The George Foreman I knew: Preacher, grill salesman and boxing royalty

George Foreman in Beverly Hills, California in July 2008 — The world of sport is mourning the loss of boxing legend George Foreman, who has died aged 76 - AP/Matt Sayles

George Foreman was a special fighter and a special human being. The great American heavyweight, who has died aged 76, filled a room with his aura, just as his physique filled the ring in his pomp; an era of the very greatest in boxing’s blue-riband division.

‘Big George’ was a wrecking-ball fighter, associated so closely with Muhammad Ali in their ‘Rumble In The Jungle’ in Zaire in 1974, and later reclaiming the heavyweight title as the division’s oldest champion in history, aged 45, and holding it until he was 46 and 169 days.

George was a wonderful human being to speak to, sharing his wisdom and knowledge from a life replete with experiences, and as a journalist and broadcaster in the fight field, I genuinely feel honoured to have interviewed the great man many times over the last 30 years.

He always had le mot juste, whether it was counsel for a young heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, advising on getting ‘to know who you are’ as a fighter, or explaining the pitfalls of being heavyweight champion of the world, ‘for which there is no college course’.

Microphones, when you are heavyweight champion, could be ‘so dangerous’ and ‘a weapon of mass destruction’. So true.

George Foreman during his bout with Russia's Iones Chepulis at the 1968 Mexico Olympics — Foreman won Olympic gold at the 1968 Mexico Games - AP

Like Joshua, George had won Olympic gold in Mexico in 1968, and on every level his wisdom was underpinned by a deeper purpose. There was very little George did not have experience in, from knowing the glory and fame of being one of the most famous men on earth in the 70s, to plummeting to the depths of despair after being unhinged by Ali in that famous fight in Africa. I’ll never forget how George explained that he hid in a hotel room in Paris afterwards for a fortnight as he was unable to show his face.

Bill Caplan, George’s PR man since he was a teenager, and indeed to the very end of his life, told me many times that the great heavyweight is unique given his accomplishments in the ring decades apart, and is correct in his assertion that George became “a quotes machine” later in life thanks to his ease in the milieu of preaching.

Given his life work as a preacher and minister – with his own church – and as an entrepreneur famously with the Foreman Grill, George had an ability to make those he met feel special. He espoused, every time I was in his company, to being blessed in life.

George Foreman shows off his low-fat grill — Foreman was famed in later life for his self-titled grill - Andrew Crowley for The Telegraph

I last spoke to George in October, for The Telegraph, looking back on The Rumble In The Jungle, 50 years on. George, as per Caplan’s assertion, was extraordinary, telling me about fighting five men in one night, to regain his mental and emotional strength, after the defeat to Ali. He laughed and giggled all the way through telling the story with his big, booming beautiful voice.

Why did Foreman feel the need to take on five men in one night ? “I was trying to prove that I was strong. Losing to Muhammad in Africa, it just put a shadow over my whole career and I wanted to prove that that was not the real George Foreman who lost.”

The story did not end there. He left the sport and retired for 10 years from the age of 27 to 37, then came back and won the world title again, extraordinarily, at the age of 45.

I can remember sitting with George in a hotel suite in Chelsea, around a decade ago, talking of Ali, Joe Frazier, and the then young upstarts Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. The man who had brought us the lean, mean grilling machine even had a new invention in mind that day: shoes that can make the older generation “get up and walk”. We laughed out loud over that invention.

George Foreman (center) with Joe Frazier (left) and Muhammad Ali. — Foreman (center, alongside Joe Frazier, left) described his ring rival Muhammad Ali (right) as the ‘most exciting human being I’d ever met’ - PA Photos

That day in Chelsea was four months after the passing of Ali, the fighter whose name will always be associated with Foreman’s, thanks to their unforgettable fight, the most watched heavyweight championship boxing match in history.

“Ali was like a total eclipse,” Foreman had told me. “You only see something like that maybe once in a lifetime. I was able to see a lot of it. The world will mourn for a long time, not so much for the man but for this energetic talent, this piece of art.

“The ‘Great Ones’ live long like that. I’ll admit the most exciting moment in my life as a boxer was meeting him the first time. He was the most exciting human being I’d ever met.”

It was at that point – and I will never forget it – that Foreman’s momentary sadness lifted and there is a booming laugh. Foreman explained that the wallpaper on his computer screen is of Ali, right hand cocked, looking over him, fallen, in Zaire.

“Everybody has got to realise that life isn’t about winning. It’s about getting up after you’ve lost. Whenever I get a little too high on myself, I bring that picture out and there’s Muhammad Ali walking away and I’m on the canvas, looking up. I instantly go into my mode of ‘you better come down’. It makes a human being out of you.”

George Foreman preaching to his congregation at The Church Of The Lord Jesus Christ on Lone Oak Road in Houston, Texas, February 1995. — Foreman thought of his role as a preacher as ‘selling hope’ - Getty Images/Michael Brennan

Preaching his message was always deeply important. It underpinned the last five decades of his life. “Life is fun. I’m a preacher, I’m an evangelist, and I moonlight as a grill salesperson. My next quest is to sell ‘The George Foreman Shoe’ that will make folks my age get up and walk. No good having money in the bank and a nice home and car if you don’t walk.”

And his greatest message as a preacher and lecturer? “As a minister, you want to sell hope. Don’t ever give up on yourself or anyone else. The lessons you learn in life can actually change the world. Stay in school, get a piece of education, so you can help us all one day.”

The association with Ali will never die. Back in 2012, George told me, for The Telegraph: “If you catch him early in the morning, and he is in good spirits, he talks. His wife Lonnie or his daughter will put him on the phone, and we talk. He’s interested in what I’m interested in, we talk about our children and our grandchildren, and he’ll still crack a joke.

“In early December, we were exchanging pictures of our grandchildren by text. I showed him one picture, he sent back two. He’ll say ‘Hey George, how many grandchildren have you got?’ I’ve got six, I told him. ‘Well I’ve got eight, George. See – I beat you again,” he said.

George explained: “We fought in 1974, that was a long time ago. After 1981 we became the best of friends. By 1984, we loved each other. I am not closer to anyone else in this life than I am to Muhammad Ali. Why? We were forged by that first fight in Zaire and our lives are indelibly linked by memories and photographs, as young men and old men. We have a love for each other.”

Perhaps the two great men are sitting side by side, reminiscing. Rest in peace, Big George Foreman. One of the greats. Forever.

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