RIP ... George Foreman, Dead at 76!

[MetalSludgeCEO]

This sucks...

Legend is an understatement.

RIP George Foreman!

----------------------------------

George Foreman Dead At 76



Boxing legend George Foreman has died at 76 years old, his family announced Friday.

"Big George" -- a two-time heavyweight champion -- participated in some of the most important boxing events of all time.

Foreman burst onto the scene in 1968 at the Summer Olympics in Mexico City ... where he won a gold medal.



Shortly after the Games, George turned pro. In 1973, Foreman defeated then undefeated heavyweight champ, Joe Frazier, securing his first title just years into his professional career.

After defending the belt twice, George, 25 years old and unbeaten, faced Muhammad Ali in 1974 in one of the most memorable boxing matches ever, coined "The Rumble In The Jungle," in Zaire.

Ali shocked Foreman, winning by 8th round TKO.

In 1977, Foreman retired and became an ordained minister shortly after hanging up his gloves. George dedicated his life to God ... and preached at a Houston area church.

As great of a fighter as he was, his family also highlighted his personal accomplishments outside of the ring -- "A devout preacher, a devoted husband, a loving father, and a proud grand and great grandfather, he lived a life marked by unwavering faith, humility, and purpose."

"A humanitarian, an Olympian, and two-time heavyweight champion of the world, He was deeply respected — a force for good, a man of discipline, conviction, and a protector of his legacy, fighting tirelessly to preserve his good name -- for his family.

On top of being one of the most popular pugilists in the world, he was also the face of the iconic George Foreman Lean Mean Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine.

His family continued ... "We are grateful for the outpouring of love and prayers, and kindly ask for privacy as we honor the extraordinary life of a man we were blessed to call our own."


https://www.tmz.com/2025/03/21/george-f ... tification

----------------------------------

$tEvil

[HottKarl777]

Nobody hit as hard as George.

[HueyRamone]

Well, he outlived Ali and Frazer by a lot.

[PBFSUCKS]

Oh shit, my wife texted me this and I thought our grill broke.

[roxxxtar]

Down goes Foreman

[Gibsonite]

Condolences to his kids George

[dmbrocker]

Oh shit, my wife texted me this and I thought our grill broke.

I was thinking about his grill, too, when I saw this. RIP, champ.

[aznsquirt]

I should dust off the grill thats in my closet still and make some whack pizza pockets like its 1995 again in his honor.

RIP

[Jason Jennifer Leigh]

I saw Ali walking in a mall one time, he was in town for an event … I did not get his autograph, my wife has never let me forget it.

He had 2 bodyguards, a couple of kids ran up to him for autographs but he wasn’t mobbed like you’d think.

R.I.P. George … he was a lot of fun, always had that big smile after his comeback.

[Mister Freeze]

Oh shit, my wife texted me this and I thought our grill broke.

lol.

I think most of us here are the generation who had a Foreman Grill in our childhood homes, college dorms, and first apartments. Now that I'm finally in my first house, I know I have a Foreman Grill around here somewhere.

There was also a period when it was the go-to Secret Santa gift, since it was the best thing you could buy for $20 or less.

[HueyRamone]

R.I.P. George … he was a lot of fun, always had that big smile after his comeback.

It was crazy how his personality got a complete overhaul between his 2 stints in boxing.

early: Huge grouchy taciturn badass

late: Smiling jovial bald chubby fighter/pitchman/announcer

[Bono Nettencourt]

Someone i used to work with actually used this to cook burgers at his backyard BBQ. In 2023.

[Hatchets Molly]

Makin' a grilled cheese in his memory.

[DonJuanDeMarco]

Oh shit, my wife texted me this and I thought our grill broke.

I think he's just as well known for that as he is known as a boxer. Suzanne Somers and the Thigh Master come to mind too. RIP to both of them! And yes, I had both products as some point growing up!

[Lobo]

Anyone that was around during Big George's initial reign of terror in boxing will know...

He was a MASSIVE favourite vs Ali.

George had just come off of obliterating two top 5 fighters: He completely WRECKED Joe Frazier and Ken Norton both within 2 rounds.

The 1974 Ali fight in Zaire was almost an afterthought. NOBODY gave Ali a chance in hell to win.

In the locker room before the fight Ali's camp were all crying, hoping he would come out of this fight without getting killed. His own people thought he had zero chance. If you haven't watched the movie "When We Were Kings" you really should, it's a fantastic documentary on the fight, it won an Academy Award.

Big George was the heel. He had no use for the press, was very distrusting of them.

George showed up in Zaire with two big German Shepherd dogs. The locals didn't like that at all as that was what the government used for crowd control. Zaire was a dictatorship after all.

The locals put their support firmly behind Ali due to the dogs and Ali did a lot of mingling with the locals. The man was simply charismatic.

Ali won. George had 6 more fights and retired in 1977. He found God and became a preacher.

He returned in 1987. This time he was the "babyface", an old dude trying to recapture the title with his new "aw shucks" personality.

He fought bums to climb the ranks to get a title shot, he avoided the tougher fighters to get there.

In 1994 he finally won a title again vs Michael Moorer. He KO'd him in the 10th winning the WBA and IBF titles.

He sold over $100 million dollars of George Foreman grills. He made more from the Grill sales than he ever did in boxing.

A truly amazing story of rebirth and redemption for Big George.

He went from hated and misunderstood to lovable and admired.

[HueyRamone]

In 1994 he finally won a title again vs Michael Moorer. He KO'd him in the 10th winning the WBA and IBF titles.

This was a huge upset too, as Big George had been getting his ass solidly kicked untill he was able to knock out Moorer.


You seem to know your shit. It feels like George got the title, and then refused to fight anyone, and had it stripped. What was the deal behind that? Did he know he couldnt really win against the competition? Rather have them stripped then get beaten?

[Lobo]

In 1994 he finally won a title again vs Michael Moorer. He KO'd him in the 10th winning the WBA and IBF titles.

and then refused to fight anyone, and had it stripped. What was the deal behind that? Did he know he couldnt really win against the competition? Rather have them stripped then get beaten?

George was supposed to fight Mike Tyson in 1995, a year after beating Moorer. Foreman said it would happen if Tyson didn't sign a promotional contract with Don King because King puts shifty clauses in his contracts to rob the fighters. Well...Tyson signed with King so Foreman moved on from that fight, wanting nothing to do with King. Three years later Tyson was suing Don King for stealing $100 million from him and they were in court.

And yes, Foreman avoided tough fights even while he was the champ which eventually got him stripped of the belts.

As a contender a fighter has more flexibility when it comes to picking and choosing opponents. Once you hold a belt, that organization has rankings and they expect you to fight their top contenders. You have mandatory obligations.

IMO Foreman should have just retired and given up the belts after beating Moorer. Or...get one more big payday with one defence of the belts and walk away.

He messed around a bit too much at the end but in the big scheme of things he still came out okay in the eyes of the public.

[ParaDime77]

Definitely the ultimate PR reinvention. Went from being an abusing philanderer in the 70’s to a smiling, relatable grill salesman in the 90’s. I’ll say this, George’s left jab hit like absolute concrete.

[FreddyFender]

Foreman came back because his financial advisor said he was going to have to unload the youth center he ran for at-risk kids.

He came back with the goal of getting a title-shot payday. He ended up doing the unthinkable and clipping Moorer. After he lost his title against Shannon Briggs, his advisor handed him a check from his George Foreman grill - it was more money than he’d earned in the fight. That was when he knew he could retire for good.

My favorite boxing story is from his opponent that he beat for the title - Michael Moorer. Moorer had taken the fight lightly and hadn’t trained hard. Showed up to the fight in a Limo full of hanger-ons. His trainer was going nuts about it because he knew what could happen. Of course, Moorer got lazy as the fight wore on and ended up getting KO.

Leaving the venue, the hanger ons disappeared - it was just Moorer, his trainer, and his brother in the Limo going back. Moorer, looking around, said “man, where is everybody?” and his trainer replied “Michael, this is everybody.” Moorer just stared out the window.

[Bono Nettencourt]

In 1994 he finally won a title again vs Michael Moorer. He KO'd him in the 10th winning the WBA and IBF titles.

This was a huge upset too, as Big George had been getting his ass solidly kicked untill he was able to knock out Moorer.


You seem to know your shit. It feels like George got the title, and then refused to fight anyone, and had it stripped. What was the deal behind that? Did he know he couldnt really win against the competition? Rather have them stripped then get beaten?

Definitely. He knew he was a sideshow and so did the promoters. Holyfield fought him for his 1st title defense because he wanted an easy payday before he had to fight Tyson, then Tyson ended up going away and the heavyweight division became a big mess. Foreman was able to stay in the game because he was a charismatic figure, even tho he was grossly out of shape and couldn't even beat a bum like Tommy AIDS (his last fight before Moorer). Moorer was another bum who lucked into the heavyweight title post-Tyson, and he thought Foreman would be an easy match. But, like it was already said, Moorer showed up out of shape (shades of Buster Douglas). He was winning the fight anyway (Foreman was so beat up his eyes were almost swollen shut), but, like Holyfield before him, he was a blown-up light heavyweight without a true knockout punch, so he hurt Foreman bad, but he couldn't put him down. Foreman was finally able to get in a few good jabs as Moorer tired in the 10th, and he shocked the world with one good right cross. Like you said, he didn't ever truly defend his title because he knew that he won it by luck and he didn't want to get hurt.

[Bono Nettencourt]

When We Were Kings documentary about the Rumble in the Jungle is a must see.

Thirded. Watch that and skip Ali.

[VinnieVincentsVag]

Condolences to his kids George

[prog]

Anyone that was around during Big George's initial reign of terror in boxing will know...

He was a MASSIVE favourite vs Ali.

George had just come off of obliterating two top 5 fighters: He completely WRECKED Joe Frazier and Ken Norton both within 2 rounds.

The 1974 Ali fight in Zaire was almost an afterthought. NOBODY gave Ali a chance in hell to win.

In the locker room before the fight Ali's camp were all crying, hoping he would come out of this fight without getting killed. His own people thought he had zero chance. If you haven't watched the movie "When We Were Kings" you really should, it's a fantastic documentary on the fight, it won an Academy Award.

Big George was the heel. He had no use for the press, was very distrusting of them.

George showed up in Zaire with two big German Shepherd dogs. The locals didn't like that at all as that was what the government used for crowd control. Zaire was a dictatorship after all.

The locals put their support firmly behind Ali due to the dogs and Ali did a lot of mingling with the locals. The man was simply charismatic.

Ali won. George had 6 more fights and retired in 1977. He found God and became a preacher.

He returned in 1987. This time he was the "babyface", an old dude trying to recapture the title with his new "aw shucks" personality.

He fought bums to climb the ranks to get a title shot, he avoided the tougher fighters to get there.

In 1994 he finally won a title again vs Michael Moorer. He KO'd him in the 10th winning the WBA and IBF titles.

He sold over $100 million dollars of George Foreman grills. He made more from the Grill sales than he ever did in boxing.

A truly amazing story of rebirth and redemption for Big George.

He went from hated and misunderstood to lovable and admired.

This is an excellent recap. Thanks. One thing that I remember (born in 80) was the Foreman/holyfield bout. As I recall as a 10/11 year old was that this was Foreman’s comeback. Surprised to hear that it preceded that by a few years.

[Earl Skakel]

My favorite Foreman fight is the 4.5 round war he had with Ron Lyle, it was like watching Rockem Sockem Robots. I'm honestly surprised Lyle hasn't had a movie made about his life as he spent 7.5 years in prison for murder and then comes out and nearly beats Foreman and Ali.
Lyle Vs Foreman
https://youtu.be/l8AVcEyyMco?si=7r1tF3ArgNEvNvAb

[Lobo]

My favorite Foreman fight is the 4.5 round war he had with Ron Lyle, it was like watching Rockem Sockem Robots. I'm honestly surprised Lyle hasn't had a movie made about his life as he spent 7.5 years in prison for murder and then comes out and nearly beats Foreman and Ali.
Lyle Vs Foreman
https://youtu.be/l8AVcEyyMco?si=7r1tF3ArgNEvNvAb

Foreman-Lyle was a great fight. No movie on Lyles life but there is a book about him called "Off The Ropes, The Ron Lyle Story". Someday i will get around to reading it

[ParaDime77]

My favorite Foreman fight is the 4.5 round war he had with Ron Lyle, it was like watching Rockem Sockem Robots. I'm honestly surprised Lyle hasn't had a movie made about his life as he spent 7.5 years in prison for murder and then comes out and nearly beats Foreman and Ali.
Lyle Vs Foreman
https://youtu.be/l8AVcEyyMco?si=7r1tF3ArgNEvNvAb

Foreman-Lyle was a great fight. No movie on Lyles life but there is a book about him called "Off The Ropes, The Ron Lyle Story". Someday i will get around to reading it

Ron Lyle was a bad motherfucker. So is Foreman. Real men going at it.

[Earl Skakel]

My favorite Foreman fight is the 4.5 round war he had with Ron Lyle, it was like watching Rockem Sockem Robots. I'm honestly surprised Lyle hasn't had a movie made about his life as he spent 7.5 years in prison for murder and then comes out and nearly beats Foreman and Ali.
Lyle Vs Foreman
https://youtu.be/l8AVcEyyMco?si=7r1tF3ArgNEvNvAb

Fuckin awesome.

My fav part is the stare down when Foreman would make most guys shit their pants but with Lyle you could tell he was looking at him like "bro I've killed someone before you ain't shit!"

[Earl Skakel]

My favorite Foreman fight is the 4.5 round war he had with Ron Lyle, it was like watching Rockem Sockem Robots. I'm honestly surprised Lyle hasn't had a movie made about his life as he spent 7.5 years in prison for murder and then comes out and nearly beats Foreman and Ali.
Lyle Vs Foreman
https://youtu.be/l8AVcEyyMco?si=7r1tF3ArgNEvNvAb

Foreman-Lyle was a great fight. No movie on Lyles life but there is a book about him called "Off The Ropes, The Ron Lyle Story". Someday i will get around to reading it

Just bought it and can't wait to read it, what a life and lost boxing potential he had as people kind of forget he almost beat Ali as well but gassed out in the final rounds.