George Foreman Appreciation Thread.

Foreman is a legend, with one of the greatest stories in Heavyweight history.

 

I was remember the first time I saw him …I was 14 years old …watching the Gerry Cooney fight on tv …he gave a post fight interview and I just automatically became a George Foreman fan…he was like your favorite uncle

 

This.

I remember watching the Foreman Frazier I fight with my father when I was about 7 years old. My father and I were HUGE fans of Smokin' Joe. Neither of us knew much about George, but we sure did after that day lol.

We were completely dumbfounded at the dominating victory of George, and when he ran over Norton a bit after we thought Ali would end up getting murdered. We were surprised again.

We didn't think much of the post Zaire fights, but kept up when he returned to the ring.

We were delighted when he actually rocked Holyfield a few times in their fight, and were excited as hell when he regained the title.

Though I'm no fan of Bert Sugar, I agree with him when he said there was nothing like what George did in heavyweight history, and there is quite possibly never going to be anything like it again. To win the title 20 years after losing it....

To me that says everything.

I can see where he didn't want to step in the way of guys like Lewis, Bowe, or Holyfield (again). But remain weirded out that he ducked a well-past-it Tucker (who was never that great to begin with imo. And yeah, I'm confident Foreman would have beat Tony...not the Tony of the Douglas fight, hell no).

 

The Tucker question comes up a lot, where Foreman is concerned. But I don't hold the circumstances, under which he was stripped of the WBA title, against him. He was going to be 46 years old for his next bout, after Moorer. He was on borrowed time as it was and he also had no time for dealing with King.

Maximizing revenue probably became the main aim and I suspect that controlling who he fought and who promoted his fights likely helped him in that cause. Moreover, Foreman had little else to prove.

 

I walked into an appliance store just yesterday, to look at televisions. However, I noticed a newer and better-looking, updated George Foreman Electric Griddle on the shelves.

Wow. I thought they had been discontinued (in fact, I'm sure I read same).

Anyway, the price is still good - I might get myself one down the track. I think I've still got the old Lean Mean Fat Reducing Grilling Machine. Pure genius starting up this business and product lines. However, if the products weren't as good as they actually are, the necessary custom would've dropped off years ago.

I remember trying to talk George Foreman when I was at school - during his retirement. Most of my mates replied, "George who?" The rare ones that knew who George was got my utmost respect instantly. While his comeback garnered attention in his own right, I wonder how many casual fans were given cause (by Foreman's comeback) to actually look back on Foreman's first career to marvel at what a beast he was? I think his comeback had a twofold, positive effect.

Anyway, for those who DID know who George was from his first time around, there was/is no one on Earth who could've projected for his stepping back into the ring, let alone fighting as a legit contender a whole 10 years after his first retirement. I remember seeing that first bout, vs Steve Zouski on the news. Sure, overweight and the comp. was low level but damn, George still looked so powerful, despite his seemingly lackadaisical executions and applied benevolence.