Foreman dead at 76, according to Instagram post

Foreman only had 20 fights (four of them losses) as an amateur when he stepped into the Olympic ring in Mexico in 1968.

His opponent, Jonas Cepulis of the USSR (out of Lithuania) had 220 fights and 10 years experience. George stopped him in two rounds.

At a Summer Games where many black athletes raised their fists and lowered their heads on the medal stand, George waved around a couple of tiny American flags after his gold medal win.

Foreman was a high school dropout. He was already well on his way to a life of crime when he decided to enroll in the U.S. Job Corps, where he learned skills like carpentry and earned his GED diploma.

He found boxing and was on his way to a long journey interrupted by a 10-year layoff (he never retired) that saw him eventually become the oldest heavyweight to win the world championship.

Foreman had left boxing after what he considered a spiritual awakening after his loss to Jimmy Young. He devoted his life to his faith. He spent all his earnings on the church and a youth center. He preached three services a week. He traveled near and far in a tiny Volkswagen, as I recall reading, for pass-the-hat sermons to raise funds to keep the church and youth center afloat.

It was with this in mind that he began he return to the ring. I don’t think he really believed he could be champ again, just make some money to keep those things afloat. He treated it as if turning pro, basically — rather than rush into the quickest payday he could find, he fought for smaller purses mostly in small venues as he worked off a decade of ring rust and his body back into shape.

He failed his first try to regain the title vs Evander Holyfield, but struck gold with a right hand that put 36 stitches inside the mouth of Michael Moorer and left him laying senseless on the canvas.

Along the way he signed up to be spokesman for the George Foreman Grill and eventually made at least $200M off that venture.

He lived a fascinating life. He was a fascinating fighter. He was a genuine character and was bigger than life.

Rest in Peace, Big George.

 

Awful. The greatest heavyweight slugger of all time. RIP Big George the Earth is a worse place now.

 

God bless his soul. May he rest in peace.

 

RIP! My greatest boxing memory will always be the seventh round, when we were screaming so loud that people were coming of the street asking if George won!

Took a few more years, but I knew he was going to do it against Moorer, so it wasn't even that big of a deal, and that is the truth!

POST SCRIPT:
Forgot to mention I met the man and got a book signed!

 

RIP! My greatest boxing memory will always be the seventh round, when we were screaming so loud that people were coming of the street asking if George won!

Took a few more years, but I knew he was going to do it against Moorer, so it wasn't even that big of a deal, and that is the truth!

POST SCRIPT:
Forgot to mention I met the man and got a book signed!

 

Roy Jones reflecting on his friendship w/ Foreman on cnn rn.

 

That's crazy, he seemed so healthy and lively not too long ago. I'm guessing he had an illness he couldn't beat. The guy personified resilience, strength, and the human spirit bouncing back from so many challenges and hardships.

 

Bad news that breaks my heart. Boxing has lost one of its greatest legends.

 

Foerman was the KING of the cheeseburger. I will say no one has eaten more cheeseburgers in their life than George Foreman. Cheeseburgers was his diet for fights. " I eat what makes me feel good, and I fight the best when I feel good "

"I can still see the look on the waiter's face at the Riviera Hotel when he took our order. While I tucked into clam chowder and a steak sandwich, Foreman washed down six cheeseburgers and a family-sized platter of fries with two strawberry milkshakes."

He fell into depression after his loss to Ali, and ate cheeseburgers to get him back right again.
He had that articulate charming personailty like no other, and packed the most HW power manybe in the history of the sport

RIP champ

 

Chuvalo although he’s in a care home now.

 

RIP Champ

One of the HW ATGs and his record for oldest HW champion has yet to be challenged.

 

Very saddening news, and quite unexpected.
There was the sense he'd be around for a while yet.

To say Foreman's story is extraordinary and unique would be quite the understatement.
As might be suggested about other boxers, who are considered all time greats, there simply will not be another like him.

Foreman will forever be one of my favorite fighters and characters of the sport.

Rest In Peace.

 

Damn just heard. RIP Big George.

 

Ah **** it.

Who's left of these older Heavyweight greats? I'm guessing Larry Holmes. He crossed into that era a little.

 

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