He was world champion of all classes, lost in the legendary Rumble in the Jungle – and much later stolen the chance of his life to a blonde giant named Axel Schulz. George Foreman died at the age of 76.
Cologne (sid) His five sons were called George, George, George, George, George and George. Five times George, that sounds a bit uncreative, but the world -famous father could explain it: “I wanted to give my children roots that they could never lose.” And the roots were strong. Foreman was the name of the father, George Foreman. He was one of the greatest in the characters of the professional boxing not poor in dazzling figures. “Big George” died on Friday at the age of 76.
“Our hearts are broken,” wrote the family on Foremans Instagram channel and recalled a “philanthropist”, “a force for the good”. Ex-world champion Mike Tyson also condoluced, foreman’s “contribution to boxing and beyond,” the 58-year-old wrote to X.
The greatest may not have been foreman, this honor is due to another. In the legendary “Rumble in the Jungle” in October 1974 in the unbearable jungle heat of Kinshasa, Foreman lost not only a fight against Muhammad Ali.
He lost his nimbus of invincibility. Foreman was considered unbeatable until this day, he was a trained combat robot with a balance of 40: 0. But Ali tacted cleverly, provoked, struck hard – and foreman went ko
Foreman broke through “They Never Come Back
Axel Schulz is still one of the three biggest boxers in history. “Ali is the clear number one. Then Mike Tyson and Foreman come,” the former German heavyweight once told the SID. The 56-year-old knows what he is talking about: Schulz himself stood against Foreman in the ring in 1995 and lost the struggle of his life against the living legend in Las Vegas extremely controversial.
Foreman could never leave from the boxing. In fact, it is also one of the few who broke through the unwritten law “They Never Come Back”. If he had actually declared his career after a co-defeat against Jimmy Young in 1977, he started a comeback that was no longer considered possible exactly ten years later.
In November 1994, 20 years after the battle against Ali, Foreman crowned himself the oldest heavyweight world champion in history with a spectacular co-victory against Michael Moorer. In 1997 he ended his career again – this time there was no back.
Foreman had already discovered a new appointment for herself at the end of the 1970s. As a preacher of the Apostolic Church of the Lord Jesus Christian, he never saw himself in retirement. He once said that the payment was not particularly high: “But the reward is not of this world.”
But because a multi-millionaire sometimes likes to think about the love of money, “Big George” really checked again. But he didn’t have to go into the ring, he just had to give his name. In 1994 a certain Michael Boehm asked whether Foreman might not want to promote an electric grill he developed. He wanted – and collected millions for the worldwide sale of the George Foreman Grill.
Incidentally, the five foreman sons earned their own identity to a better distinction. George Jr., Monk, Big Wheel, Red and Little George, as well as their six sisters, all made their way. Big George, however, did not become any of them. It only existed once.