the dressing room when he had a vision of Jesus that would eventually lead him to become a preacher.

In April 1991, Foreman won 26 fights in a row before losing to champion Evander ‘The Real Deal’ Holyfield, 25-0, in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

He then won three in a row before losing to Tommy ‘The Duke’ Morrison, 35-1, in Las Vegas. In his next fight, he won the world title again, knocking out champion Michael ‘Double M’ Moorer, 35-0, while trailing on all scorecards, in ten rounds in Las Vegas. At 45 he became the oldest boxer to win the title.

Foreman won a majority decision over German Axel Schulz, 21-1-1, in April 1995 in Las Vegas. Two fights and two years later, he defeated Lou Savarese, 35-0, in Atlantic City. He had been stripped of his title after refusing to give Schulz a rematch, winning the WBU title.

Then, in November 1997, in what would be his final final fight, he lost a close majority decision to Shannon ‘The Cannon’ Briggs, 29-1, in Atlantic City and retired from boxing.

His final record was an impressive 76-5 with some 68 knockouts.

Foreman would make millions in commercials for “Foreman Grill.”