Foreman's last fight for the world title. Boxer George Foreman: biography, sports career

Contains a great variety of different champions. It’s hard to even imagine how many best boxers there have been in each weight category over the entire existence of this sport. Nevertheless, even from such a huge number of people, there will always be that person who is worth paying special attention to. And all because his achievements are truly unique and evoke not just respect from the public, but to some extent special reverence. And Jorod Foreman can rightfully be considered such a person.

Brief biographical information

His childhood was spent in an extremely disadvantaged area of ​​​​Houston, where he had to learn his first fighting skills, since it was a matter of basic survival. At a young age, George was in a gang and engaged in theft. This was a completely common occurrence, because he was from a large family and grew up without a father. According to his own recollections, after another theft, when his sister’s words flashed through his head that nothing would come of him in this life, Forman decided to give up life in a gang and start all over from scratch. He went to a school specially created for difficult teenagers and received a working specialty and primary education.

The beginning of the boxing journey

It was thanks to a government program called “Work Corps” that George Foreman got into boxing. While in the camp, he begins to visit the boxing gym, where the guy set his first priority to lose weight and simply unwind. Having spent only a few fights, having been boxing for only a year and a half, he goes to the Olympic tournament.

1968 Olympics

It was these international prestigious competitions that revealed a new name to the world - George Foreman. In the final fight, the American met with Lithuanian Jonas Cepulis. The result of the fight was George's victory by technical knockout in the second round. What he lacked in technology, he more than compensated for with crazy pressure and strength, physically and mentally crushing the representative of the Soviet Union.

Professional career

Six months after his triumph at the Olympics, George Foreman, whose weight fell within the heavyweight limit, turns professional.

The fighter's debut occurred on June 23, 1969. Before the end of the calendar year, Foreman manages to fight 12 more fights, winning 11 of them by knockout.

The period 1970-1972 was marked by a series of 25 consecutive victories. 21 wins - clean knockouts. Thus, the fight between Foreman and Joe “Black Marciano” Frazier was simply inevitable. It is noteworthy that Fraser, going into the fight with Foreman, was a 100% favorite, since he was the owner of two of the most prestigious boxing belts and the only person who managed to win at that time

But as His Majesty boxing showed, George Foreman knocked out Frazier within 4 minutes 35 seconds after the start of the fight. At the same time, Joe visited the ring canvas 6 times. As a result, the fighter who defeated Ali was himself defeated.

A year later, Foreman won, who was also able to defeat Ali at one time. In general, by all indicators, Foreman’s era of power seemed endless, and the fight with Mohammed was supposed to be a mere formality. But….

Rumble in the jungle

It was with this name that the fight between Foreman and Ali went down in history. On October 30, 1974, this epic battle took place in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Unfortunately for Foreman, he suffered his first defeat as a professional, losing by knockout in the 8th round.

Three years later, Big George leaves the ring after losing to Jimmy Young.

Return to the ring

In 1987, George Foreman, whose biography is full of great confrontations, returns to boxing again. After 28 fights, in 1994 he entered the fight against the then-current champion Michael Moorer and won! And this at 45 years old! Thanks to this, he became the oldest champion on the planet. True, in 1995 Foreman was stripped of his belts for refusing to carry out mandatory defenses.

November 22, 1997 was Foreman's last day in boxing. He lost Not everyone agreed with that judge's decision, but it happened as it happened.

Life outside the ring

In 1983, George opened a center for helping troubled teenagers in his hometown of Houston. The champion taught them how to deal with their weaknesses, not to show aggression, and so on. He also expanded his family. Today he has 10 children. He became a pastor and helps everyone in need in every possible way.

George Foreman (born George Foreman; January 10, 1949, Marshall, Texas, USA) is an American professional boxer who competed in the heavy weight category. Olympic champion 1968. World champion of the heavy (version, 1973-1974; version, 1973-1974 and 1994; version, 1994-1995) weight category.

A very remarkable fact: Foreman began his professional career in the year of absence of his main “enemy in life,” who at that moment remained invincible and was perceived by his contemporaries as the god of the ring. In the 70s George was considered a boxer of enormous size and fantastic strength. His coach, Dick Sandler, said: “I raised a real monster. Not a single person on earth can handle him.” However, young Foreman looked like such a monster against the background of the average heavyweight of those times, which was then Gregorio Peralto (183 cm, up to 90 kg). The young Foreman had almost the dimensions that Davaril Williamson has today, who compared to modern heavyweights resembles the fugitive from Buchenwald. This paradoxical impression is enhanced by the fact that Foreman, unlike Williamson, had an athletic body type, so on his very wide bones even a small amount of “meat” looked very intimidating. The superiority in muscle mass over his opponents, which often reached 10 kilograms or more, left a strong imprint on Foreman’s style from the first fights in the professional ring. He had a good jab, thanks to which he would be able to perform successfully until he was 48 years old, but due to his youth he often forgot about it. The description of the young Foreman’s fighting style can be reduced to the following words: “Pushed him to the ropes and scored with uppercuts.” At the same time, George cared little about defense. He almost always moved headlong towards his opponent, like a tank, almost continuously throwing blows, regardless of retaliatory attacks. Foreman struggled through the middle rounds, which is why he didn't have many round knockout wins and suffered losses when he was exhausted.

Foreman was a limited boxer, but he had some outstanding athletic abilities that allowed him to defeat certain fighters, mostly big guys like him, preferably in size. Almost all of his rivals were inferior to him in endurance, despite the fact that Foreman, neither young nor old, had outstanding endurance. George can be called both a lucky man and a skillful strategist of his career. He had great luck with such rivals as Norton and. Firstly, both of them did not take the blow well, and secondly, both of them managed to inflict his first defeats. Without these outstanding boxers of the 70s, Foreman would not have been able to express himself in any way and, most likely, would have ended his career as a “bag fighter” like Shannon Briggs.

January 22, 1973 Foreman, at the age of 24, became the undisputed champion, knocking out an unbeaten man in the second round, knocking him down six times. George carried out his second absolute defense against Ken Norton, whom he dealt with in just over one round, knocking him over to the ring floor three times. It would seem that Ali had the same chances, because in fights with Norton he won only on points and lost to both. Sports commentators claimed that Ali's "famous circling" and his speed and agility were now far inferior to what Cassius Clay had once possessed. However, the experts did not take into account two obvious things: Foreman, if he was allowed to wave his fists as much as he could, would “die” after the fifth round and lose the ability to win by knockout. , although he repeatedly wiped the canvas as a light heavyweight, having matured and weighed up to 96 kg, he became unfallable (not counting the flash knockdown from Wepner). The Foreman-Ali fight took place in unusual conditions: early in the morning in an open stadium in one of the African capitals. Both fighters looked lethargic and sick. forced the inert George to work a lot on himself like a bag, and in the 8th round, after waiting for the right moment to attack, he knocked him out.

There is an opinion that after this defeat Foreman has changed dramatically and became different, that is, worse. By “worse” we mean that Foreman became more indecisive and abandoned long series of accented blows. This is not true. There are simply two young Foremans: one looked brilliant against static or small heavyweights, the other looked ridiculous against the rest, especially those with a combination of training, technique and size. As soon as the opponent started a longitudinal or transverse movement, clinching, the fight immediately changed the pattern and dragged on. A striking example of this is Foreman's second fight with, which lasted three times longer due to the greater caution and mobility of the Fuming One. However, Joe gained five extra pounds and ran out of steam before George. Losing concentration in a fight with Foreman is usually tantamount to getting knocked out. If we discard the “lightly salted” boxers, then in the 70s Foreman was knocked down by almost all opponents who could provide at least some competition to modern heavyweights. After a knockout loss to , Foreman was knocked down twice by veteran Ron Lyle and once by his peer Jimmy Young, who was as hitless as Chris Byrd.

The defeat by Jimmy Young was fatal in the career of the young Foreman, since it was one of the stages of selection for the right to meet with world champion Muhammad Ali. If he wins, given Ali’s refusal to give up one of his belts, Foreman could get Ken Norton, a passer-by, and become champion for the second time. However, while Foreman was experiencing his failure, things changed dramatically. Ali’s “clone” came to the fore, and besides, he was even younger than George. , as soon as he appeared in the big ring, he began to challenge Foreman. Like one of the Roman senators who ends each of his speeches with the words: “Carthage must be destroyed,” Formana ended each of his speeches.

George had a rare quality: he was afraid of defeat, therefore, on the one hand, he always prepared for fights, starting from selecting an opponent (where possible) and ending with training, and on the other, in case of defeat, he took long breaks. It was the fear (or reluctance) to lose that pushed him to endure, to stand the fight to the end, and the knockout from Ali helped him strengthen in this. George was a narcissistic man with excellent qualities, which manifested itself both in his future activities as a priest and in his promotion. Foreman stood idle for longer, the more unexpected the defeat was for him. Afterwards there was the smallest downtime, because before the match the expectations of his defeat by a quick knockout were heard everywhere. Other champions have similar long downtimes, but they are caused by a combination of the bitterness of defeat, injuries and family problems, as well as problems with the law, and have happened to them a couple of times. Foreman almost always took a long pause. This allowed him to still approach new battles and thereby avoid another failure.

This time the pause lasted for ten years. Foreman patiently waited for his departure, having suffered two defeats in a row and announced the end of his career. March 9, 1987 After a ten-year absence, George Foreman returned to big boxing, making his main goal a fight with Mike Tyson, whose reign then seemed eternal. Foreman has changed a lot in appearance. He not only gained 15 kg in weight, but also increased his linear size by a couple of centimeters. A year later, having spent seven warm-up fights mainly with former rivals of Iron Mike, Foreman met with the first “boxer similar to Tyson,” that is, Dwight Qawi. Foreman got into the most ideal shape of his entire second part of his career, but he was saved from embarrassment only by Kavi’s reluctance to continue the fight in the seventh round. Small and almost as old as himself, Kavi failed George throughout the entire fight, who looked scary and sometimes funny. A year later, another scalp of a “boxer similar to Tyson” was added to George’s locker, that is, Bert Cooper. In the next fight, Foreman defeats another such fighter, thereby preparing himself as much as possible for a head-to-head meeting with Tyson.

The fight with the absolute champion was ripe by the time Foreman approached the top ten. To speed up the process, 41-year-old George decided on a serious fight for the first time since his second coming - he threw down the gauntlet to Gerry Cooney. A sensational victory over Cooney opened the way for Foreman to Tyson, but he lost his crown a month later. The fight with Tyson was scheduled for June 16, 1990, but on that day they fought in the same ring against different opponents V. Closer to the summer, the obstacles to the Douglas-Holyfield fight were resolved, and Foreman was made an offer to meet with this pair, while Holyfield's name was openly mentioned. Even before the Douglas-Holyfield fight, an agreement was signed for the Foreman fight. In case of defeat by anyone, including Tyson, Foreman lost this right, and with it the expected fee of 10 million. Foreman would call Tyson before his career, and another time they could meet. In 1995, Foreman the champion offered Tyson cosmic money. But perhaps Mike himself did not want this meeting. According to one journalist, during lunch back in 1990, Tyson said irritably: “I will not fight this animal.”

The defeat from the absolute champion opened up a new stage in Foreman's career. From that time on, Big George met, as a rule, only with elite heavyweights, and the age difference was constantly growing not in his favor. After losing the match for the vacant title

Among professional boxers there are not so many athletes who would have such a long list of victories as George Edward Foreman, or Big George. But not many can boast of a sports career lasting almost three decades in the professional ring. He first fought as a professional on June 22, 1969, and his last, 81st fight, was on November 22, 1997. During this time, he had only five defeats, and George Foreman won 68 of his 76 victories by early knockout.

Biography of George Foreman at the beginning of the journey, it resembles the biographies of other professional boxers. Born in 1949 in Texas, Marshall. He started boxing as a child. He performed in the amateur ring. The pinnacle was the victory at the Mexico City Olympics in 1968, when George Foreman defeated Soviet heavyweight Jonas Cepulis by knockout. After that, he finished competing as an amateur boxer, and in June 1969 he made his debut in the professional ring.

George Foreman Knockouts, which brought him success in fights in the amateur ring, helped prove his superiority over others among professionals. They followed one after another, and almost every year famous boxers became victims of Big George, who until that moment were considered incapable of receiving such a serious defeat from a newcomer in the professional ring. In 1969, he knocked out Chuck Wepner, a year later - George Shuvalo, at the very beginning of 1973 - the invincible Joe Frazier, and at the end of the same year - Jose Ramon in the first round.

IN 1974 The famous battle “Rumble in the Jungle” took place - a duel for the world title between George Foreman and Muhammad Ali. Foreman had youth and pressure on his side. He studied Ali’s tactics well, and from the first round he tried to pin him down, press him to the ropes and prevent him from moving with powerful blows to the body. But Ali survived, and in the 8th round he knocked out Foreman. This was Foreman's first defeat as a professional.

In 1977, George Foreman left the ring after losing to Jimmy Young, only to return ten years later. The turning point in the biography of George Foreman was 1987, when he decided to start performing again. And again victories follow one after another. In 1994, Foreman Vs. Michael Moorer regained the champion title that Ali had taken from him.

With his fight with Michael Moorer, Foreman became the oldest boxer to win the world heavyweight title. This victory set another record for Foreman - he became the only one to date two-time lineal champion in the heavyweight division.

• Full name : George Edward Foreman
• Date of birth: January 10, 1949
• Place of Birth : Marshall, Texas, USA
• Resides: Houston (Texas, USA)
• Height: 192 cm
• Weight: 118 kg
• Speaker: in the heavy weight category (over 90.892 kg)
• Stand: right-hand

Biography

Looking at the photograph of the current Foreman, it is difficult to imagine that this now good-natured face of a 67-year-old man looked a little different some 30-40 years ago, instilling horror in those who came out to fight him in the ring. However, Big George (the only nickname of the retired champion) did not win his trophies with terrible grimaces, but with powerful and accurate blows, which allowed the American professional boxer to win gold at the 1968 Olympics and become the best heavyweight according to the WBC in 1973-1974; WBA champion (1973-1974 and 1994); winner of the championship belt under the auspices of the IBF in 1994-1995, and, in addition, received the title of “Boxer of the Year” according to Ring magazine (1973, 1976). As a child, George grew up without a father. When he was expelled from school, he, who had never been distinguished by exemplary behavior, could easily receive a significant prison sentence. Only chance saved the boy, who stole and robbed passers-by just like adult criminals. Looking back on those years, Big George was amazed at how he remained alive at all after what he experienced in his youth. Once, while fleeing from the police, I remembered my sister’s hopeless words that the family was doomed and nothing good would come of it. That’s when George, as if struck by an electric shock, decided to radically change his life. In the United States, they tested the “Work Corps” program, which fought against the poor and criminal elements among youth. And young Foreman took full advantage of the chance that came purely by chance. Instead of street fights, which at any moment could lead to disability or even death, Joe became an athlete.

The correction happened so quickly that the former “Gopnik” himself did not notice how he won the Golden Glove amateur championship in 1967.

And in the next one, he tried on a gold medal at the Olympic Games in Mexico, having pretty much painted the face of the finalist from the USSR Jonas Cepulis. This success gave him strength and confidence so much that a year later Foreman signed a contract as a professional boxer.

Fights

40 fights Big George did not know the bitterness of defeat, winning two titles over the years: Pan American in a fight with Argentinean Miguel Angel Paez (May 11, 1972) and the world heavyweight champion belt according to the WBC and WBA versions. It would not be out of place to say that in that fight, on January 22, 1973, Foreman literally destroyed the current champion, Joe Frazier, who was knocked down three times in the first two rounds. It was a resounding success. It was not for nothing that Ring magazine called that championship confrontation “the fight of the year.” Having successfully defended the title, Big George met his real opponent a year later. He was the well-known then, and now legendary, Mohammed Ali. Foreman understood that only victory would stake him the title of the best of the best. However, neither experience nor fighting spirit saved Foreman: the technical Ali outplayed his competitor in all respects, sending him to sniff the canvas in the eighth round. Another defeat on March 17, 1977 from compatriot Jimmy Young became decisive for Foreman’s future fate. He left professional boxing, taking, as it later turned out, a ten-year break, which he filled with prayers, worship and building a church in Houston, where he was a “gangster” in his youth.

Return

And it had to happen, but at the beginning of 1987, 39-year-old George Foreman returned to professional boxing, plunging both fans and rivals into a state of shock. He was possessed by only one thought: to become a world champion again. Getting into the ring turned out to be difficult, and only after a lawsuit was the problem resolved. A new comeback gave birth to a new Foreman, who fought 24 fights in a row, ending in a knockout! Here comes the final, where Big George faced Evander Holyfield on April 19, 1991. The confrontation lasted all twelve rounds and was so stubborn that it was almost impossible to determine the winner. The judge saved everyone, preferring Holyfield. And yet, Foreman ended his career (81-76-5) on a positive note, knocking out American Michael Moorer on November 5, 1994 in the WBA champion fight. In subsequent years, the champion repeatedly entered the ring, successfully defending his championship titles, but the pastor’s mission turned out to be more important.

One of the Soviet journalists compared George Foreman with the character of science fiction writer Kir Bulychev Veselchak U (in the film “Guest from the Future” he is played by Vyacheslav Nevinny) - so huge was the former boxer and current pastor-preacher nicknamed Big George. The American competed against a boxer from the USSR in the finals of the ’68 Olympics, after which he switched to professional boxing.

Fists the size of a good pumpkin, chest like a wheel, biceps bursting from the sleeves of his jacket and a bald round head. Well, except that his belly grew significantly during his religious activities away from the boxing ring, but otherwise, even after sixty, George Foreman looked the way a former Olympic and world heavyweight boxing champion should look. Once upon a time, Muhammad Ali himself was afraid of this man. And not only for physical data, but also for character.

George Foreman advises everyone to smile more often

The future boxer spent his childhood and youth in the ghetto of Houston (USA), where he was taught to rob, rape and kill on the streets. Teenagers studied optional subjects such as alcoholism and drug addiction. After the fearsome boxer first retired from the sport to become a Christian missionary, a legend arose that young George once returned his victim's wallet. The boxer himself denies this and does not find any mitigating circumstances for his past: “I was an inveterate scoundrel, and for those actions I have no forgiveness.”

The story of George Foreman is quite common for a resident of the Fifth District of Houston, where in the 50s and 60s there were real wars between gangs (this place is still included in the list of the most dangerous places in America). The father abandoned the family, the mother raised several children alone. George was kicked out of school - he simply stopped going to classes. By the age of 16, he was a classic gopnik without any plans or prospects for the future.

Muhammad Ali said of Foreman: “I saw him shadowbox. And the shadow won!”

We had to fight often. The first rivals were their own brothers and sister. Then you had to defend your authority on the street and fight back against any bully. Otherwise the boys will stop respecting you. Let's give the floor to the hero of the article himself: “On the street you always need to know who is cooler. Before boxing, I developed only one skill in a fight - to make one right punch and knock out the enemy. But I wasn’t much of a fighter then, even though I fought a lot. In the ghetto there is always a reason to punch someone. I’m still amazed that I survived that period.”

A dog is a boxer's best friend!

Everything changed in one day. Big George was running away from the police and crawled into a crack under someone's house. To cover up his smell, the guy smeared himself in mud (or maybe something worse; it looked like a sewer pipe had burst nearby). And here he lies, hidden, under a concrete slab, and in his head the voice of his older sister is heard: “You can do whatever you want. You still have no future!” At that moment something like an epiphany occurred. “I’m 16 years old, I’m lying here in the shit, and there’s nothing ahead!” - Forman later told his biographer.

Foreman became the boxing star he dreamed of

Almost on the same day, having washed himself off, Forman entered the “Work Corps” - this was a US government program to combat poverty. There he received his education and working skills. It was there that he first tried what boxing was. In the very first sparring, the street fighter was brutally beaten: “The coach invited me to fight one of his students. I took a bunch of jabs, but I didn’t hit that guy even once! He got angry and tried to grab him. As a result, I was laughed at and kicked out. Then it became clear to me that I had no equipment at all. And street fights didn't give me anything to become a boxer. Everything had to be learned from scratch. The only thing I inherited from birth was my body. Since childhood, I was told that I was too healthy and big.”

As an amateur, Big George made his debut at the 68 Olympics in Mexico City, where he became an Olympic champion, defeating Soviet boxer Jonas Cepulis. In that fight, the American severely smashed his opponent’s face, and this was also a consequence of living on the street. Subsequently, Foreman admitted that he entered the ring with the desire to kill his opponent. “It seemed to me that if I killed anyone in the ring, my career would go uphill from it. In general, I believed that if you want to become a world champion, you have to become the coolest and most evil bastard.”

Big George became world champion many times

His secret desires were revealed by Muhammad Ali. When asked what he thought of Foreman, he replied: “This is not a boxer! He just wants to kill someone! The words of the great Cassius Clay struck Foreman - how did he guess?! By the way, he lost to Muhammad Ali in 1974. There were suspicions that Foreman was given some kind of drug before the fight. The water that his trainer Dick Sandler brought to the boxer had some kind of chemical taste. Foreman and Sandler never worked together again. The fight itself turned out to be very difficult, since it was very humid and hot. The battle of the two titans even received its own name - “Rumble in the Jungle.”

However, Foreman became the world champion in 1973, fortunately without killing anyone. According to the WBC, Foreman won the belt twice, according to the WBA - three times (with a break of 20 years), and twice more according to the IBF. Between championships there was a ten-year break without boxing at all. And it happened like this.

In 1977, George Foreman left boxing. He didn’t want to do it anymore, because he saw nothing but violence and death in this sport. Foreman changes his life radically. He becomes a preacher, opens a youth center and teaches troubled teenagers to renounce violence. “I taught the guys never to hit a person out of anger. If you want to learn boxing, great, but you need to leave your anger behind the ropes. I taught them, and I myself learned to deal with aggression. With the help of the children, I was cured and was able to return to the ring. Now I had no desire to kill, only to win technically.”

The fight was canceled - he hit Foreman in the chin at the press conference

Foreman's career in professional boxing began a year after winning the Olympics. In this, his story is similar to his path to boxing. In 1969, George Foreman scored his first knockout and won for the first time as a professional. A year later, he defeated George Shuvalo, then Jose Rosman, and then Ken Norton by technical knockout. That is, Foreman won by knockout for 4 years in a row.

The unbeaten streak was interrupted by that same fight with Muhammad Ali, after which Foreman spent two years preparing for new fights. In 1976 he knocked out Joe Frazier, and a year later he lost to Jimmy Young on points. After this, Foreman would leave boxing until 1987. He would win and lose until 1994, when, at the age of 45, he became the oldest boxer to win the world heavyweight title.

One of Foreman's last fights: the fight with Shannon Briggs in 1997

After '94, Foreman's boxing career took off in spurts. He left the ring again, came back, won on points, lost on points. The last time they talked about the next return of Big George was 10 years ago, in 2004. Foreman wanted to show that even at 55 years old you can enter the professional boxing ring and win. Trevor Berbick could have become his opponent, but his return never materialized. According to rumors, Foreman's wife forbade her husband to fight. After which he again became a preacher, which is what he does to this day. On January 10, 2014, George Edward Foreman, nicknamed “Big George,” turned 65 years old. He fought 81 fights, won 76, 68 of them by knockout, and suffered 5 defeats.