George Foreman goes on the attack against Axel Schulz during the second round of their IBF heavyweight championship fight in Las Vegas on April 22, 1995. Foreman won in a 12-round majority decision. (AP Photo/Jeff Scheid)
Former heavyweight champion George Foreman seems bored with the physical examination he is being given by boxing commission doctor Stanley Silverblatt on Oct. 14, 1976 in Hollywood, Florida. Foreman will fight Dino Dennis in a 12-round fight at the Hollywood Sportatorium on Oct. 15. (AP Photo/Phil Sandlin)
Former heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman poses with his autobiography, prior to a book signing in New York, on May 15, 1995. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
Defending WBA champion Joe Frazier, left, and challenger George Foreman have a close look at each other as they meet during weigh-in, moments before their world heavyweight title bout at National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica, on January 22, 1973. Partially obscured in the background is Frazier’s manager Yank Durham. (AP Photo)
Ken Norton sags into the ropes after being knocked down by heavyweight champion George Foreman for the first time in the second round at the Poliedro in Caracas, Venezuela on March 26, 1974. Foreman knocked out Norton later in the round to win the World Heavyweight Champion title. (AP Photo)
Boxer George Foreman posed by a painting of himself when he was at Olympic in 1988, prior to his inductor with six other champions into the Hall of Fame in Minneapolis, Friday, July 6, 1990. The defendants hearing the former gold medal winners kick off the start of the U.S. Olympic runs on July 6-15. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
George Foreman, team USA’s Olympic heavyweight boxing champ, bombards Roberto Davila of Peru with one of a succession of blows that eventually gave the match to Foreman on Nov. 1, 1969 in New York’s Madison Square Garden. (AP Photo/stf)
George Foreman, World Heavyweight champion before his fight against Joe Roman in Tokyo, Japan, Sept. 1, 1973. Foreman won the fight. (AP Photo)
Harry Kleiman, physician, left, checks out George Foreman, right, at a pre-fight physical at the New York State Athletic Commission Office in New York City on Oct. 8, 1970. In the center is Boone Kirkman, who will be matched against Foreman. (AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler)
IBF heavyweight champion George Foreman pauses for a moment during an interview at a Los Angeles hotel, Friday, May 19, 1995. Foreman advocates the use of headgear for boxers. (AP Photo/Lois Bernstein)
Former heavyweight champion George Foreman is shown working out in a training center in Houston, Texas, on March 21, 1990. Foreman is keeping in shape while awaiting another shot for the heavyweight crown, but neither Buster Douglas nor dethroned Mike Tyson responded to his challenge. (AP Photo/Donna Carson)
FILE – In this April 20, 1991, file photo, heavyweight challenger George Foreman, center, is tended by veteran trainer Angelo Dundee, left, and former light-heavyweight champion Archie Moore during a title fight against Evander Holyfield in Atlantic City. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta, File)
George Foreman celebrates his win over Axel Schulz for the IBF Heavyweight Championship on Saturday, April 22, 1995 in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Jeff Scheid)
George Foreman poses before the WBC Heavyweight World Championship fight between Wladimir Klitschko of Ukraine and David Haye of England at Imtech Arena on July 2, 2011 in Hamburg, Germany. (Photo by Martin Rose/Bongarts/Getty Images)
FILE – George Foreman yells, Oct. 15, 1974, in N’Sele, Kinshasa, Zaire. (AP Photo/Horst Faas, File)
Heavyweight champion George Foreman responds to cheers of crowd in stadium in Kinshasa, Zaire on Saturday night, Oct. 26, 1974 during the weigh in for his title defense against Muhammad Ali. (AP Photo, File)
Defending world champion George Foreman drives challenger Muhammad Ali into the ropes with a left jab to the body during the WBA/WBC championship bout in Kinshasa, Zaire, on October 30, 1974. Ali regained the heavyweight crown by knocking out Foreman in the eighth round of their fight dubbed ‘Rumble in the Jungle.’ (AP Photo)
Perspiration flies from the head of George Foreman as he takes a right from challenger Muhammad Ali in the seventh round in the match dubbed Rumble in the Jungle in Kinshasa, Zaire, Oct. 30, 1974. (AP Photo/Ed Kolenovsky, File)
George Foreman walks away in defeat while challenger Muhammad Ali, partially covered, is celebrating his victory in the WBA/WBC championship bout in Kinshasa, Zaire, on October 30, 1974. Ali regains the crown as the undisputed heavyweight world champion by KO in the eighth round of their fight dubbed ‘Rumble in the Jungle.’ The referee is Zach Clayton. (AP Photo)
Former world champion boxer George Foreman poses while launching his “Lean, Mean Fat Reducing Grilling Machine” Nov. 22, 2001 during a press conference in London. (Photo by Anthony Harvey/Getty Images)
Acting heavyweight world champion George Foreman, 46, gimmicks with a playful punch closing an eye, as he arrives at the airport in Hamburg, Germany, Tuesday February 7, 1995, for a four-day-visit. Foreman is in Hamburg for a Television interview concerning the scheduled but still not confirmed fight against German boxer Axel Schulz in Les Vegas, USA, April 22. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
Challenger – and now heavyweight champion – George Foreman flashes a victory sign after his win over Joe Frazier in two rounds of the title fight at Kingston, Jamaica’s National Stadium, Jan. 22, 1973. (AP Photo)
This is a Oct. 30, 1974 file photo of Muhammad Ali, right, as he stands back as referee Zack Clayton calls the count over opponent George Foreman, red shorts, in Kinshasa, Zaire. Ali won the fight in Africa by a knock out in the 8th round. It was 40 years ago that two men met just before dawn on Oct. 30, 1974, to earn $5 million in the Rumble in the Jungle. In one of boxing’s most memorable moments, Muhammad Ali stopped the fearsome George Foreman to recapture the heavyweight title in the impoverished African nation of Zaire. (AP Photo, File)
George Foreman knocks down Joe Frazier during their bout at the Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, N.Y., June 15, 1976. (AP Photo/Ray Stubblebine)
Former heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman, shown flexing his muscles after weighing in for a fight against Shannon Briggs on Nov. 20, 1997 in in Atlantic City., N.J., has died at 76. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Former heavyweight champ George Foreman smiles as he talks to reporters following his win over Steve Zouski after the fight was stopped in the fourth round, March 9, 1987, in Sacramento. It is Foreman’s first fight in ten years. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
George Foreman, left, hits Michael Moorer in the face with a left during the second round of their heavyweight championship fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Saturday, Nov. 5, 1994. Foreman went on to knock Moorer out in the 10th round to capture the WBA and IBF heavyweight championship. (AP Photo/Lennox McLendon)
Former boxer George Foreman shows his support for U.S. President Barack Obama during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Annual Phoenix Awards dinner on Sept. 24, 2011 in Washington, DC. This is the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s forty-first annual legislative conference. (Photo by Chris Kleponis-Pool/Getty Images)
Former heavyweight champion George Foreman poses during a promotional event for his U.S. brand grilling machine in Hong Kong Tuesday, April 10, 2007. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Former heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman tells a story to the audience at the Sports Illustrated Legacy Awards on Oct. 1, 2015, in Louisville, Ky. Foreman has died at 76. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley, File)
Former heavyweight champion George Foreman Sr. poses for a portrait during the Television Critics Association summer press tour in Beverly Hills, Calif. on Wednesday, July 9, 2008. Foreman stars in the upcoming TV Land series “Family Foreman”. (AP Photo/ Matt Sayles)
1 of 31
George Foreman goes on the attack against Axel Schulz during the second round of their IBF heavyweight championship fight in Las Vegas on April 22, 1995. Foreman won in a 12-round majority decision. (AP Photo/Jeff Scheid)
Expand
George Foreman, the fearsome heavyweight who lost the “Rumble in the Jungle” to Muhammad Ali before his inspiring second act as a 45-year-old champion and a successful businessman, died Friday night. He was 76.
Foreman’s family announced his death on social media.
“A devout preacher, a devoted husband, a loving father, and a proud grand- and great-grandfather, he lived a life marked by unwavering faith, humility and purpose,” his family wrote. “A humanitarian, an Olympian and two-time heavyweight champion of the world, he was deeply respected. A force for good, a man of discipline, conviction, and a protector of his legacy, fighting tirelessly to preserve his good name — for his family.”
A native Texan, Foreman began his boxing career as an Olympic gold medalist who inspired fear as he climbed to the peak of the heavyweight division by stopping Joe Frazier in 1973. His formidable aura evaporated only a year later when Ali pulled off one of the most audacious victories in boxing history in Zaire, baiting and taunting Foreman into losing his belt in one of the greatest fights ever staged.
Foreman left the sport a few years later, but returned after a 10-year absence and a self-described religious awakening.
He then pulled off one of the most spectacular knockouts in boxing history in 1994, flooring Michael Moorer – 19 years his junior – to claim Moorer’s two heavyweight belts. Down on the scorecards, Foreman landed a two-punch combination that laid Moorer down for the count. At age 45 and 299 days, Foreman was the unified heavyweight champion of the world, the oldest man in history to hold boxing’s greatest prize (and also the oldest champion ever, a record that stood for 20 years).
“It happened,” Jim Lampley called on the HBO broadcast. “It happened!”
Foreman’s transformation into an inspirational figure was complete, and he fought only four more times before moving onto his next career as a genial businessman, pitchman and occasional actor.
Foreman had a successful career alongside Lampley as an HBO boxing analyst, but his greatest success following his in-ring career was yet to come.
He was best known as the face of the George Foreman Grill, a simple cooking machine which sold more than 100 million units and made him much wealthier than his sport ever did.
In 1999, he sold the commercial rights to the George Foreman Grill for $138 million.
“George was a great friend to not only myself, but to my entire family,” Top Rank president Bob Arum said. “We’ve lost a family member and are absolutely devastated.”
In the first chapter of his boxing career, Foreman was nothing like the smiling grandfather who hawked his grills on television to great success.
Foreman dabbled in petty crime while growing up in Houston’s Fifth Ward, but changed his life through boxing as a teenager. He made the U.S. Olympic team in 1968 and won gold in Mexico City, stopping a 29-year-old opponent in a star-making performance.
Foreman rose to the pinnacle of the pro game over the next five years, but was perceived as an aloof, unfriendly athlete, both through his demeanor and through the skewed racial lenses of the time. He stopped Frazier in an upset in Jamaica in January 1973 to win the belt, with his knockout inspiring Howard Cosell’s iconic call: “Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier!”
Foreman defended his belt against Ken Norton before accepting the fight with Ali in the now-immortal bout staged in Africa by promoter Don King. Ali put on a tactical masterclass against Foreman, showing off the “rope-a-dope” strategy that frustrated and infuriated the champion. Foreman was eventually knocked down for the first time in his career, and the fight was stopped in the eighth round.
Exhausted and disillusioned, Foreman stopped fighting in 1977 and largely spent the next decade as a preacher after his religious awakening. He returned to boxing in 1987 in his late 30s, and he racked up a lengthy series of victories before losing to Evander Holyfield in a title fight in 1991.
Three years later, Foreman got in the ring with Moorer in Las Vegas. Moorer appeared to win the first nine rounds rather comfortably, with Foreman unable to land his slower punches. But Foreman came alive in the 10th, hurting Moorer before slipping in the short right hand that sent Moorer to the canvas in spectacular fashion.
Foreman quit the ring for good in 1997, although he occasionally discussed a comeback. He settled into a life as a boxing analyst for HBO and as a pitchman for the grills that grew his fame and fortune. A biographical movie based on his life was released in 2023.
Foreman had 12 children, including five sons who are all famously named George Edward Foreman.
“Legendary boxing champion, life-changing preacher, husband, father, grand- and great-grandfather and the best friend you could have,” WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman wrote on social media. “His memory is now eternal, may Big George rest in peace.”
