George Foreman: The boxing champ who reinvented home grills
Fearsome in the ring, George Foreman was so charming outside it he became America’s favorite pitchman. The Olympic gold medalist and two-time world heavyweight boxing champion fought the sport’s legends, helping define boxing’s golden era alongside Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier in the 1970s. After saying he’d seen a holy vision, he quit the sport in 1977 to become a preacher and open a youth center in Houston. But he managed an improbable comeback a decade later. Despite widespread skepticism that he could even get back into shape, he won his second world title in 1994 at age 45, making him the oldest heavy-weight champion in history. By then, he was already hawking George Foreman Grills, which eventually became a multimillion-dollar business. “Anything you desire, you can make happen,” he said upon clinching his second title. “It’s like the song, ‘When you wish upon a star, your dreams come true.’ Well, look at me tonight.”
Born in Marshall, Texas, Foreman was one of seven children raised by a single mom. He grew up as a petty criminal and bully, something he freely admitted. Dropping out of school at 15, he took up boxing a year later and was quickly seen as a phenom. It took him just 18 months to become the 1968 Olympic heavyweight champion. Once he turned professional, he projected “a surly and intimidating” persona, calmly obliterating his opponents, said The Guardian. His 1973 win against Frazier produced one of boxing’s best-known calls when a shocked Howard Cosell shouted, “Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier!” The next year he lost to Ali in Zaire at the Rumble in the Jungle.
After Foreman retired for good, his natural “affability helped him transcend boxing and cross over into the media world,” said The New York Times. He’d always dabbled in acting, with guest appearances on sitcoms and two one-season shows of his own, and he did countless commercials for his grills. These made him “a household name even in homes that never watched a boxing match,” said the Houston Chronicle. Married five times, he had 12 children, including five sons all named George. Starting in 2022, three women accused him of sexual misconduct in the 1970s; he denied the allegations. But he remained a popular public figure, saying the key to his success was his frequent personal appearances. “They want to touch you; they want to know you,” he said. “Then, they buy you.”