George Foreman, the towering Texan who traded punches with Muhammad Ali in the iconic “Rumble in the Jungle,” has passed away at 76. For years, it seemed his legacy would be tied to that stunning 1974 loss to a 32-year-old Ali in Zaire—an eighth-round knockout that shattered his aura of invincibility. But Foreman wasn’t done. Two decades later, at 45, he staged one of boxing’s greatest comebacks, flattening Michael Moorer to reclaim the WBA heavyweight title and proving that age is just a number when you’ve got a punch that hits like a freight train.
Foreman’s career was a tale of two fighters. In his early days, he was a 6-foot-4 menace, a wrecking ball of a man who bulldozed the heavyweight division like a young Mike Tyson would years later. Then, after a decade away, he returned in 1987 as a bald, jovial grandpa dubbed “The Punchin’ Preacher”—a stark contrast to the snarling beast of his youth. What didn’t change? That devastating power, which carried him back to the top.
“I still pack a punch,” he’d tell doubters with a grin. “Blink, and you’ll wake up in the locker room.”
Born on January 10, 1949, in Marshall, Texas, Foreman’s early life was rough around the edges. Boxing gave him focus, and at 19, he stormed to a gold medal at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, waving a tiny American flag on the podium. Amid the Black Power salutes of Tommie Smith and John Carlos, his innocent patriotism stirred some backlash, but Foreman shrugged it off.
He turned pro in 1969, flattening Vernon Clay in two rounds in Houston. Four years later, he was king of the heavyweights, snagging the WBA and WBC belts by battering an unbeaten Joe Frazier into submission in Kingston, Jamaica, on January 22, 1973. One punch lifted Frazier off his feet—or so it seemed. “I was scared stiff,” Foreman later admitted. “If Joe had looked down, he’d have seen my knees shaking.”
He looked unstoppable, dispatching Jose Roman in a round in Tokyo and Ken Norton—who’d once cracked Ali’s jaw—in two in Venezuela. Then came Zaire, October 30, 1974. Before 60,000 roaring fans in Kinshasa, Ali let Foreman tire himself out, landing a famous knockout in the eighth. “I hit him with the hardest body shot I ever threw,” Foreman recalled. “Anyone else would’ve folded. Muhammad winced, then stared me down like, ‘You won’t break me.’”
The loss rocked him. After 15 months away, he returned against Ron Lyle in a Vegas slugfest in 1976, both men hitting the canvas twice before Foreman won in the fifth. He stopped a fading Frazier later that year, but in 1977, Jimmy Young outpointed him in Puerto Rico, dropping him in the 12th. Exhausted in the dressing room, Foreman said he saw God. He quit boxing, cut all ties, and spent the next decade preaching on street corners.
When he came back in 1987, knocking out Steve Zouski in Sacramento, folks figured he just needed church funds. Instead, he sparked a comeback for the ages. After 19 wins, he crushed Gerry Cooney in two rounds in 1990, re-entering the title picture. In 1991, he took Evander Holyfield the distance, losing on points but winning respect. “I showed 40’s not a death sentence,” he quipped.
Still, he pressed on. After outboxing by Tommy Morrison in 1993 fell short, Foreman faced Moorer on November 22, 1994, in Las Vegas. Wearing the same red trunks from the Ali fight 20 years prior, the 45-year-old landed a thunderous right in the 10th, knocking Moorer out cold. He was champ again—a jaw-dropping feat.
He kept fighting, scraping by Axel Schulz, Crawford Grimsley, and Lou Savarese, before meeting Shannon Briggs in 1997. At 48, he lost a disputed decision and quietly retired. In later years, he became a commentator and cashed in big with his famous grill. Father to nine—boys all named George, girls all Georgette—he’d chuckle, “It’s easier to yell ‘George!’ at dinnertime.”
George Foreman, born January 10, 1949, died March 21, 2025, leaving behind a legacy of power, resilience, and reinvention.
