How George Foreman went from teen mugger to earning $200m thanks to piledriver punches, wide smile & grilling machine
IN the boxing ring, George Foreman – who became world heavyweight champ twice, some 20 years apart – was a lean, mean fighting machine.With fists like wrecking balls and a piledriver punch, all bar eight of his 76 wins ended in a knockout.George Foreman posing for The Ring magazine in 1989Credit: GettyThe boxing legend with his loved ones in a picture released by his familyCredit: instagram/biggeorgeforemanGeorge suffers as Muhammad Ali hits back in probably the greatest fight of all timeCredit: AlamyThe heavyweight champ earned an astonishing $200million from his trademark cooking device – an electric barbecue that could be used indoorsCredit: Getty Images – GettyHe fought in probably the most famous boxing bout in history, the 1974 Rumble In The Jungle against Muhammad Ali, who beat him using a strategy he coined “rope-a-dope”.But Big George, who died on Friday aged 76, was no dope.Incredibly, he made far more money outside the ring — selling “a lean, mean grilling machine”. He earned an astonishing $200million from the George Foreman Grill — an electric barbecue that could be used indoors.It massively overshadowed the $5million he won for his part in the Rumble In The Jungle, a 4am fight in sweltering heat beamed by a new-fangled TV satellite from Kinshasa in Zaire, central Africa.READ MORE IN SPORTBut thanks to his charismatic fame and famous smile, he went on to earn almost $5million every MONTH selling his grill and other household appliances on telly.Not bad for a teenage mugger brought up in Texas in a family so poor his mother sent her children to school with mayonnaise sandwiches for lunch.One of the top three heavyweights of all time, along with Ali and Joe Frazier, George, who only lost five fights in his career, was married five times.‘A force for good’He fathered ten children — five boys, all called George “so he would not forget their names”, and five girls, including Georgetta. George also adopted two more daughters.Most read in BoxingAnnouncing his death on Instagram yesterday, his family said he passed away surrounded by loved ones.Although they did not disclose his cause of death, they paid tribute to “a devout preacher, a devoted husband, a loving father and a proud grand and great- grandfather”, who “lived a life marked by unwavering faith, humility and purpose”.George Foreman claims Bruce Lee could have been world champion boxer as he was so good he left him with ‘chills’George Snr was, they said, “a humanitarian, an Olympian and two-time heavyweight champion of the world”.They went on: “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.“We are grateful for the outpouring of love and prayers, and kindly ask for privacy as we honour the extraordinary life of a man we were blessed to call our own.”George Edward Foreman was born in Marshall, Texas, on January 10, 1949. In later life, he discovered his real father was a man called Leroy Moorehead.But he took the name of his stepdad, railway construction worker J B Foreman, who his mother, Nancy, married when George was very young.He grew to become a big, strong teenager, and was often in trouble with the law for street fighting.By the age of 15, he had dropped out of school and became a mugger.George once said: “I’ve always been motivated by food, because I was always hungry. There never was enough food to eat for me, for various reasons.”The following year, George had a change of heart and convinced his mother to sign him up for Jobs Corps, a US government scheme that trained him to be a carpenter and bricklayer. He moved to California and, with the help of a trainer, George, by then 6ft 3in and nearly 18st, took up boxing.By the age of 19, he had won Olympic Gold in Mexico City, knocking out Jonas Cepulis of the Soviet Union, who was ten years older and had already won many of his 200 bouts.If Big George hit you, you stayed hit. It was as simple as thatBBC boxing analyst Steve BunceBBC boxing analyst Steve Bunce said: “If Big George hit you, you stayed hit. It was as simple as that.”Days after African-American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos did a Black Power salute at the 1968 Olympics, George caused controversy among civil rights activists by waving a small US flag in the ring.He said: “I was just glad to be an American. Some people have tried to make something of it, calling me an Uncle Tom (a derogatory term for a black person considered overly submissive to white people), but I’m not. I just believe people should live together in peace.”George preaching in Atlantic City in 1991Credit: AP:Associated PressThe star posing in an African robe before his bout with AliCredit: GettyChamp Joe Frazier is rocked by a Foreman right during the title fight in JamaicaCredit: APThe legend waving the US flag after his heavyweight victory at the Mexico GamesGeorge regains his title, aged 45, in a fight against MoorerCredit: AFPHe later looked back with pride on how he turned his life around to triumph at those Games in Mexico City, adding: “Less than two years prior . . . I was under a house, hiding from the police. “I climbed from underneath that house, in mud and slop, and said to myself, ‘I’m going to do something in my life, I’m not a thief’.”Turning professional straight away, George was soon fighting a bout a month. By the time he competed in his first heavyweight title against Frazier at the “The Sunshine Showdown” in Kingston, Jamaica, in January 1973, he already had 39 wins under his belt — and no defeats. The 3-1 underdog, George knocked world champ Frazier down six times before ref Arthur Mercante stopped the one-sided fight in the second round.After defeating Ken Norton in the Caracas Caper in Venezuela, George’s next fight was the famous Rumble In The Jungle against Ali.The Sun’s legendary boxing correspondent Colin Hart was ringside in Kinshasa — now in the Democratic Republic of Congo — as dawn broke on October 30, 1974.Foreman, at 25, wasn’t the smiling carefree giant who resembled a benign Buddha that we saw in his latter years. He was surly, extremely bad-tempered and far from lovable.The Sun’s legendary boxing correspondent Colin HartHe wrote: “It’s a fair bet if you should mention the Rumble In The Jungle from Angola to Zanzibar, most people will know what you are talking about. “There couldn’t have been a greater contrast between Ali and Foreman — Beauty and the Beast perhaps sums them up best.”Foreman, at 25, wasn’t the smiling carefree giant who resembled a benign Buddha that we saw in his latter years.“He was surly, extremely bad-tempered and far from lovable.“Having won 37 of his 40 fights by knockout . . . menace seemed to ooze from every pore.‘Start at the bottom’“He made Sonny Liston (a powerhouse US boxer) look like a soft, cuddly teddy bear.”Backed up on the ropes for round after round, Ali took the sting out of George’s powerful punching with his “rope-a-dope” technique.But suddenly, in round eight, he sprung off the ropes for the first time and rocked his rival with a right hander. And with that, Ali was back in the fight. Almost in slow motion, George collapsed to the canvas and failed to beat the count. After losing the title he took a year off, but by then his first marriage, to Adrienne Calhoun, had ended.Over the years, he tied the knot four more times, finally marrying Mary Joan Martelly in 1985. She was with him until his death.In 2019, he explained that he named all of his sons George Edward Foreman “so they would always have something in common”.His contribution to boxing and beyond will never be forgottenMike TysonHe added: “I tell people, ‘If you’re going to get hit as many times as I’ve been hit by Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, Evander Holyfield, you’re not going to remember many names’.”The boys, however, have nicknames — George III goes by Monk, George IV is Big Wheel, George V is Red and George VI is known as Little Joey.Foreman returned to the ring and had five more victories, including another over old rival Frazier.But after losing to Jimmy Young in Puerto Rico in 1977, he hung up his gloves aged 28, claiming it was because of his religious beliefs and his mother’s wishes.George had become a born-again Christian and was ordained as a minister. For the next ten years, he preached to congregations at a church in Houston, Texas, but money worries later drove him back to the ring.Overweight and out of shape, he said: “I’ve got a three-year plan. I want to start at the bottom. Train harder than any man in the world. Fight once a month.” Foreman fought up to nine times in a year. He cranked out 24 straight wins, although most were against boxers of lesser ability.But in 1994, at the age of 45, he got another title shot in Las Vegas against Michael Moorer, 26, who threw twice as many punches.But in the tenth round, Foreman delivered the knockout blow that made him the oldest heavyweight champion in history.George said: “Anything you desire, you can make happen. It’s like the song, ‘When you wish upon a star your dreams come true’. Well, look at me tonight.”Foreman returned to the church and a youth centre he had set up, and was never afraid to cash in on his fame. He was approached to endorse the George Foreman Grill in 1994, with a big smile and cheesy lines including: “It’s a knockout.”George went on to sell more than 100million units and earned a fortune, pocketing 40 per cent of the profits before selling out in 1999 for more than £100million.READ MORE SUN STORIESEx-British cruiserweight champ Tony Bellew said yesterday: “RIP to one of the greatest human beings to ever put on boxing gloves. This man was truly amazing!”And in a fitting tribute to the icon, ring king Mike Tyson added: “His contribution to boxing and beyond will never be forgotten.”George with fellow champs Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali in 1989Credit: PAAll all bar eight of the champ’s 76 wins ended in a knockoutCredit: Rex More
