Happy 73rd Birthday to Former Heavyweight Champion Big George Foreman!
By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
A native of Marshall, Texas, former world heavyweight champion “Big’ George Foreman, who turned age 73 on January 10, 2022, has been out of the ring since 1997. Foreman, 76-5 with 66 knockouts, is best known for his two televised bouts with Joe Frazier, his televised loss to Muhammad Ai in Kinshasa, Zaire in 1974, and for knocking out Michael Moorer to regain the World Heavyweight title in 1994 20 years later, with Ali’s ex-trainer Angelo Dundee in his corner.
More so, Big George is best known for promoting his George Foreman Grills, which made him a rich man by lending his name and promoting them. A scheduled bout with another ex-champ, Larry Holmes, never took place. After losing a 12 round bout to Jimmy Young in 1977, Foreman became a preacher for ten years before returning to the ring at age 39.
The 1967 California Golden Gloves Heavyweight champion, and the 1968 Heavyweight Olympic Gold Medalist, Foreman was a sparring partner for former World Heavyweight champion Charles “Sonny” Liston. Though his career lasted 25 years between 1969 and 1994, with a ten year break after the first ten years, Big George was never hurt. Only Ali knocked him out in 1974, in “The Rumble in the Jungle”, when Ali regained the World heavyweight title after being stripped of his title for refusing military service in Vietnam due to his Muslim religious beliefs. The U.S. Supreme Court reinstated Ali’s right to box.
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