George Foreman – one of the all-time greats

George Foreman who passed away last month at the age of 76 was clearly one of the all-time greats. His reign as champion didn’t last long for in October 1974 he lost to Muhammad Ali in the famous `Rumble in the Jungle’ bout in Zaire. It is considered one of the biggest upsets in boxing history. Years later, Foreman became at 45 the oldest fighter ever to win a world championship. With 20 years between his first title and the second, he broke the record for the fighter with the longest interval between titles. Partab Ramchand traces Foreman’s stunning boxing career

He was a menacing figure as he entered the ring. Unsmiling and with a scowl on his face, he could intimidate his opponents as few heavyweight boxers could. And when he started to fight he had a knock-out punch that kayoed opponents flat. The prime example of the damage he could cause – and cause very quickly – was when he knocked out world champion Joe Frazier, hitherto unbeaten, in two rounds to win the title for the first time in 1973.  

George Foreman who passed away recently at the age of 76 was clearly one of the all-time greats. His reign as champion didn’t last long for in October 1974 he lost to Muhammad Ali in the famous Rumble in the Jungle bout in Zaire. It is considered one of the biggest upsets in boxing history. Foreman at 25 and seven years younger than Ali seemed to have everything going for him. He was the undisputed world champion, young and strong, and had knocked out opponents repeatedly and in double-quick time. Ali was thought to be past his best having lost the Fight of the Century in 1971 to Frazier at Madison Square Garden. But The Greatest still had a few tricks up his sleeve and with his famously unexpected ‘rope-a-dope’ tactic, he knocked out Foreman in the eighth round to regain the title.

The rope-a-dope strategy was devised by Ali. He noticed that the ring ropes were unusually loose and so he just leaned back on them as part of a tactic that saw him keep away from Foreman’s hard punches while tiring him before finally clinching the champion behind his head. Ali had been known as a fighter of speed and movement but the rope-a-dope technique worked exactly to his plan since Foreman had not had a fight that lasted past the fourth round since 1971.

Foreman first came into prominence by winning the gold medal in the heavyweight category at the 1968 Mexico Olympics at the age of 19. When he turned pro the following year, a great career was predicted for him. And demolishing his opponents in double-quick time, Foreman ran up an impressive 37-0 record (including 34 knockouts) and by now was ready to challenge Frazier for the world title.  Frazier was 29-0 with 25 knockouts when they met in the title clash in January 1973. Frazier was the favourite despite Foreman’s awesome record but such was the ferocity that the challenger displayed that Frazier was knocked down six times within two rounds. He managed to get to his feet for all the six knockdowns but the referee eventually called an end to the one-sided bout for Foreman to win the crown by TKO.

Over the next couple of years, Foreman easily warded off three challengers to move to 40-0 with 37 knockouts before he met his match in Ali. But as Ali went on to fight and win bouts and regain his crown a third time in 1978 after an improbable loss to Leon Spinks earlier, Foreman was not exactly idle. He too continued doing the rounds winning bouts and taking on Frazier a second time. Coming into the bout, Frazier was 32-3 having lost only to Foreman and Ali twice, while Foreman was 41-1 with his sole defeat at the hands of Ali. A close fight was expected but unable to mount a significant offensive against Foreman’s punches, Frazier was floored twice in the fifth round and the fight was stopped.

Foreman retired in 1977 but ten years later he announced that he was returning to the ring at the age of 38. In his autobiography he wrote that his primary motive was to raise money to fund the youth centre he had created which had required much of the money he had earned in the initial phase of his career. An early highlight on his comeback trail was his bout in 1991 with undisputed heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield. Few experts gave the 42-year-old Foreman any chance of winning but during the fight he surprised everyone by absorbing several of Holyfield’s best combinations and occasionally landing a powerful swing of his own. Holyfield, however, always remained ahead on points and though Foreman lasted the full 12 rounds, the champion was declared winner on a unanimous decision.

By 1994, Foreman sought to challenge for the world championship after Michael Moorer had beaten Holyfield for the IBF and WBA titles. Having lost his last fight, Foreman was unranked and in no position to demand another title shot. His relatively high profile however made a title shot against Moorer, 19 years his junior, a lucrative prospect of seemingly little risk for the champion. Foreman wore the same red trunks he had worn in his title loss to Ali 20 years earlier. This time, however, Foreman was a substantial underdog and for nine rounds Moorer easily outboxed him, hitting and moving away, while Foreman chugged forward. Entering the tenth round, Foreman was trailing on all three scorecards. However, it was here that he launched a comeback. He hit Moorer with a number of punches including one that caught him on the top of his chin gashing open his bottom lip. Moorer collapsed to the canvas and lay flat as the referee counted him out. To all-round astonishment, Foreman had regained the title he had lost two decades before. He went back to his corner and knelt in prayer as the arena erupted in cheers.

With this historic victory, Foreman broke three records. He became at 45 the oldest fighter ever to win a world championship. With 20 years between his first title and the second, he broke the record for the fighter with the longest interval between titles. Also, the age spread of 19 years between the champion and the challenger was the largest of any heavyweight boxing championship fight.

Foreman continued to fight till he was 48 before announcing a second and final retirement in 1998. Thereafter, he concentrated on ministerial work and became a pastor in a church in Houston after becoming a born-again Christian. During this time he did a lot of charity work transforming himself from a tough world champion to a kind and affable personality.  

(The writer is a veteran sports writer who spent his career working for The Indian Express and The Telegraph and Sportsworld. He lives in Chennai.)