George Foreman, born as George Edward Foreman, was one of the most dominant heavyweight boxers in the history of the sport. He was born on January 10, 1949, in Marshall, Texas, United States. He had six siblings. His biological father was Leroy Moorehead, but he took the surname of his stepfather, J.D. Foreman, who raised him. Foreman dropped out of school at the age of 15. During his youth, he frequently had trouble with the law and became known as one of the most feared street fighters in his neighborhood. On several occasions, he escaped from the police after excessive drinking incidents, and during a barbecue accident he severely burned his hands, losing his fingerprints.

Determined to change his life, George Foreman decided to pursue boxing seriously and began training with friends in Oregon, where his natural talent quickly attracted attention. At just 19 years old, he competed in the 1968 Summer Olympics held in Mexico City and won the gold medal in the heavyweight division.

Foreman began his amateur boxing career in San Francisco. Despite being defeated by fellow American Clay Hodges in 1967 and 1968, he was selected for the Olympic team. During the Olympic tournament, he won his first bout by points and the remaining matches by referee decisions. In the final, he defeated the heavily favored Soviet boxer Ionas Chepulis, securing the gold medal at only 19 years of age.

After his Olympic success, George Foreman turned professional in 1969. He won his debut professional fight in New York by knocking out Donald Walheim in the third round. That same year, he won all 12 of his matches, 11 by knockout. One of these victories, against Cookie Wallace, lasted only 23 seconds. His dominance continued through 1970 and 1971, building an extraordinary professional record of 32 wins with no losses.

In 1972, Foreman extended his success with five consecutive victories, none lasting longer than three rounds. These performances elevated him to the number one contender position in both the WBA and WBC rankings.

On January 22, 1973, George Foreman faced the undefeated world heavyweight champion Joe Frazier in Kingston, Jamaica. Foreman started aggressively and knocked Frazier down six times within the first two rounds. The referee stopped the fight, declaring Foreman the winner and crowning him the new world heavyweight boxing champion.

As the newly crowned champion, Foreman defended his title later in 1973 against Puerto Rican heavyweight champion Jose Roman in Tokyo. Roman was knocked out in just 55 seconds, marking the fastest knockout in a heavyweight title fight in boxing history.

Foreman’s next title defense took place on March 26, 1974, in Caracas, Venezuela, against Ken Norton, who had previously defeated Muhammad Ali by decision. Foreman overwhelmed Norton with powerful punches and secured a knockout victory in the second round.

George Foreman achieved crushing knockout victories over both Joe Frazier and Ken Norton, fighters who had previously given Muhammad Ali some of the toughest bouts of his career.

With a perfect record of 40 wins, Foreman fought his 41st professional match on October 29, 1974, against Muhammad Ali in Kinshasa, Zaire. The bout, famously known as The Rumble in the Jungle, ended in the eighth round when Foreman suffered his first professional loss by knockout. Ali became the only boxer to defeat Foreman by knockout throughout his entire career.

Standing 192 cm tall and weighing approximately 118 kg, George Foreman fought a total of 81 professional bouts. He won 76 of them, including 68 by knockout, and lost only 5 fights.

On November 5, 1994, at the age of 45, Foreman defeated Michael Moorer by knockout in the tenth round in Las Vegas. This victory made him the oldest heavyweight champion in boxing history and allowed him to reclaim the world heavyweight title he had lost to Muhammad Ali two decades earlier.

In 1997, Foreman defeated Lou Savarese and then fought his final professional bout against Shannon Briggs. Despite clearly dominating the fight over 12 rounds, Foreman lost by controversial referee decision. This match marked the end of his legendary boxing career.

After retiring from boxing, George Foreman worked as a boxing analyst for HBO before leaving broadcasting to focus on business ventures, most notably his highly successful barbecue grill enterprise.

George Foreman passed away on March 21, 2025, in Houston, Texas, United States, at the age of 76.

Marriages and Family
George Foreman was married five times and had a total of twelve children: seven daughters and five sons. Remarkably, he named all of his sons after himself.

1st wife: Adrienne Calhoun (married 1971 – divorced 1974)
2nd wife: Cynthia Lewis (married 1977 – divorced 1979)
3rd wife: Sharon Goodson (married 1981 – divorced 1982)
4th wife: Andrea Skeete (married 1982 – divorced 1985)
5th wife: Mary Joan Martelly (married 1985)

Children
Freeda Foreman (Daughter)
George Foreman III (Son)
Georgetta Foreman (Daughter)
Isabella Brandie Lilja Foreman (Daughter)
Natalia Foreman (Daughter)
Michi Foreman (Daughter)
Leola Foreman (Daughter)
George Foreman IV (Son)
George Foreman Jr. (Son)
George Foreman V (Son)
George Foreman VI (Son)
Courtney Isaac Foreman (Daughter)

Film and Television Appearances
Actor / Himself:

2014 – I Am Ali (Feature Film) 2009 – Facing Ali (Himself) (Feature Film) 2008 – The 80th Annual Academy Awards (Himself) (TV Film) 2008 – Salute (Himself, archive footage) (Feature Film) 2005 – Ring of Fire: The Emile Griffith Story (Himself) (TV Film) 1996 – When We Were Kings (Himself) (Feature Film)

Source: Biyografiler.com