George Foreman changed his persona and made boxing history

The first iteration of George Edward Foreman was posed as the second-coming of the contemptuous former heavyweight champion Sonny Liston.

Liston, a terror in boxing before losing his title to Muhammad Ali in 1964, was an ex-con and bouncer for the mob. And once Liston’s former trainer took on Foreman, he pushed the same menacing philosophy onto his new fighter.

The “mister mean” attitude produced a heavyweight crown, but Foreman would quickly lose his title, change his persona and regain more than anyone could have ever imagined when he became a pastor, philanthropist and a lovable spokesman. 

One of boxing’s hardest punchers who changed the course of his life and career made boxing history, died at age 76 on March 21. No cause of death has been disclosed by his family.

Foreman was an Olympic gold medalist, two-time heavyweight champion and considered one of boxing’s greatest knockout artists, with 68 knockouts for a KO ratio of 89.5%.

“I loved George,” renowned boxing promoter Don King told Andscape. “Most importantly, he was a man of imagination. He didn’t accept the role of being poor and down. His dream was to be world champion, and he fulfilled that. He proved you can be what you want to be by pursuing your dream without any quantification.”

The path to Foreman’s dream started when he left a life of mischief in Houston for the Job Corps. That’s where Foreman was introduced to boxing and began an amateur career that almost ended before it began. In his 15th amateur fight in Oakland, California, Foreman ran out of gas and lost by decision. After the fight, Bill Caplan, the ring announcer, visited Foreman in the locker room and encouraged the young fighter.

“I learned later that George was contemplating quitting until I patted him on the back and told him that he was going to be a good fighter,” said Caplan, who became Foreman’s publicist for several decades. 

With only 25 amateur fights, Foreman won a gold medal in the heavyweight division of the 1968 Olympics in Mexico. He turned pro shortly after and rallied off 37 consecutive victories against mediocre opponents to set up one of his first memorable fights. It was his first title shot against Joe Frazier. 

Over time, Foreman developed an intimidating stare down, like Liston. He especially used this and other tactics against Frazier. In a 2023 interview with Andscape, Foreman said: “. . . At a press conference, Frazier said what he planned to do to me. After being egged on, I told Frazier to shut up. Right after I said it, I’m thinking, ‘How did that come out of my mouth?’ And you know what happened? Frazier did shut up.”

In one of boxing history’s brutal fights, Foreman demolished Frazier behind six knockdowns and became heavyweight champion. In another classic bout, less than a year later, Foreman fought and lost to Ali in “The Rumble in the Jungle.” Foreman rebounded from the loss with five consecutive wins. In his sixth fight, he lost a decision to Jimmy Young. Foreman had a spiritual experience in his locker room after the fight. He became a preacher and wouldn’t fight again for 10 years. 

Once Foreman decided to return to the ring, he made a call to promoter Bob Arum.

“I remembered the old George, who was a bad person and surly,” Arum said. “I also wasn’t interested because he was too old.” 

But Foreman insisted and met Arum for lunch. 

“I thought to myself, ‘This is the greatest con man in the world,’ because he was a different person,” Arum said. “But that George was who he really was — a caring, loving person who was well-grounded in doing the right things.”

That’s the Foreman who Jim Lampley got to know. Lampley and Foreman worked together on HBO World Championship Boxing for 13 years. Lampley said the Liston persona had nothing to do with Foreman.

“That was something that [trainer] Dick Sadler and others in his camp were attempting to indoctrinate him into at the time,” said Lampley, the author of ‘It Happened!: A Uniquely Lucky Life in Sports Television.’ It wasn’t until later in his career that he fully grasped the reality of who he was and reversed his persona and became the loving, happy, grandfatherly pitch man who beguiled all of America into loving him.”

Making his comeback at 39, Foreman garnered positive attention with comments about how being 40 or 50 years old was not a death sentence in his claims that age shouldn’t limit aspirations. Because he didn’t possess the body of a bodybuilder, as he did in his prime, Foreman also used that to his advantage. He often joked about eating hamburgers and other junk food as part of his training. This would later generate interest from Salton Inc., which signed him to a lucrative deal to what would become the George Foreman Grill.

Similarly to Act 1 of his career, Foreman’s second phase consisted of fights against has-beens, never wases, or could-have-beens. On his way to a title shot, Foreman did face a formidable opponent in Gerry Cooney. Although Cooney was past his prime, he still had a puncher’s chance. Foreman was three years and 19 fights into his comeback.

Cooney stunned Foreman early in the fight, but it wasn’t enough. Foreman rallied and won by technical knockout in the second round. It was Cooney’s last fight. Foreman left a lasting impression.

“George was a good man,” Cooney said. “I admire George for who he was and how he was able to change and get rid of that boogeyman and be able to love his family and the people around him.”

Foreman earned a title shot a year later against Evander Holyfield but lost by unanimous decision. Later, he lost by unanimous decision in his second title shot against Tommy Morrison. In title shot No. 3, at age 45, Foreman made history in 1994 with a KO victory over Michael Moorer to become the oldest fighter to win a heavyweight title.

“And when he won that fight, he got down on his knees and thanked God,” Cooney said. “That’s the George Foreman that needs to be remembered. The man that found God and peace.”