Former Heavyweight Boxing Champion George Foreman turns 64 today. George Foreman won the 1968 gold medal in the heavyweight boxing division at the Mexico City Olympics. That was a year of political upheaval, the olympic games where Carlos and Evans made their protest. Foreman after winning the gold medal pulled out a miniature American flag and walked around the ring waving it.

George Foreman was one of the hardest punchers in heavyweight boxing history. After the olympics he turned professional and in January 1973 won the Heavyweight Championship by beating Smokin’ Joe Frazier in Kingstown, Jamaica with a second round knockout. This was the famous fight with one of the most famous calls in sports broadcasting history- Howard Cosell’s “Down goes Frazier,down goes Frazier” Foreman was devestating. He was hitting Frazier so hard Frazier seemed to be lifted up off the floor of the ring. Foreman knocked Frazier down six times in those two rounds. Frazier had went into that fight with a record of 29-0.

Foreman would defend his title twice before his “Rumble In The Jungle” with Muhammad Ali. Ali got into Foreman’s head and pulled off one of the great upsets in boxing history. There were those who feared for Ali’s life that night. That was the famous Ali “Rope a dope” fight. After that Foreman slowly faded from view.

I have rarely seen a change in a person like what we saw in George Foreman. He was up until this point kind of like a Sonny Liston without the prison time. He was  intimidating, sullen, wasn’t a well liked figure.  In 1977 after a loss to Jimmy Young he believed he had a near death experience. He pleaded to God for help and he he sensed God asked him to change his life and ways. He became a born-again Christian and dedicated the next decade of his life to God. He didn’t actually retire from boxing he just quit fighting. He became an ordained minister. He would say that Jimmy Young knocked the devil out of him.

In 1987 he made a comeback in boxing at the age of 38. He had been away for a while. I remember being shocked at the change in his personality. It was a 180 degree change. A man who seemed to be without any charisma was now an outgoing, friendly, funny man. He became a popular figure.

In 1994 Foreman would beat Michael Moorer and regain the Heavyweight Championship. He became the oldest heavyweight champion at age 45. He also set the record for the longest interval between first and second championships at 19 years. He would retire from boxing at the age of 48 in 1998.

Today George Foreman is known by many for the George Foreman grill. It is estimated that George Foreman made $200 million dollars out of that deal!

His final boxing record was 80 wins and 5 losses.

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