George Foreman, heavyweight boxing champion, dies at 76 – NBC New York

George Foreman, world heavyweight boxing champion, Olympic gold medalist and later preacher, died Friday on the age of 76, his household stated.

“Our hearts are damaged,” an announcement on Foreman’s Instagram web page learn.

“With profound sorrow, we announce the passing of our beloved George Edward Foreman Sr. who peacefully departed on March 21, 2025 surrounded by family members,” it learn. “A religious preacher, a loyal husband, a loving father, and a proud grand and nice grandfather, he lived a life marked by unwavering religion, humility, and goal.”

A reason for loss of life was not supplied.

Foreman, often called “Massive George,” received an Olympic gold medal in boxing on the 1968 Olympic Video games in Mexico Metropolis when he was 19 years previous.

He received the world heavyweight championship 5 years later in a surprising knockout of Joe Frazier in two rounds in 1973, however he misplaced it to Muhammad Ali the following 12 months within the well-known “Rumble within the Jungle.”

However Foreman was not completed. On the age of 45, Foreman reclaimed the heavyweight title when he beat Michael Moorer — a comeback that made him the oldest boxer to win the championship.

He turned a preacher in 1978, and was also called an entrepreneur. He turned a family title for the “George Foreman Grill” — formally known as the George Foreman Lean Imply Grilling Machine.

Greater than 100 million have been bought worldwide, in response to Foreman’s web site, and he turned a fixture on tv packages selling the system in an apron.

“A religious preacher, a loyal husband, a loving father, and a proud grand and nice grandfather, he lived a life marked by unwavering religion, humility, and goal,” the assertion saying his loss of life Friday learn.

Humility and goal weren’t all the time character traits for which Foreman was identified.

He described himself on his web site as going “from thug to boxer.” He was born in Marshall, Texas, on Jan. 10, 1949, however grew up in Houston’s Fifth Ward, the place his web site stated he bullied different kids and “turned a mugger and brawler.”

Foreman credited the Job Corps program, began by President Lyndon B. Johnson, with the mentoring that led him from crime to a profession in boxing.

“I’ve been actually rescued from the gutter. I used to be out hiding from the police,” Foreman instructed NBC Information in a 2023 interview. “The subsequent factor you realize, I’m within the Job Corps program getting three meals in someday. They constructed me into what I’ve develop into.”

Foreman retired from boxing in 1977 and have become a born-again Christian. He stated in his biography on his web site that he had a non secular expertise in a dressing room after dropping in a call to Jimmy Younger on March 17, 1977, in Puerto Rico.

He was ordained as a minister the following 12 months, based the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ in 1980, and in 1984 based the nonprofit George Foreman Youth and Group Middle in Houston.

Foreman returned to boxing in 1987, a decade after he retired.

He instructed NBC Information in 2023, the identical 12 months {that a} biopic about him was launched, that he received the heavyweight title a second time as a result of he realized the best way to struggle with out anger.

“I began working with children to make sure they keep on the precise street,” he stated, educating them to by no means throw “a punch in anger. I taught it a lot, I began to consider in it. I went again to boxing, turned champ of the world, however I by no means had one ounce of anger in my life.”

The movie, “Massive George Foreman: The Miraculous Story of the As soon as and Future Heavyweight Champion of the World,” was launched in April 2023 by Sony Photos.

Fellow world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson was amongst these sharing condolences after Foreman’s loss of life Friday.

“Condolences to George Foreman’s household. His contribution to boxing and past won’t ever be forgotten,” Tyson wrote on X.

ESPN known as Foreman “one of the vital influential and recognizable boxers of all time.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott remarked, “a legend misplaced.”

“The world knew Foreman as a two-time heavyweight champion,” Houston Mayor John Whitmire stated in an announcement. “We knew him as a proud member of our group — a person whose coronary heart was as massive as his highly effective punch.”

William Shatner, who appeared with Foreman on the truth tv journey present “Higher Late Than By no means” in 2016, additionally expressed his condolences.

Others on social media acknowledged Foreman for the grill, which was a standard sight in dwelling kitchens and faculty dorm rooms alike in its heyday.

Foreman emphasised that a part of his life within the 2023 interview with NBC Information.

“Being trustworthy, I’m not a spokesman for boxing. I’m a spokesman for the George Foreman Grill. And I’m a minister full time on the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ” in Houston, he stated then, with a pleasant snort.

Foreman’s household stated they have been grateful to be in his extraordinary life.

“A humanitarian, an Olympian, and two time heavyweight champion of the world, He was deeply revered — a pressure for good, a person of self-discipline, conviction, and a protector of his legacy, preventing tirelessly to protect his good title— for his household,” the assertion stated.

“We’re grateful for the outpouring of affection and prayers, and kindly ask for privateness as we honor the extraordinary lifetime of a person we have been blessed to name our personal.”

Joe Kottke contributed.

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