By George! It's feisty Foreman
April 20 2001 at 05:55PM
by Gordon Prentice
Some boxers come back to the sport because they cannot stay out of the limelight. The list is extensive, but some of the bigger names in the sport who missed their name being up in lights include Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier and Sugar Ray Leonard.
Then there are those who return for the money. This list includes Joe Louis and George Foreman. Louis came back to pay a massive tax bill that ended with him working as a doorman and ultimately led to his death.
Foreman returned because his beloved church and youth community centre, built on the very rock of his faith, was running out of money.
'I never doubted for one minute that I could win'
"Look, I had to come back for the money, but it was more than just the money. I wanted to exorcise the ghost of Muhammad Ali and by doing that I had to win the heavyweight championship of the world again. When I came back, I had told all my friends that I would be champion again, and I had to prove it to them.
"Before I came back, I studied what Louis, Frazier and Ali had done and looked at the mistakes they had made. I decided that if I was to come back, I would have to start at the very bottom again, like I was 19. I know the press made fun of me, but that was okay. I think they made fun of me so as to try and lure me into making a fool of myself, but I knew I had a plan that would take me to the heavyweight championship of the world.
"It was only when I fought Evander Holyfield, four years into my comeback, that they (the press) started to take me seriously. I lost that fight fair and square, but I know I hurt Holyfield. I think the world then knew that George Foreman was back and that he meant business.
"I continued with that plan and then I was given a shot at Michael Moorer, who had beaten Holyfield to win the championship," he said.
"I was looking forward to it. Hey, I even jumped into the ring I was so excited. I never doubted for one minute that I could win," he said.
Ah, the Rumble in the Jungle. George Foreman, the formidable, seemingly unbeatable heavyweight champion of the world, humiliated in one of the greatest upsets in the history of the sport. Foreman is, surprisingly, candid about that loss in 1974.
"I blamed that defeat on a lot of things and a lot of people. I blamed the top rope for being loose, my boots being too tight, the referee for a quick count. But most of all I blamed myself for that defeat. I fought like the No 10-ranked contender instead of like the heavyweight champion of the world. But I tell you what, if I'd had the opportunity again, I would have fought Muhammad the same way," he said.
Another defeat, three years later, to unheralded Jimmy Young, ended the first career of Big George.
Foreman promptly retired and set up his church and youth community centre, which is still going. Foreman preaches every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday in Houston. But in 1986 both started running into financial difficulties and after a 10-year hiatus, Big George returned to the ring.
The plan wasn't only to make money from boxing and win the heavyweight championship but also to use the sport as a launchpad to market himself. The plan worked wonders.
According to boxing magazines, Foreman accrued about US$110-million (R880-million) from fighting and many millions more from advertisements, mostly from his fat-free grillers - which he plans to market extensively in South Africa.
When he wasn't making an IBF title defence against Axel Schulz, Crawford Grimsley and Lou Savarese, Big George was busy filming adverts. According to The Ring, an American couldn't watch more than 12 minutes of television without seeing a commercial starring Foreman.
He also had a sitcom programme on one of the networks, predictably called By George. It ran for only one season but it is something he is immensely proud of.
After losing a highly controversial decision to Shannon Briggs, who was later to become one of Lennox Lewis's victims, George quit the sport. This time for good.
How did he get into preaching?
"After the loss to Jimmy Young, I had a religious conversion, and I gave up boxing and started preaching on street corners," he said. "I shaved my head and moustache and some people didn't recognise me. I had to say to them: 'Hey, I'm George Foreman, I fought against Muhammad Ali'. And they would stop and listen. I had to do something to make them stick around, so I started being nice to people." |
