Why was George Foreman disliked by fans in his Prime?

Some African Americans resented George Foreman for parading around the ring with a mini American flag after he won the Gold Medal in Mexico City. It was the same Olympics when John Carlos and Tommy Smith were raising gloved fists on the medal stand.
The perception was that Foreman was an Uncle Tom at the time.

 

That may have been true, but I doubt that's why Foreman was disliked. I don't think they'd hold on to something like that for so long. Plus, most of them might not even have known much about Foreman before he won the title in 73. Also, the majority of the boxing demographic in attendance for fights was Caucasian, so it wasn't just blacks booing him - it was everyone from various races. You'd think Foreman waving the America flag & being patriotic would garner him the same support from White America that Louis, Patterson & Frazier got for similar reasons, but it just didn't happen for some reason I guess.

 

Because he wasn’t a person like “second” George Foreman.

 

Here’s a couple of short IVs with Foreman in the lead up to his fight with Ali.

Not so diabolical, rather, he’s actually quite amiable and humorous. Added bonus - the vid includes footage of Foreman thumping the heavy bag with that ridiculously powerful left jab of his - that alone being worth the price of admission:-

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I think he suffered along with most of his contemporaries - Frazier, Norton, etc - under the overwhelming shadow of Ali, who could make Betty White a pariah. He had his surly moments, but I’ve seen enough interviews where he came off quite personable. Guest spots on Sanford and Son and The Six Million Dollar Man suggest he had some appeal outside the ring.

His comeback was spurred as much by money as legacy, and he was smart enough to see his career as a business and act accordingly. He knew how to market himself better than anyone in boxing with maybe the exception of SLR, and I think he eclipsed Leonard in terms of mass appeal across a spectrum of markets.

 

That's true to some extent as Ali was the #1 star in the world at the time - but Norton was still liked, & Frazier was loved (some fans & sports analyst preferred him over Ali). However, with Foreman he was virtually blacklisted and treated like a heinous villain, when in reality he was a strong, powerful gladiator who gave the fans what they wanted (knockouts) & put on a show for them while garnering their respect - but never got it. I agree with everything else.

 

You have to remember the climate in America at that time. There was great social unrest. You had the NOI, MOVE, The Black Panthers, alot of activism. There's George shilling for the establishment. It would be a mistake to dismiss that I don't think that is what Foreman intended but that is how it landed.

Then factor in Ali who was always gonna be the favorite of African American fans.

 

Interesting and unfortunate if true. Do you remember anything more specific about the source?

(The forum censored the word you used, but I suspect I know what you were saying.)

 

Forum talk and a faded memory sorry, might have just been nonsense Cross.

 

Seems more like the older, later version of Foreman, he obviously already had that kind of personality but hid it under his sullen, Liston like persona.

 

I totally agree with your observation.

 

2-sentence-answer to the original question:

because bullies are not liked.
they are feared.

 

Tyson was similar but had a New York PR machine behind him with Jacobs and Cayton pulling the strings.

That’s why we heard so much about Tyson raising freaking pigeons. Like anyone cared about that bull. But it was to humanize him. Plus he was ‘the reformed street thug taken in by kindly old boxing trainer/Svengali Cus.’

 

gotta agree here.
the first report/portrait about tyson in a german newspaper that i read was indeed highlighting his pigeon breeding in words and pictures. might have been "die zeit" (name of the newspaper).

i might have considered him likeable after reading that report. but by the time i had watched him for the very first time in the boxing ring, this impression completely vanished in an instant.

 

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