With a limited amateur background, former world heavyweight champion Big George Foreman won gold at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.
The Soviet Union defeated Ionas Cibulis, stopping him in two rounds, and then walked around the ring with American flags in his hands.
Foreman turned professional in June of 1969. He won his 28th straight fight, defeating South American champion Gregorio Peralta by a score of 74-5-8 at Madison Square Garden.
In August 1970, he stopped the iron-chinned Canadian George Chuvalo, 59-15-2, at the Garden. Prior to this, Chuvalo had only been stopped by “Smokin” Joe Frazier, which was the only time he had been stopped in his career.
In January 1973, Foreman won the world heavyweight title, defeating Frazier, 29-0, in Kingston, Jamaica, in two rounds.
In September 1974, he stopped Ken Norton, 30-2, in Caracas, Venezuela. In October, he lost his title to former champion Muhammad Ali 44-2 via stoppage in Zaire, Africa.
Foreman bounced back in one of the greatest heavyweight fights in January of 1976, stopping Ron Lyle, 31-3-1, for the NABF title that Ring Magazine called “Fight of the Year.” In June, in a rematch with Frazier, he stopped him in 5 rounds at the Nassau Coliseum, New York.
After four wins, Foreman was upset by Philly's Jimmy Young, 20-5-2, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. His whole life changed while in the locker room when he saw a vision of Jesus that would eventually lead him to become a preacher.
In April 1991, Foreman won 26 straight fights before losing to champion Evander “The Real Deal” Holyfield, 25-0, in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
He then won three straight before losing to Tommy “The Duke” Morrison, 35-1, in Las Vegas. In his next fight, he again won the world title, knocking out champion Michael 'Double M' Moorer, 35-0, while trailing on all cards, in ten rounds in Las Vegas. At the age of 45, he became the oldest boxer to ever win the title.
Foreman won a closely contested majority decision over Germany's Axel Schulz, 21-1-1, in April 1995 in Las Vegas. Two fights and two years later, he defeated Lou Savarese, 35-0, in Atlantic City. He was stripped of his title after he refused to give Schultz a rematch, to win the World Blind Union title.
Then, in November of 1997, in his final fight, he lost a disputed majority decision to Shannon “The Cannon” Briggs, 29-1, in Atlantic City and retired from boxing.
His recent record was an impressive 76-5 with around 68 knockouts.
Foreman would make millions from commercials for the “Foreman Grill.”
