George Foreman, the power-punching preacher who gained mass popularity when he won the heavyweight championship at age 45, has died. He was 76 years old.
The Texas native and resident had been ill, his brother Roy said, but the cause of death still needs to be determined. “I had no idea it was like this,” Roy told me. “I think he just got tired.”
Word dropped on social media first, and the outpouring of grief and love surged. Former HBO colleague and Hall of Fame broadcaster Jim Lampley told FightsATW after hearing of Foreman‘s passing, “Devastated. A genuinely great man.”
Fans who appreciated Foreman’s output in the ’60s, when he repped America proudly while counter-culture roiling made patriotism controversial and saw him blossom into a fearsome pro fistic presence in the 70s, recall a prototype “hitter” who was a threat to knock you out with a jab.
He became more popular, interestingly, when he lost. We just celebrated 50 years ago his “Rumble in the Jungle,” when he succumbed to The Greatest, Muhammad Ali, in 1974. “That was maybe the best thing that ever happened to me,” he’d tell me when we’d chat, which I pretty much used any excuse to do. Losing helped me immeasurably, he’d say.
A loss to Jimmy Young in 1977 sent him into a period of transition, which included retiring from the ring and instead sharing the word of his God. His resume kept growing, though. Preaching paid peanuts, and he had a large family to feed. So he went back to prize fighting; the later 80s was an imbecilic age in some ways, sophomoric humorists mocked the 300-pounders’ quest. Savvy Foreman leaned into the humor and utilized it. His image as a cheeseburger scarfer hid the fact that he had fists that still packed pop and a better brain. The cheeseburger schtick made him wealthier than ring wars, as the ubiquity of his grill earned him ATG status as an entrepreneur.
He was smart; oh did he challenge my brain when I had him on the TalkBox podcast. Someday I will maybe listen back to when I asked Foreman about life and culture post George Floyd and BLM. Foreman played it OG preacher straight. He wouldn’t pick sides or rah-rah and try to lobby politically from his pulpit. Secretly, I was trying to learn from him how to not get so riled up about all the politricks and such.
I forget the last time I spoke to the big man. But he’d periodically make my day over when liking a Facebook post about me, say, processing my trials in dealing with familial mental health matters. I leaned on him a bit as a role model.
Last week, I messaged George, asking if he’d be open to doing a re-boot, with Jim Lampley being tapped to call fights on May 2. I did not hear back, but I knew I’d reach out again soon because I loved the man.
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