Happy Birthday to ‘The Great’ George Foreman

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

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

Foreman turned pro in June 1969. He won his 28th straight 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. Before that, Chuvalo had only stopped ‘Smokin’ Joe Frazier, and that 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 the title to former champion Muhammad Ali, 44-2, by stoppage in Zaire, Africa.

Foreman returned to one of the biggest fights in the heavyweight division in January 1976, stopping Ron Lyle, 31-3-1, for the NABF title in what Ring Magazine called “the fight of the year.” In June, in the rematch with Frazier, he stopped him in 5 rounds at the Nassau Coliseum in New York.

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

In April 1991, Foreman won 26 straight fights after that 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 regained the world title, knocking out champion Michael ‘Double M’ Moorer, 35-0, while trailing all over the card, in ten rounds in Las Vegas. At 45, he became the oldest boxer to ever win a title.

Foreman won a controversial majority decision against Germany’s 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 was stripped of his title after refusing to give Schulz a rematch, winning the WBU title.

The following November 1997, in his last final fight, he lost a controversial 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 from “Foreman Grill” commercials.