The Two-Time World Heavyweight Champion George Foreman Sadly Passes Away Aged 76

The Two-Time World Heavyweight Champion George Foreman Sadly Passes Away Aged 76

I was a little too young to remember the first career of George Foreman. The surly demeanour. The brooding former Olympic heavyweight champion who was battering his opponents into helpless submission on his way to the world heavyweight title in the early 1970s.

The one-sided demolition of the previously unbeaten and pre-fight favourite Joe Frazier in Kingston, Jamaica, has gone down in boxing folklore. It took just two rounds and six knockdowns for Foreman to begin his fearsome reign as the heavyweight champion of the world. Two successful defences followed, including that two-round destruction of Ken Norton in 1974.

The murderous punching Foreman was now 40-0, and we all remember what came next. A famous rumble in the jungle with a certain Muhammad Ali. There were genuine and understandable concerns for Ali’s safety. At 32, Ali was deemed over the hill. But he saw something nobody else did. He survived the early onslaught to somehow knock Foreman out in Zaire. Ali took away that aura of invincibility from Foreman as well as his heavyweight crown. He fought on, but he was never quite the same.

Wins over Ron Lyle, in one of the greatest heavyweight slugfests of all time, a repeat stoppage victory over a faded Frazier kept the show on the road. But when Jimmy Young beat him in 1977, the first incarnation of a fighter who won Olympic gold when he was just 19, was over. Foreman found religion, and he left boxing behind. Or so we thought.

It was when he announced his sensational, if unlikely return to boxing that I could actually follow in real time. The announcement was greeted with much ridicule. I remember a few lines in Boxing News. The only real source at the time. Foreman needed money. But he also had bigger dreams. But at 38, and after ten years away, expectations were incredibly low. Even more so when he laboured to stop the lightly-regarded journeyman Steve Zouski in four rounds. The shaven head, the somewhat flabby body, the funny one-liners, were a far cry from the menacing George Foreman of old.

But Foreman persisted. The wins and the stoppages kept coming, albeit against carefully selected opposition. But when he knocked out Gerry Cooney in 1990, a few more started to believe. The one-time contender was blown away inside two rounds, and just like that, the perception of Foreman started to change.

After four more wins, Evander Holyfield gave Foreman a chance at the undisputed world heavyweight title. At 42, he was given little chance. Many said this is where the story would end. But despite suffering his third career defeat, Foreman served up a heroic performance, soaking up everything Holyfield threw at him, which was plenty. There were even times when Foreman briefly threatened the seismic upset. Despite losing on points, Foreman finally earned the widespread respect for his efforts on the comeback trail.

But despite the plaudits, the comeback was seemingly at an end when Tommy Morrison beat Foreman on points in 1993. And in truth, it should have been. But the following year, Michael Moorer gave Foreman an undeserved opportunity at his WBA and IBF heavyweight baubles. Moorer was odds on to send Foreman into a permanent retirement. And after nine largely one-sided predictable rounds, that script was being followed. But one big hand knocked Moorer out in the 10th round, and 45, George Foreman became the oldest world heavyweight champion in history.

Three more wins followed but when Shannon Briggs got a thoroughly undeserved decision over Foreman in 1997, the boxing story was finally over.

Sadly overnight, we got the tragic news that Foreman had sadly passed away aged 76. His family posted on Instagram:

“With profound sorrow, we announce the passing of our beloved George Edward Foreman Sr. who peacefully departed on March 21, 2025, surrounded by loved ones.”