Boxers who changed their persona the most?

Lucky man, Ha Ha.

 

Foreman definitely isn't genuinely as nice as people think, but not in a way people accuse him of either. My take on him:

He grew up in the Bloody Fifth Ward of Houston, facing violence, discrimination, and injustice on daily basis. His mother and aunt were more or less the sole moral compass and anchor of decency in his life, and God bless them for being loving enough that he didn't end up dead or in a dead end, and took up the Job Corps instead. Nonetheless, his imprint period and adolescence revolved around the eat or be eaten dynamic in what was a truly dog eats dog world of the 60's.

His boxing career wasn't filled with amiable figures either. While he truly respected and admired people like Archie Moore, Sandy Saddler (convinced him to give up being a vegetarian when he decided to pick up one once), Sonny Liston, or Joe Louis (his great idol; see him shaking his hand before the Foreman-Norton bout and you see the warm smile of the old George) --- in the end he realized the bitter truth all of use have to come to terms with. That boxing is a business and a damn dirty and cynical one at that. Dick Sadler, the manager extraordinaire and one sneaky ******* to boot taught him all to well the business of boxing.

Through the years he clearly had certain amount of healthy role models and love of his mother, but what marred his mentality was the thuggish approach to hierarchies combined, initially, with relative lack of truly meaningful perspectives due to his impoverished background. Boxing took him out of the poverty, but could not really heal the wounds left by the bloody Fifth. It only exacerbated them with cynicism and disillusionment as to the world of sport and the domain of wealthy and powerful. Only the loss in Zaire began his road towards self-examination and meaning (in his case through providing for his family and community, as well as through teaching and spiritual guidance.)

The change was genuine, no doubt here. Nobody spends over ten years building spiritual community and giving his entire fortune to help misguided kids based on false persona. But while Foreman eventually became a larger than life figure and true pillar of the community, I don't think he forgot what he learned through the years. He definitely outgrew his self-defeating and destructive ways of coping with the reality, but I think that he chooses to be the person that he is whilst being fully aware of some of the ugly side of our existence. One that he experienced first hand. What he did not, and why some people call him phony, is change into a loveable marshmallow devoid of human vice. That obviously was a media persona.

Another note: there was a ring list of top 20 heavies made by different panels.Trainers, historians, matchmakers, and media. George usually landed a 6th or 7th place, but among matchmakers he was 3rd, right behind Louis and Ali. It's not surprising given the colossal amount of money and attention his knockouts brought to the boxing reality of 60/70's. The other reason, however, why he ranks so high in my opinion, is that he was such an amazing promoter and manager during his come back years. People fail to realize that initially nobody wanted to sign with him, but George took off on his own using all the skills and knowledge learned from Sadler to navigate the muddy water and bring attention to himself. Eventually when the likes of Arum offered him their service, he refused because he knew they would throw him against top dangerous contenders for quick cash grab and then leave him like a used rag. Instead he used the old school promoting (finding tough, dangerous looking guys who were hittable and had breakable jaw) to pad his record and create the hype train that lead China to offer 25 millions for his fight with Tyson, and eventually gave him three title shots.

Goes to show just how much he learned from his first career not only about pugilism, but about the art of business as well.

 

The first time George Foreman was mentioned could have really closed this thread. His 1st career persona and 2nd career persona were like night and day. And I do believe that both personas were genuine in many ways.

 

A lot of that is the difference between a hungry young man and a comfortable middle aged man.

 

Christopher Livingstone Eubank Snr is a damn national treasure you troglodyte.

 

I'd be curious to see Fury speaking with an upper class English accent in whatever video you're referring to.

 

He seems to be on relatively good terms these days with former rivals, Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis and has even made his peace with former trainer Teddy Atlas but it would be interesting to hear what his thoughts are now regarding his once close relationship with Kevin Rooney who was his trainer when he was at the peak of his powers?

 

Joe Louis had affairs with Lena Horne, Sonja Henie, and Lana Turner.

 

Probably been discussed by him. Maybe someone here can find a link.

 

Wonderful post. Great examination of the Two Faces of Big George.

 

I never really hear Tyson talk about Kevin.

 

You know Chris Eubank's brothers don't remember him having a lisp and in the deepest waters of privacy he is said to speak very plainly not unlike your average African American in New York. At least it was said in his younger days perhaps now the line between his persona and self are blurred beyond recognition.

 

No joke, I read somewhere he had that fixed - but the lisp was replaced by a whistle sound.

Imagine that. “Yes sir, we can fix that lisp for you - we’ll simply substitute it with the completely unnoticeable sound of a car honking”.

Very Monty Pythonesque.

 

Joe Louis too was a very lucky man, Lol.

 

Ike Ibeabuchi