By Geoffrey Ciani: Big George Foreman had one of the most extraordinary careers during the long rich history of professional boxing.
Foreman won Olympic Gold in 1968, he was a two-time world heavyweight champion, and the most amazing thing about Foreman is that his two championship reigns were separated by more than 20 years. Indeed, the span between his two championship reigns included a complete 10 year absence from the ring, resulting in two clearly defined chapters during the damn fine long and illustrious career of Big George.
During the early portions of his professional career, Foreman was viewed as a crude but strong powerhouse puncher who was a little rough around the edges. He remained very active during his early career, and he was gaining valuable experience while exhibiting tremendous knockout power. After accumulating an impressive record of 37-0 with 34 wins by knockout, Foreman was the #1 ranked contender by both the WBA and WBC, the two major sanctioning bodies of that time. This earned him the opportunity to challenge undefeated world heavyweight champion Smokin’ Joe Frazier. In an awesome display of brute strength and raw power, Foreman overwhelmed Frazier, dropping him 6 times en route to a 2nd round stoppage victory to become the new undisputed world heavyweight champion.
After making two title defenses, Foreman famously lost the championship against Muhammad Ali in October 1974. A few years later, after suffering his second career loss when he dropped a 12 round unanimous decision against Jimmy Young, Foreman moved on from professional boxing. After a 10 year absence from prizefighting, Foreman made his unlikely return in 1987 when he was 38 years old. Not many were taking Foreman’s comeback seriously, but his comeback culminated with a shocking record breaking victory when 45 year old Foreman knocked out Michael Moore in November 1994 to become the oldest heavyweight champion in history. The historic landmark win came over 20 years after Foreman had famously lost against Ali. Foreman’s impressive landmark record still stands to this day, even in an age where athletes are competing longer and having greater success at an advanced age
Big George Foreman was truly one of a kind.
This edition of Rummy’s Corner will provide a recap of the career of Big George Foreman. This chronological recap will provide the best moments from some of the key fights in his career, featuring highlights from some of his most famous bouts against Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, Muhammad Ali, Gerry Cooney, Evander Holyfield, Michael Moorer, and moore. This video will also provide some opinions on George’s legacy as a whole, which was divided into two clearly defined chapters separated by a complete 10 year absence from boxing. Please watch and enjoy this career recap documentary about Big George Foreman. This is Rummy’s Corner (produced and narrated by Geoffrey Ciani).