In 1997, he faced contender Lou Savarese, winning a close decision in a grueling, competitive encounter. ", "40 Years Ago Today: Jimmy Young-George Foreman - "He Beat the Devil Out of Me!" Of his total 76 wins, 68 of them were via KO (89.5%). [23] According to them, he always seemed to wear a sneer and was not often available to the press. In the second round, Foreman pounded Lyle against the ropes and might have scored a KO, but due to a timekeeping error, the bell rang with a minute still remaining in the round and Lyle survived. Every contract has some complication. This was the last professional fight of his boxing career. He is now on a two-fight winning streak, with two back-to-back KO wins. [citation needed], Having always been a deliberate fighter, Foreman had not lost much mobility in the ring since his first "retirement", although he found keeping his balance harder after throwing big punches and could no longer throw rapid combinations. On April 11, 1992, a 43-year old George Foreman (70-3, 66 KO) fought fellow American boxer Alex Stewart, who was 27 years old with a record of 28-3. Then, yet another opportunity came Foreman's way as the WBC decided to match him against Shannon Briggs in a 1997 "eliminator bout" for the right to face WBC champion Lennox Lewis. "[40] Tyson signed with King (and by 1998, was suing him for $100 million);[41] the bout never materialized. 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. Evander Holyfield vs. George Foreman, billed as The Battle of the Ages, was a professional boxing match contested on April 19, 1991 for the WBA, WBC, and IBF heavyweight championships. In 1974, in Caracas, Venezuela, he faced the highly regarded future hall-of-famer Ken Norton (who was 302), a boxer noted for his awkward crossed-arm boxing style, crab-like defense, and heavy punch (a style Foreman emulated in his comeback), who had broken the jaw of Muhammad Ali in a points victory a year earlier. He dropped out of school at the age of 15 and spent time as a mugger. BoxRec has gone from a small operation to the most-used boxing website by fans, promoters and managers alike. After the second knockdown, Frazier's balance and mobility were impaired to the extent that he was unable to evade Foreman's combinations. Foreman finished the fight with a swelling over one eye, but was awarded a controversial majority decision. 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 Despite Foreman's superior size and reach, he was not expected to beat Frazier[22] and was a 3:1 underdog going into the fight. 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 posted 76 wins during his career, 20 more than the greatMuhammed Ali, who beat Foreman in 1974 inKinshasa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to regain the world heavyweight crown. Foreman knocked down Stewart twice in the second round, but expended a lot of energy in doing so. After losing the title, Foreman essentially took a year off in 1974, fighting only exhibition bouts, but he returned to form in 1976 with five convincing winsall of them by KOs or TKOs. Foreman fought cautiously early on, allowing Young to settle into the fight. Foreman would then become the aggressor and continue his attack on Holyfield, landing several punches within the round's first minute. He won four more bouts that year, gradually slimming down and improving his fitness. 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. Having lost his last fight against Morrison, Foreman was unranked and in no position to demand another title shot. Though Holyfield's barrage of punches seemed to tire Foreman, he nevertheless was able to survive the remainder of the round without going down. His daughters from separate relationships were Freeda, Michi, and Georgetta. World Boxing Council World Heavyweight Title, Caesars Tahoe, Circus Maximus Showroom, Stateline, Caesars Palace, Sports Pavilion, Las Vegas, World Boxing Association World Heavyweight Title Perhaps his most notable win during this period was a seventh-round knockout of former Light Heavyweight and Cruiserweight Champion Dwight Muhammad Qawi. Despite boycotting a title elimination caused by the vacancy resulting from the championship being stripped from Muhammad Ali, Frazier had won the title from Jimmy Ellis and defended his title four times since, including a 15-round unanimous decision over the previously unbeaten Ali in 1971 after Ali had beaten Oscar Bonavena and Jerry Quarry. The 6-foot 3-inch (1.9-metre), 218-pound (98.9-kg) Foreman first captured the professional heavyweight belt by knocking out Joe Frazier in two rounds at Kingston, Jamaica, on January 22, 1973. On June 7, 1993, a 44-year old George Foreman (72-3, 67 KO) faced fellow American boxer Tommy Morrison, who was 24 years old with a record of 36-1 for the vacant WBO (vacant) heavyweight title. ref: Eddie Cotton Calvin Claxton 116-112 Larry Layton 117-113 Steve Weisfeld 114-114 . This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/biography/George-Foreman, BlackPast.org - Biography of George Foreman, International Boxing Hall of Fame - Biography of George Foreman, George Foreman - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). Corrections? Uploaded for easier viewing - Mobile phones. November 5, 1994: Foreman becomes a unified heavyweight world champion by beating Michael Moorer via 10th round KO. The IBF ordered an immediate rematch to be held in Germany; Foreman refused the terms and was stripped of his remaining title, yet continued to be recognized as the Lineal Heavyweight Champion.[42]. The event was initially meant to bolster support for Foreman's comeback, though the public was now even more unsure of his abilities. Among the opponents he defeated were Gregorio Peralta, whom he decisioned at Madison Square Garden, although Peralta showed that Foreman was vulnerable to fast counter-punching mixed with an assertive boxing style. Both the boxers were of the same height but Norton had a 4 cm reach advantage over Foreman. Foreman tired during the second half of the fight and suffered a knockdown in round twelve before losing by unanimous decision. The listings start with the date of the fight, followed by the opponent, then the location, followed by the result and the number of rounds in the bout. George Foreman had a total of five losses in his professional boxing career three of them in title bouts and two in non-title bouts. On March 19, 1988, a 39-year old George Foreman (52-2, 49 KO) fought fellow American boxer Dwight Muhammad Qawi, who was 35 years old with a record of 28-5-1. He won his first amateur fight on January 26, 1967, by a first-round knockout in the Parks Diamond Belt Tournament. Foreman is a Hall of Famer. April 19, 1991: George Foreman loses to Evander Holyfield via 12 round unanimous decision. 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. Foreman lost to Morrison via 12 round unanimous decision. 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. He is now on a 20-fight winning streak. He was fighting for the WBA, WBC, and IBF heavyweight titles. As far as his resume goes, it's top 15 or 20 worthy. Foreman would hang on to the title for three years. Foreman defeated Frazier via 2nd round TKO to win the WBA, WBC, and Ring Magazine heavyweight titles. Ali was on a three-fight win streak with 31 KO wins. Roman was not regarded as a top contender, but had managed to beat a few decent fighters such as EBU champion Spain Jose Manuel Urtain, and was ranked the number-seven heavyweight in the March 1973 issue of The Ring. Morrison was on a eight-fight win streak with 32 KO wins. Both the boxers were of the same height but Foreman had a 6 cm reach advantage over Schulz. 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. Foreman attributed this to his new, relaxed fighting style (he has spoken of how, earlier in his career, his lack of stamina came from an enormous amount of nervous tension). 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. By his own admission in his autobiography, George was a troubled youth. At 46 years and 169 days old, he was the oldest world heavyweight champion in history. The Ring ranked him as the ninth-greatest puncher of all time. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. By his last fight, his KO ratio was at 84%. Some of Foreman's best fights and notable victories include wins over three Hall-of-Famers (Dwight Muhammad Qawi, Joe Frazier, and Ken Norton), Michael Moorer, George Chuvalo, Ron Lyle, and Axel Schulz. George Edward Foreman (born January 10, 1949)[2][3] is an American former professional boxer, entrepreneur, minister and author. [24] Foreman needed only two minutes to end the fight, one of the fastest knockouts in a heavyweight championship bout. George Foreman, in full George Edward Foreman, (born January 10, 1949, Marshall, Texas, U.S.), American boxer who twice was the world heavyweight champion (197374, 199495). George Foreman's professional boxing career spanned more than 28 years from 1969 to 1997. The ring ropes were unusually loose, and Foreman later charged that Angelo Dundee (Ali's longtime trainer) had loosened them as part of Ali's tactic to lean back and away from the wild swings before clinching Foreman behind the head; Dundee stated that not only did he tighten the ropes because they were so loose due to the heat, Ali came up with the "rope-a-dope" strategy entirely on his own. Having turned professional the next year, he won the world heavyweight title with a stunning second-round knockout of then-undefeated Joe Frazier in 1973. He has 15 first-round KO wins. Yes - George Foreman should be a Top 10 Heavyweight Champion of All Time I don't know BoxRec's judging criteria Diane Khela Masters from School of Hard Knocks. George Foreman vs Dwight Muhammad Qawi (Highlights) Jimmy Pince 122K subscribers Subscribe 608K views 1 year ago The 8th Fight of Foreman's comeback. The show was co-produced by actor and former boxer Tony Danza.[39]. As the second minute of the round began, Holyfield rebounded and proceeded to land a 15-second, multiple punch combination that staggered Foreman. In a remarkable two-year span, Foreman knocked out his opponents in all 12 of his professional fights, either through KOs or referee-declared TKOs. Top 10 George Foreman Best Knockouts HD - YouTube 0:00 / 5:29 Top 10 George Foreman Best Knockouts HD ElTerribleProduction 446K subscribers Subscribe 13K 3.6M views 8 years ago LIKE AND. Though Foreman was able to stay competitive throughout the fight, Holyfield ultimately won the fight via unanimous decision, winning all three judges scorecards by scores of 116111, 115112, and 117110 (erroneously announced as '117-100" by Michael Buffer) . April 22, 1995: Foreman wins the heavyweight title from Axel Schulz, by beating Schulz via 12 round majority decision. Although he was raised by J.D. Foreman, whom his mother had married when George was a small child, his biological father was Leroy Moorehead. Foreman is now on a 38-fight winning streak, with 22 back-to-back KO wins. I have interviewed Chuck Wepner who fought both George Foreman and Sonny Liston and he always claimed that Liston hit harder. Again, Foreman beat the count. Foreman was gracious and philosophical in his loss to Briggs, but announced his "final" retirement shortly afterwards. After knocking-out opponents, Foreman would walk over to his corner and begin to taunt Ali, to which Ali responded by yelling advice to Foreman's opponents mid fight. Foreman is a Hall of Famer. 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]. B. Williamson, Galveston, Texas, W TKO 5, 07-20-Everett (Bigfoot) Martin, Tucson, Arizona, W 10, 01-15-Gerry Cooney, Atlantic City, W KO 2, 04-17-Mike Jameson, Stateline, Nevada, W TKO 4, 06-16-Adilson Rodrigues, Las Vegas, W KO 2, 07-31-Ken Lakusta, Edmonton, Canada, W KO 3, 12-07-1991 -Jimmy Ellis, Reno, Nevada, W TKO 3, 04-11-1992 -Alex Stewart, Las Vegas, W 10, 01-16-1993 -Pierre Coetzer, Reno, W TKO 8, 06-07-1993 -Tommy Morrison, Las Vegas, L 12, 11-05-Michael Moorer, Las Vegas, W KO 10, 11-03-Crawford Grimsley, Chiba, Japan, W 12, 04-26 -Lou Savarese, Atlantic City, W 12, 11-22-Shannon Briggs, Atlantic City, L 12. Seconds later, Holyfield missed with a left hook, which led to Foreman countering with a big right hook to Holyfield's head. KOs: 89%. The fight was named by The Ring as "The Fight of the Year". Foreman was the taller of the two by 21 cms and also had a 11 cm reach advantage. He retired from the ring in 1977 and became an evangelist. When Foreman and Ali finally met in the ring, Ali began more aggressively than expected, outscoring Foreman with superior punching speed. In 1976, he announced a professional comeback and stated his intention of securing a rematch with Ali. Unknown -5.5 lbsring rust view stats TKO George Foreman(42-1-0) Tue, 15 Jun - 1976 It's been 25 years, 5 months, and 10 days since this fight. When Foreman regained the heavyweight title at age 45, he was the oldest world heavyweight champion. George Foreman, James Toney, Roberto Duran, who fought for decades and decades . George Foreman Boxer Stats - BoxStat.co Stance: Orthodox Age: 74 Date Of Birth: 10 Jan 1949 Height: 6.30 ft (1.92 m) Reach: 78.35 inches (199 cm) Country: United States Universal ID : 3125 edit details george foreman opponents MD Shannon Briggs (30-1-0) Sat, 22 Nov - 1997 round 12 of 12 . The show, which featured Foreman as a retired boxer, premiered in November 1993, and ran for 10 episodes, where nine aired. This page was last edited on 1 May 2023, at 22:35. He is a two-time world heavyweight champion and an Olympic gold medalist. The International Boxing Research Organization rates Foreman as the eighth-greatest heavyweight of all time. In 2022, Foreman competed in season eight of The Masked Singer as "Venus Fly Trap". Andrew Eisele is a boxing writer who has covered the sport for Time, Inc. Foreman is the oldest to ever win the world heavyweight boxing championship of major honors, and the second-oldest in any weight class after Bernard Hopkins (at light heavyweight). In 1999, he sold the commercial rights to the grill for $138 million.George Foreman was born in Marshall, Texas. He came up short in another attempt in 1993 against Tommy Morrison. [2], He made his professional debut stopping Clyde Weaver at 1:16 of the first round. Chuvalo was on a six-fight win streak with 51 KO wins. The WBA demanded that Foreman fight their number-one challenger, who at the time was the competent, but aging, Tony Tucker. Frazier at this point was 323, having lost only to Foreman and Ali twice, and Foreman was 411, with his sole defeat at the hands of Ali. [11] In 1999, he sold the commercial rights to the grill for $138 million. The late-round fatigue that had plagued him in the ring as a young man now seemed to be unexpectedly gone, and he could comfortably compete for 12 rounds. Each man staggered the other, and each seemed almost out on his feet. BoxRec: BoxRec is not under the control of any governing or sanctioning body, data may be incomplete/inaccurate. He had four previous marriages: to Adrienne Calhoun from 1971 to 1974, Cynthia Lewis from 1977 to 1979, Sharon Goodson from 1981 to 1982, and Andrea Skeete from 1982 to 1985. In an instant, Foreman had regained the title he had lost to Muhammad Ali two decades before. The Sunshine Showdown took place on January 22, 1973, in Kingston, Jamaica, with Foreman dominating the fight to win the championship by TKO. [16][17] Foreman maintained that earning the Olympic gold medal was the achievement he was most proud of in his boxing career, more so than either of his world titles.[14]. His last bout was on December 6, 2012, in Cancn, Mexico. However, their rematch began competitively, as Frazier used quick head movements to make Foreman miss with his hardest punches. Although many thought his decision to return to the ring was a mistake, Foreman countered that he had returned to prove that age was not a barrier to people achieving their goals (as he said later, he wanted to show that age 40 is not a "death sentence"). In 1988, he won nine times. [43] Like Foreman's fight with Schulz, the decision was highly controversial, but this time the decision went in favor of Foreman's opponent, with Briggs awarded a majority decision. Foreman badly hurt Young in round seven, but was unable to land a finishing blow. [30] Though he sought a rematch with Ali, he was unable to secure one. Foreman came out of retirement, and eventually reclaimed the titlein 1994 at age 45becoming theoldest heavyweight champin history. Foreman continues to speak about his experience on Christian television broadcasts such as The 700 Club and the Trinity Broadcasting Network. But Ali also fought formidable opponents, such as Ron Lyle, and gave rematches to the still-dangerous Frazier and Ken Norton, the only two men to have ever beaten him. George IV appeared on the second season of the reality television series American Grit, where he placed seventh. He is a two-time world heavyweight champion and an Olympic gold medalist. He spoke of being in a hellish, frightening place of nothingness and despair, and realized that he was in the midst of death. He is a two-time world heavyweight champion and an Olympic gold medalist. On October 25, 1990, Evander Holyfield defeated James "Buster" Douglas by third round knockout to become the Undisputed Heavyweight Champion. Many thought this would be Foreman's last chance at the Heavyweight championship. He also opened a youth center[36] that bears his name. For nine rounds, Moorer easily outboxed him, hitting and moving away, while Foreman chugged forward, seemingly unable to "pull the trigger" on his punches. Foreman later attributed his demeanor during this time as an emulation of Sonny Liston, for whom he had been an occasional sparring partner. As an entrepreneur, he is known for the George Foreman Grill. Ali and he had become friends, and he followed in Ali's footsteps by making himself a celebrity outside boxing. In 1987, after 10 years away from the ring, Foreman surprised the boxing world by announcing a comeback at the age of 38. He was eliminated on "Hall of Fame Night" alongside George Clinton as "Gopher". Top . Foreman was the taller of the two by 8 cms and also had a 19 cm reach advantage. Stewart was on a one-fight win streak with 28 KO wins. Nevertheless, Foreman did very well when his chance at a title bout came. In the finals, Foreman defeated the Soviet Union's Jonas epulis; the referee stopped the fight in the second round. George Foreman left the sport of boxing after leaving HBO to pursue other opportunities. Foreman attended Fay School in Southborough, Massachusetts. Lyle beat the count, then landed another brutal combination, knocking Foreman down for the second time. However, he did plan a return bout against Larry Holmes in 1999, scheduled to take place at the Houston Astrodome on pay-per-view. Foreman defeated Cooney via 2nd round KO. He handed Moorer the first loss of his career, and put an end to Moorer's 35-fight win streak, making a successful comeback from his last loss. Prior to his match with Douglas, Holyfield delayed a potential fight with Mike Tyson, instead agreeing to face 42-year-old George Foreman for the titles should he defeat Douglas. Foreman had a 164 amateur boxing record going into the Olympics. He now holds the WBA and IBF heavyweight world-champion belts. He successfully defended his title nine months later. Foreman grew up in Houston, Texas, and learned to box in a U.S. Job Corps camp in Oregon. The first criticisms came as the opponents Foreman was fighting were revealed to be journeymen with sub-par or inexperienced records. 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. Following what he referred to as a religious epiphany, Foreman became an ordained Christian minister. Frazier was on a 29-fight win streak with 25 KO wins.
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