Measured Against All-Time: George Foreman

A tribute and deep dive into the career of the late "Big" George

On March 21, boxing and the world bid farewell to a genuine giant.

It was the case literally and figuratively.

George Foreman had a career, a life, that if it wasn’t real would have been hard to invent. From Olympic champion, to feared heavyweight king, to preacher, to ageless wonder and pitchman, Foreman appeared to make the most of all his 76 years.

It was a number mirrored ironically by his victory total in the ring.

Foreman was a bridge between two distinct generations of heavyweights, arguably the two greatest generations the division has ever had. In the first, he felled the likes of Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, and Ron Lyle. In the second, he battled Evander Holyfield and Michael Moorer while those who saw act one explained to their children just how amazing what they were watching really was.

In both generations, he claimed the legitimate heavyweight championship of the world.

In the wake of Foreman’s passing, it feels appropriate and necessary to take a deep dive into his career in the squared circle. We know Foreman was a great one, but how great was Foreman, measured against all-time?

Foreman’s career will be examined in five categories:

1. Accomplishments

2. Competition Faced

3. Competition Not Faced

4. Reaction to Adversity

5. What Did He Prove?

We begin with…

The Tale of the Tape

Born: January 10, 1949
Height: 6’3
Hailed From: Houston, Texas
Turned Professional: June 23, 1969 (TKO3 Don Waldheim)
Record: 76-5, 68 KO
Record in Title Fights: 7-4, 4 KO, 1 KOBY (5-3, 4 KO, 1 KOBY counting only sanctioning body title fights)
Lineal World Titles: World Heavyweight (1973-74, 2 Defenses; 1994-97, 3 Defenses)
Additional Title Reigns: WBA Heavyweight (1973-74, 2 Defenses; 1994-95); WBC Heavyweight (1973-74, 2 Defenses); IBF Heavyweight (1994-95, 1 Defense)
Entered Ring Magazine Ratings: May 20, 1970 (#10 – Heavyweight; Cover Date - July 1970)
Last Ring Magazine Rating: November 29, 1998 (#3 – Heavyweight; Cover Date March 1999)
Current/Former Lineal World Champions Faced: Joe Frazier TKO2, TKO5; Muhammad Ali TKO by 8; Evander Holyfield L12; Michael Moorer KO10; Shannon Briggs L12
Current/Former Alphabet Titlists Faced: Ken Norton TKO2; Dwight Muhammad Qawi TKO7; JB Williamson TKO5; Tommy Morrison L12
Record Against Current/Former Champions/Titlists Faced: 6-4, 6 KO, 1 KOBY

Accomplishments

Foreman emerged on the world stage at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City. With just less than two years of amateur experience, the 19-year old Foreman opened with a points win before scoring three consecutive stoppages, the last over the Soviet Union’s Jonas Cepulis, to win gold.

Eight months later, Foreman turned professional under the brightest lights, featured on the Madison Square Garden undercard of the first Joe Frazier-Jerry Quarry fight. When ABC replayed the closed circuit fights, Foreman was welcomed back into America’s homes, enjoying the spoils of an Olympic boost.

Foreman was brought along deliberately, with tests sprinkled along the way. He defeated future heavyweight title challenger Chuck Wepner in his fourth pro fight and won a decision over former light heavyweight title challenger Gregorio Peralta in fight number sixteen. Building a ledger of 37-0, with 34 knockouts, Foreman also added stoppages of George Chuvalo and Peralta in a rematch to earn a shot at the title.

Less than two years after a clash of undefeated titans for the heavyweight title, the division had another. It took less than two rounds for Joe Frazier to see his record moved to 29-1, shorn of the heavyweight title via a six knockdown nightmare.

Foreman would defend the title twice before heading to Zaire for one of history’s most famed contests. Foreman was outfoxed and stopped in eight rounds by Muhammad Ali. He would not compete for the heavyweight title again for just shy of seventeen years.

Foreman went 5-1 after the Ali loss, including a win in an epic brawl with Ron Lyle, before seemingly retiring from the sport after a loss to tricky contender Jimmy Young on March 18, 1977. His mark stood at 45-2. If that had been the end of his fistic accomplishments, it would have been a commendable career.

It was not the end.

Foreman returned almost ten years to the day after the Young loss, on March 9, 1987, beginning what would be a second career from near scratch. Following that first fight back, a fourth round stoppage of Steve Zouski, Foreman largely followed the course of his first voyage. He was built deliberately, sprinkling gradual tests like former light heavyweight and cruiserweight champion Dwight Muhammad Qawi, future heavyweight title challenger Bert Cooper, and former title challenger Gerry Cooney along the way.

Career number two saw him run off 24 consecutive wins, with 23 stoppages, to earn a crack at undisputed heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield. The 42-year old Foreman lost an outstanding clash but legitimized his comeback to the world. Foreman would win three more fights before facing Tommy Morrison for the vacant, and then-lightly regarded, WBO belt, losing a lopsided decision.

Following Morrison, Foreman’s record stood at 72-4 and, if that had been the end, his place in the Hall of Fame was secure.

It was not the end.

Seventeen months after the Morrison defeat, Foreman entered the ring to face lineal heavyweight champion Michael Moorer. Foreman was 45. It was almost certainly his last chance to regain the crown he’d lost twenty years before. After nine rounds, he trailed on the judges cards 86-85 and 88-83 twice.

In round ten, it happened.

It happened.

Foreman regained the heavyweight championship of the world, also capturing the WBA and IBF belts, scoring the last knockout victory of his prodigious, concussive career.

The WBA belt would be vacated before Foreman’s first defense and the IBF after a single, controversial decision win over Axel Schulz. In total, Foreman would successfully defend history’s crown three times in his second reign before losing a controversial 1997 decision to Shannon Briggs in Foreman’s final bout.

Foreman remains the oldest man to win the heavyweight title at 45 and the oldest to defend it at 48.

Among outside the ring honors, Foreman was named as or in the following: