Houston (dpa -Afx) – The last photo published by George Foreman showed him when a piece of cake was delighted. The American legend indulged in the history of boxing sports exactly 50 years after the legendary Rumble in the Jungle against Muhammad Ali in memories of one of the greatest moments.
“I look back on the best time of my life – celebrate with a piece of cake with me,” Foreman wrote in October last year on social networks for the exchange of blows in front of 100,000 completely euphorized spectators. The duel between Foreman and Ali on October 30, 1974 in Kinshasa is considered the largest boxing match for many. It was the only one of 81 duels that Foreman lost through KO.
Family: “A power of good”
On Friday evening (local time), his family reported from the account: the Olympic champion and multiple professional world champions died with his family. Foreman was 76 years old.
“Our hearts are broken,” it said in the message. “As a creditor preacher, devoted husband, loving father and proud grandfather and great-grandfather, his life was characterized by steadfast belief, humility and determination.” After Joe Frazier, who lost the World Cup title against Foreman in a memorable struggle in 1973, and Ali died the Texaner as the last of the three very large US boxers from the 1970s. Frazier died in 2011, Ali in 2016.
Foreman was highly respected as a “philanthropist, Olympic participant and twice world champion in heavyweight”. His family described him as “a power of good” and “man with discipline and conviction”. The family thanked for sympathy and prayers and asked for peace, “while we appreciate the extraordinary life of a man that we were allowed to call our own.”
Successes from the 1960s to the 1990s
Ex-world champion Mike Tyson complained on the X. “his contribution to boxing and beyond,” he wrote, “he wrote about his former colleague. Foreman became an Olympic champion in Mexico City in 1968 and fought against Ali and Frazier in the 1970s.
In 1987 he celebrated a brilliant return after almost ten years of break, in the 1990s he became the oldest heavyweight world champion in boxing history at the age of 45. The K.-O.-Sieg to conquer the title against the previously unbeaten Michael Moorer (at this time 26) is one of the most impressive comeback in sports history.
Afterwards, Foreman successfully defended his World Cup title against German Axel Schulz at 46. Both fights took place in the famous MGM Grand Hotel from Las Vegas. “George was something very special. For me it was the biggest that I was still likely to fight against him at the time,” said Schulz of the German Press Agency.
Foreman’s hometown Houston also praised the boxing legend. “Georges Weg from the streets of the Fifth became a boxing and business success. He never forgot where he came from, and his commitment to our city stayed unbroken,” said Houston’s mayor John Whitmire. Foreman’s heart was “as big as his powerful blow”.
Successful entrepreneur after the career
Foreman was not only a big boxer, but also a man of the big tones. He said the BBC in 2014 for the fiston of the century against Ali that he almost assumed the fight from pity. Foreman had the assumption that Ali was broke. “I said I would go out and kill him, and people said:” Please don’t say that you want to kill Muhammad, “said Foreman. “So I said:” Okay, I just hit him to the ground. “” It was very different in Kinshasa.
After his first resignation in 1977, Foreman devoted himself to the Christian faith and became a preacher. He later went out of the ring after his final farewell. He also worked as a sports commentator and was happy to see on talk shows worldwide.
As an entrepreneur, he managed to place the George Foreman Grill in many households around the world. According to estimates, the former boxing world champion is said to have earned over $ 200 million with the business model – and thus significantly more than in his active sports career./Pre/dp/mis