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.
That can be meant literally and figuratively.
George Foreman had a career, a life, that—if it weren’t real—would have been hard to concoct in fiction. 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.
He 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 Frazier, Norton, and Lyle. In the second, he battled Holyfield and Moorer, while those who had seen 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 when measured against history?
Foreman’s career will be examined in five categories:
Accomplishments
Competition Faced
Competition Not Faced
Reaction to Adversity
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 (TKO 3 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)
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 (TKO 2, TKO 5); Muhammad Ali (TKO by 8); Evander Holyfield (L 12); Michael Moorer (KO 10); Shannon Briggs (L 12)
Current/Former Alphabet Titlists Faced:
Ken Norton (TKO 2); Dwight Muhammad Qawi (TKO 7); JB Williamson (TKO 5); Tommy Morrison (L 12)
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 less than two years of amateur experience, the 19-year-old opened with a decision win before scoring three consecutive stoppages—the last over the Soviet Union’s Jonas Čepulis—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 broadcast, Foreman was welcomed 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 the first clash of undefeated titans for the heavyweight championship, the division had its second. 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 defended the title twice before heading to Zaire for one of history’s most famous contests. There, he was outfoxed and stopped in eight rounds by Muhammad Ali. He would not compete for the heavyweight championship 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 following a loss to tricky contender Jimmy Young. His mark stood at 45–2 and, had that 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, beginning what would be a second career from near scratch. As before, he 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.
Career two saw him run off 24 consecutive wins—23 by stoppage—to earn a crack at undisputed heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield. Foreman lost an outstanding clash while legitimizing his comeback. He 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, had that been the end, his Hall of Fame place was secure.
It was not the end.
Seventeen months after the Morrison defeat, Foreman entered the ring to face lineal heavyweight champion Michael Moorer at age 45. It was almost certainly his last chance to regain the crown he’d lost twenty years earlier. 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 true heavyweight championship of the world for the second time, also capturing the WBA and IBF belts, scoring the final 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 successfully defended history’s crown three times in his second reign before losing a controversial 1997 decision to Shannon Briggs in his 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:
