Boxing Titan George Foreman Is Dead. His Life Is Inspirational To Many Worldwide
Heavyweight boxing titan George Foreman is dead. He died in Houston, Texas, USA, on March 21, 2025. He was 76.
George Foreman was one of the greatest professional boxers of all time, according to numerous sports sources. During his professional boxing career that spanned almost 3 decades, George Foreman had a total of 81 fights of which he won 76. Out of the wins, 68 were by knockout.
George Foreman made it to stardom in boxing as an amateur boxer after he won an gold medal at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico, in 1968. He said to have said that the Olympic Gold Medal was his most cherished achievement in his entire boxing career. And probably it was, because after just about a year he turned professional in 1969.
As a professional boxer, he moved pretty fast along the ladder of success through a series of crucial but non-world championship title fights that he all won. He propelled to ultimate fame and wealth after mercilessly defeating the then reining world heavyweight champion giant Joe Frazier by knockout after only 2 rounds, in a face-off that took place in Kingston, Jamaica, in January 1973, hence winning the world heavyweight boxing title for the first time.
However, George Foreman retainment of the prestigious heavyweight crown was rather short-lived. He lost it about 19 months later, to the legendary Muhammad Ali in the iconic heavyweight boxing duel dubbed Rumble in the Jungle that was held in Kinshasa in Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo), in October 1974. Talking about the duel with Muhammad Ali and perhaps trying to explain why he lost it, George Foreman reportedly made a humoristic observation saying that Muhammad Ali unleashed on him a 1-2 combination punch with the speed of light, and that it was the fastest punch he had ever seen!
Seemingly, George Foreman never quite recovered from the defeat he suffered from Muhammad Ali in Zaire. That is probably why he took a 10-year hiatus from boxing from 1977 - 1987 during which time he became a born-again Christian and a devoted vicar. When he eventually ended the hiatus, he made a surprise triumphant return to professional boxing and won both the IBF and WBA heavyweight titles by defeating Michael Moore who was holding the titles, in a showdown that took place in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, in November 1994. At 45, he became the oldest man to win a world heavyweight title.
In 1997, George Foreman officially retired from professional boxing. After retirement he became a successful entrepreneur in grill machines. His famous George Foreman Grill is said to have sold over 100 million units globally. Reportedly, he sold the commercial rights to the famous grill in 1999 for a staggering $138 million.
Generally, George Foreman's life could be said to be incredibly inspirational to many worldwide. More specifically and normatively, his life illustrates that with good health and assuming absence of ageism and other destructive prejudices in society, age is insignificant to individual progress and success. As such, age ought not be an obstacle to one's pursuance of career goals and other interests in life until the last moment.
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