Former heavyweight champion George Foreman, who lost to Muhammad Ali in boxing’s iconic 1974 “Rumble in the Jungle” before reclaiming the title two decades later, died Friday aged 76, his family said.
Fondly known as Big George, Foreman dropped out of school as a teenager and went on to become an Olympic champion and later a legend of boxing.
He fought 81 times as a professional, winning 76, 68 of those by knockout.
As well as boxing he put his name to the “George Foreman Lean Mean Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine,” appearing smiling and friendly in the TV ads, becoming a celebrity outside the sport.
“With profound sorrow we announce the passing of our beloved George Edward Foreman Sr, who peacefully departed on March 21, 2025, surrounded by loved ones,” Foreman’s family said in a statement on Instagram.
“We are grateful for the outpouring of love and prayers, and kindly ask for privacy as we honour the extraordinary life of a man we were blessed to call our own.”
Legendary boxing promoter Bob Arum saluted Foreman as “one of the biggest punchers and personalities the sport has ever seen.”
Born in Texas on January 10, 1949, Foreman grew up in Houston.
The man who raised him was frequently absent and often drunk. Foreman only found out that J. D. Foreman was not his biological father after he won the world heavyweight title when his real father, a decorated World War II veteran, got in touch.
As an adolescent, Foreman flirted with crime and left school at 16.
“At 13 years old, George was about 6-foot-2, 200 pounds and the terrorist in the neighbourhood,” his younger brother Roy told the BBC in 2024. “And when you’re bigger and stronger and think you’re better than everyone else, you take things.”
“I tried boxing just to show my friends that I wasn’t afraid,” Foreman said later. “Well, 25 fights and one year later, I was an Olympic gold medalist.”
At the Mexico Games in 1968, the 19-year-old Foreman bludgeoned his way to the super-heavyweight gold.
As he celebrated his final victory, 10 days after fellow African Americans Tommie Smith and John Carlos had made a black power salute following the 200m track final, Foreman waved an American flag in the ring.