Even Legends Die

Boxer George Foreman’s Death

Photo by Gage Skidmore / CC BY-SA 2.0

On Friday, March 21, American professional boxer George Foreman died at the age of 76. On his instagram post, it was stated that he “peacefully departed,” surrounded by loved ones. Foreman died in Houston, Texas, south of his birth town of Marshall, Texas.

Foreman competed in boxing from 1967 to 1997 and was two time world heavyweight champion and Olympic gold medalist. He was titled “Big George” with a total of 81 fights, 76 wins and only five losses.

He began his professional boxing career with a knockout against Donal Walheim in New York. Continuing into 1970, he competed in 12 matches, defeating every opponent that came his way. Among these opponents were Gregorio Peralta, George Chuvalo, Charlie Polite and Boone Kirkman. Following this, he won several more fights, ultimately having an unbreakable streak of 32-0 and being ranked as the number one challenger by the World Boxing Association and World Boxing Council. Foreman lost his first match to Muhammad Ali in the “Rumble in the Jungle” back in 1974.

After one of his fights, he suffered from heat stroke and exhaustion and almost had a near death experience, so he decided to take a short break from boxing. After that, Foreman was born again as a Christian and became fully devoted to God. He became a minister at a church in Houston and opened a youth center. 10 years later, in 1987, Foreman surprised the boxing industry by announcing his comeback.

He decided to come back to boxing to raise money for the youth center that he designed; he also had a passion to fight Mike Tyson. While many doubted his return to boxing because of how out of shape he was, Foreman strived to prove to them that age is just a number. He won many fights in a row, including beating Cruiserweight champion Dwight Muhammad Qawi. Foreman officially retired in 1997 at the age of 48, having a long and famous career in boxing.

He will be remembered by his outstanding record of matches and can be seen in the World Boxing Hall of Fame and International Boxing Hall of Fame. He will also be known as the eighth best heavyweight of all time. George Foreman will remain in every athlete and opponent's hearts, and continue to be many young boxers’ role model for life.