In February 1968, he knocked out L.C. He spoke of being in a hellish, frightening place of nothingness and despair, and realized that he was in the midst of death. Foreman defended his title successfully twice during his initial reign as champion. He is a former heavyweight world champion. George Foreman posted 76 wins during his career, 20 more than the great Muhammed Ali, who beat Foreman in 1974 in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to regain the world heavyweight crown. Updates? event bout wiki. In some quarters it was suggested Ali was ducking him,[31] taking on low-risk opponents such as Chuck Wepner, Richard Dunn, Jean Pierre Coopman, and Alfredo Evangelista. On November 5, 1994, a 45-year old George Foreman (72-4, 67 KO) faced an undefeated fellow American boxer Michael Moorer, who was 26 years old with a record of 35-0 for Moorer's WBA and IBF heavyweight titles. The strategy paid off and he outboxed Foreman from long range. Foreman is now on a 38-fight winning streak, with 22 back-to-back KO wins. Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, oldest world heavyweight champion in history, Tropworld Casino and Entertainment Resort, "Professional boxing record: George Foreman", "Ring Magazine's 80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years", "George Foreman Leaves HBO Sports After Twelve Great Years", "Millionaire High School Dropouts Page 2 of 2", "Houston Sport Hall of Fame 2019: George Foreman. Many thought this would be Foreman's last chance at the Heavyweight championship. "[40] Tyson signed with King (and by 1998, was suing him for $100 million);[41] the bout never materialized. George Foreman vs. Ron Lyle, Las Vegas 1976 - Hannibal Boxing Foreman dug vicious body punches into Ali's sides; however, Foreman was unable to land many big punches to Ali's head. 1966-1997 debut 1969-07-01 ID# 000090 birth name George Edward Foreman sex male alias Big George nationality USA stance orthodox height 6 3 / 191cm reach 78 / 199cm residence Houston, Texas, USA birth place Marshall, Texas, USA 107 bouts date w-l-d last 6 result sport Foreman won the world heavyweight titlethe World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association beltswith a convincing second-round TKO of reigning champ Joe Frazier in January. Foreman was interested in football and idolized Jim Brown, but gave it up for boxing. Cooney wobbled Foreman in the first round, but Foreman landed several powerful punches in the second round. George Foreman's professional boxing career spanned more than 28 years from 1969 to 1997. Also, an additional $8 million was made from the live gate, with an estimated 19,000 fans attending the fight live.[5]. Foreman made his professional boxing debut at the age of 20, on June 23, 1969. Foreman lost to Holyfield via 12 round unanimous decision. As an entrepreneur, he is known for the George Foreman Grill.. After a troubled childhood, Foreman took up amateur boxing . Nevertheless, Foreman did very well when his chance at a title bout came. His opponent was the skilled boxer Jimmy Young, who had beaten Ron Lyle and lost a very controversial decision to Muhammad Ali the previous year. Both the boxers were of the same height but Foreman had a 6 cm reach advantage over Schulz. . In 1990, Foreman met former title challenger Gerry Cooney in Atlantic City. He had won all 40 of his professional bouts, including a sequence of 24 consecutive knockouts, when he fell to Muhammad Ali in eight rounds in the Rumble in the Jungle in Kinshasa, Zaire (now Congo), on October 30, 1974. Copyright 2023 MartialBotBlog | Privacy Policy. [51] Freeda had a 51 record as a pro boxer, retired in 2001, and died in 2019 at age 42 in an apparent suicide. Foreman's Jaw Keeps Jabbing Heavyweight Hawks Self as Next Champ, Holyfield Leans In As Foreman Chews the Fat, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Evander_Holyfield_vs._George_Foreman&oldid=1148840629, Boxing matches involving Evander Holyfield, World Boxing Association heavyweight championship matches, World Boxing Council heavyweight championship matches, International Boxing Federation heavyweight championship matches, April 1991 sports events in the United States, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 8 April 2023, at 16:56. He was subsequently tired, and Stewart rebounded. He was a ringside analyst for HBO's boxing coverage for 12 years until 2004. [23] According to them, he always seemed to wear a sneer and was not often available to the press. In 1999, he sold the commercial rights to the grill for $138 million.George Foreman was born in Marshall, Texas. BoxRec: BoxRec is not under the control of any governing or sanctioning body, data may be incomplete/inaccurate. Re: George Foreman/Exhibitions/sparring partners(1970-1977) Post by Caractacus 20 Nov 2018, 23:41. Foreman has a 84% KO rate. He retired from the ring in 1977 and became an evangelist. George Foreman ( Big George) is a retired American professional boxer. BoxRec: George Foreman [2], He made his professional debut stopping Clyde Weaver at 1:16 of the first round. He was so gifted technically and his jab was the best I ever faced in the ring. Schulz was on a six-fight win streak with 10 KO wins. Foreman held off Axel Schulz in a 12-round defense of the International Boxing Federation heavyweight belt. Foreman weighed 267lb (121kg) for the fight and looked badly out of shape. Very few boxing experts gave the 42-year-old Foreman a chance of winning. His relatively high profile, however, made a title shot against Moorer, 19 years his junior, a lucrative prospect at seemingly little risk for the champion. Wepner was on a one-fight losing streak, and was the taller of the two by 5 cms but Foreman had a 3 cm reach advantage over Wepner. Joe Frazier Boxer Stats - BoxStat.co www.martialbot.com/boxing/g/george-foreman.html. He retired in 1997 at the age of 48, with a final record of 76 wins (68 knockouts) and 5 losses.Foreman has been inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame and International Boxing Hall of Fame. He was approached by Salton, Inc., which was looking for a spokesperson for its fat-reducing grill. When he said, "I don't care if this is death I still believe there is a God!"[34]. After a lightning two-punch flurry squared him up, Ali ended the bout with a combination of solid left hook and straight right flush to the jaw that sent Foreman windmilling hard to the canvas,[29] the first time he had been down in his career. George Foreman (Big George) is a retired American professional boxer. The Ring Magazine's Annual Ratings: 1969. Omissions? Foreman was favored, having crushed undefeated heavyweight champion Joe Frazier and toppled formidable challenger Ken Norton both within two rounds. Foreman had a 164 amateur boxing record going into the Olympics. He was fighting for the WBA, WBC, and IBF heavyweight titles. Following his first loss to Muhammad Ali and a subsequent year-long hiatus, the event was meant to re-spark interest in Foreman and resolidify his strength and ability to knockout opponents. Frazier was then the world's number-three heavyweight per The Ring. This was the year Foreman won back the heavyweight title with a much-hyped Las Vegasmatch against Michael Moorer, who had a 35-0 record going into the fight. There was more weight in his punches. Round seven, in which Foreman knocked Holyfield off balance before being staggered by a powerful combination, was expected to be The Ring's "Round of the Year",[citation needed] though no award was given in 1991.[38]. He suffers the first loss of his career, and his 40-fight win streak comes to an end with this loss. His first defense, in Tokyo, pitted him against Puerto Rican Heavyweight Champion Jos Roman. He explained that he sensed God asking him to change his life and ways. BoxRec: BoxRec is not under the control of any governing or sanctioning body, data may be incomplete/inaccurate. Foreman defeated Frazier via 2nd round TKO to win the WBA, WBC, and Ring Magazine heavyweight titles. Though not yet religious, he began to plead with God to help him. Foreman had his first world title fight at the age of 24 on January 22, 1973 after 37 professional fights, against Joe Frazier for the heavyweight WBA, WBC, and The Ring titles. On September 21, 1968, he won his second decision over Otis Evans to make the U.S. boxing team for the Mexico City Olympic Games. At 46 years and 169 days old, he was the oldest world heavyweight champion in history. March 19, 1988: George Foreman beats Dwight Muhammad Qawi via 7th round TKO. George Foreman Vs. Bert Cooper - A Quit-Job, Cocaine And A "Set-Up" In boxing, he was nicknamed "Big George" and competed between 1967 and 1997. By his own admission in his autobiography, George was a troubled youth. Ali later said he was "out on his feet" twice during the bout. As far as his resume goes, it's top 15 or 20 worthy. Foreman defeated Stewart via 10 round majority decision. Foreman announced an exhibition match in 1975, billed as Foreman vs Five, where he would fight five contenders in one night. In 1970, Foreman continued his march toward the undisputed heavyweight title, winning all 12 of his bouts (11 by knockout). Pro opponents of George Foreman Quiz - By Dickycanio He is a two-time world heavyweight champion and an Olympic gold medalist. On April 22, 1995, a 46-year old George Foreman (73-4, 68 KO) faced German boxer Axel Schulz, who was 26 years old with a record of 21-1-1 in a heavyweight title defense fight. . George Foreman vs. Muhammad Ali, billed as The Rumble in the Jungle, was a heavyweight championship boxing match on October 30, 1974, at the 20th of May Stadium (now the Stade Tata Raphal) in Kinshasa, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo ), between undefeated and undisputed heavyweight champion George Foreman and Muhammad Ali. Young was on a three-fight win streak with 7 KO wins. George Foreman vs. Shannon Briggs - Wikipedia Shannon Briggs, Tommy Morrison, Evander Holyfield, Jimmy Young, and Muhammad Ali are the five boxers who have beaten Foreman. At age 16, Foreman had a change of heart and convinced his mother to sign him up for the Job Corps after seeing an ad for the Corps on TV. Next, Foreman knocked out Scott LeDoux in three rounds and prospect John Dino Denis in four to finish the year. Ali was on a three-fight win streak with 31 KO wins. In his autobiography, he wrote that his primary motive was to raise money to fund the youth center he had created, which had required much of the money he had earned in the initial phase of his career. The WBA demanded that Foreman fight their number-one challenger, who at the time was the competent, but aging, Tony Tucker. Foreman came out of retirement, and eventually reclaimed the titlein 1994 at age 45becoming theoldest heavyweight champin history. Both the boxers were of the same height but Norton had a 4 cm reach advantage over Foreman. Out of 12 wins this year, Foreman scored a combined 10 KOs and TKOs. Foreman's next title defense, on October 30, 1974, in Kinshasa, Zaire, against Muhammad Ali, was historic. George Foreman - Wikipedia He was trained for the Olympic Games by Robert (Pappy) Gault. Sam Houston Coliseum, Houston, Texas, U.S. Seattle Center Coliseum, Seattle, Washington, U.S. He was born in Marshall, Texas, U.S. on January 10, 1949. [59], For other people named George Foreman, see, The Rumble in the Jungle: Foreman vs. Ali. [58], Although Foreman has never confirmed exactly how much he has earned from the endorsement, Salton paid him $138 million in 1999 for the right to use his name. On his website, Foreman explains, "I named all my sons George Edward Foreman so they would always have something in common. Before the fight, Frazier was 290 (25 KO) and Foreman was 370 (34 KO). Foreman was the taller of the two by 3 cms and also had a 1 cm reach advantage. Foreman started training for boxing in July 2009,[8] with very similar training methods to his father the "torture chamber", in which he dragged a Jeep as far as he could, dug holes, chopped wood and ran to the point of exhaustion. He would catch me with the jab as I was coming forward and it was so difficult to counter that punch. Down goes Frazier! Shortly after the 1994 Moorer fight, Foreman began talking about a potential superfight with Mike Tyson, then the youngest heavyweight champion on record. A cluster of power punches from Lyle sent Foreman to the canvas. [citation needed] Foreman later also claimed he was drugged by his trainer prior to the bout. On January 15, 1990, a 41-year old George Foreman (64-2, 60 KO) fought fellow American boxer Gerry Cooney, who was 33 years old with a record of 28-2. BoxRec: George Foreman Morrison retreated throughout the fight, refusing to trade toe-to-toe, and sometimes he turned his back on Foreman. BoxRec: George Foreman In 1988, he won nine times. Natalia and Leola are from his marriage to Mary Joan Martelly. George Foreman vs Gerry Cooney | BLACK HISTORY MONTH FREE FIGHT After the second knockdown, Frazier's balance and mobility were impaired to the extent that he was unable to evade Foreman's combinations. [14] After moving to Pleasanton, California, with the help of a supervisor, he began to train.