George Foreman, Legendary Heavyweight Boxing Champion, Passes Away

George Foreman, the legendary heavyweight boxing champion, passed away on Friday at the age of 76. Foreman's family announced in an Instagram post that he "passed away peacefully on March 21, 2025, surrounded by his loved ones." Foreman first won the heavyweight championship in 1973 and was 45 years old when he won the title for the second time in 1994. This legendary boxer announced his retirement from boxing in 1997. Foreman, known for his thunderous punches, lost his first championship title to Muhammad Ali in 1974 but managed to reclaim it two decades later. Foreman's return to boxing and the wealth he gained from selling his electric grills made him a symbol of self-improvement and success. Born on January 10, 1949, in Marshall, Texas, his family moved to Houston, where he and his six siblings were raised by their single mother. Growing up in a poor area of the southern United States, he dropped out of junior high school and used his size and fists in street robberies. At 19, Foreman won the heavyweight boxing gold medal at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics in his 25th amateur fight. After turning professional, he won 37 consecutive fights and eventually faced the reigning champion, Joe Frazier, in Kingston, Jamaica, winning by technical knockout in the second round. Foreman defended his title two more times before meeting Muhammad Ali, a match that became one of the most important in boxing history. Ali had lost his title seven years earlier for refusing to be drafted into the Vietnam War, but in this fight, he leaned against the ropes for seven rounds, deflected Foreman's heavy punches, tired him out, and managed to knock him out in the eighth round. In 2007, Foreman reflected on that match, saying, "I was a very strong heavyweight boxer. I was a punching machine, and that was the first time I used everything, and none of it worked." This defeat devastated Foreman. He was away from fighting for a year and retired from boxing after his second professional loss in 1977. A decade later, weighing a significant 315 pounds, Foreman made an unexpected return to the ring to raise money for a center he had established for youth in Texas. He continued to win 24 consecutive fights and gradually lost weight before losing to Evander Holyfield in a 12-round match in 1991. Three years later, he became the oldest heavyweight champion in history at age 45 by knocking out the unbeaten left-hander, Moorer. Foreman's last fight took place in 1997, and he ended his career with a record of 76 wins and five losses. During the 1990s and after retirement, he promoted various products, especially an electric grill from the Salton Inc. appliance company. In 1999, the company paid Foreman and his partners $137.5 million to put his name on the grill and other products.