I get up in the morning looking for an adventure: George Foreman, 1949-2025

The first thing I think of when I think of George Foreman is that he defied F. Scott Fitzgerald’s maxim that “There are no second acts in American lives.”

More than once.

George Foreman grew up in the Fifth Ward of Houston, a difficult and crime-ridden neighborhood, home of “Bloody Jensen” Drive and the Geto Boys. He never knew his biological father; the “Foreman” name comes from his stepfather J.D., whom his mother married when he was a small child. After dropping out of school and briefly getting involved with crime as a mugger, Foreman decided to get his life together, signing up for Job Corps at 16 and getting a GED and training as a bricklayer and carpenter. Through that, he moved to Pleasanton, California, and though he idolized Jim Brown and dreamed of playing football, as he puts it, “I tried boxing just to show my friends I wasn’t afraid.”

And in short order, he quickly proved to have an innate skill at it; by 19, he had won the heavyweight boxing gold medal at the 1968 Olympics. He turned pro in 1969 and rose rapidly through the ranks. Two years later, he had amassed a 32-0 professional record and was rated as the #1 challenger for the heavyweight title by the WBO and WBC.

That got him a title shot against the undefeated Joe Frazier in 1972– Foreman was 37-0 at that point– which Foreman won decisively, knocking down Frazier six times in the first two rounds before the referee stopped the fight, and leading to Howard Cosell’s famous call, “Down goes Frazier!”

After winning a few more fights in defense of his title, including against Ken Norton, at 40-0, Foreman was one half of one of the most famous fights in boxing history– 1974’s Rumble in the Jungle in Kinshasa, Zaire, against Muhammad Ali, returning to claim his title after it was stripped from him while he was imprisoned as a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War. Ali came in with the “rope-a-dope” strategy designed to tire Foreman out, as he hadn’t fought a match beyond four rounds in three years. The strategy worked and handed Foreman his first loss.

Foreman attempted a professional comeback over the next few years, although a loss in Puerto Rico to Jimmy Young in 1977 ended up changing his life; he claimed to have a near-death experience and became a born-again Christian. He became an ordained minister and spent the next decade as a preacher, ministering the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ in Houston and opening a youth center in his name. The first of his second acts.

Ten years later, he decided to make a return to boxing, at age 38– an age long past when most professional boxers would have hung up the gloves. While he no longer had his youth, he had a stamina he had lacked in his previous years, and a patience that comes with the wisdom of age, and his comeback far exceeded expectations. He worked his way back to a shot at the heavyweight title, facing Evander Holyfield in 1991; the seventh round of that fight has been called one of the greatest in boxing history, though Foreman ultimately lost by decision.

After a couple more fights– and a stint starring in the sitcom George on ABC– he got his second shot at the title in 1994. Though he was not ranked as a fighter at this point, reigning champion Michael Moorer saw him as a relatively easy and high-profile tune-up fight. Instead, after nine rounds where Moorer was ahead on every scorecard, Foreman mounted a furious comeback and KOed Moorer in the tenth. At age 45– an age where virtually every professional athlete, let alone a boxer, is well into retirement– Foreman was heavyweight champion once again. Another improbable second act.

Foreman lost his title eventually, but not through defeat. He declined to fight the WBA’s top challenger, Tony Tucker, and that body stripped their title from him. He defended his IBF title against Axel Schulz in 1995, but when the IBF wanted an immediate rematch, he rejected their terms and was stripped of that title as well. Foreman’s final fight was against Shannon Briggs in 1997, where he lost a split decision. He retired from boxing for good at age 48, with a professional record of 76-5. He talked a couple of times about a comeback, but one never materialized.

And, of course, he wasn’t just a boxer. He did boxing commentary for HBO after his retirement, but he was as much known for his many accomplishments outside of the sport. I mentioned his ministry earlier; perhaps even more famously, he’s better known in the wider world as the namesake of the George Foreman Grill, friend to bachelors and college students everywhere. He claimed his boxing comeback in 1987 was possible due to healthy eating; Salton, Inc. approached him, looking for a spokesman for their new fat-reducing home grill. Foreman signed on, and the George Foreman Lean Mean Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine launched in 1994; it made him far more money than his boxing career ever did. (He sold his naming rights to the company in 1999 for $138 million; before that, he received 40% of profits on every grill, which at its peak was believed to earn him more than $4.5 million a month.)

He’s also famous for naming his five sons George Jr., George III, George IV, George V, and George VI. (This also ended up being the source of one of 30 Rock‘s best subtle jokes– Tracy’s sons being named Tracy Jr. and George Foreman. 30 Rock also surely took inspiration from his grill when coming up with the Tracy Jordan Meat Machine.)

As much as he was a successful boxer in his prime, for people my age and younger, he may be even more famous as a cultural and media presence– for his grill, his other endorsements, his kids’ names, all of it. Many athletes have successful careers or even reach the peak of their profession. Few do it twice, let alone twenty years after their original peak. Fewer still have an even bigger impact on the world and society outside of that career. In that regard, George Foreman was truly one of a kind.

George Foreman, more than anything, was one of a kind. You knew who he was, even if you didn’t follow boxing. And you knew who he was because he never rested on his laurels. He was always looking for the next thing, the next adventure. That might have meant ministry, a return to boxing, television appearances, endorsements, family. But he never stopped looking, he never stopped trying, he never stopped going. Until today.

And because of that, he’s left a legacy on so many levels. He raised twelve children (one of whom died in 2019, but the other eleven are still alive). He’s remembered for his sparkling, witty personality as much as his accomplishments as a boxer. The George Foreman Grill still sells. The George Foreman Youth and Community Center still stands. Beyond professional achievement, his legacy continues to affect future generations.

George Foreman was a true American original, at every step of his life. And he’ll be remembered for all the things he achieved and all the ways he reached people. He was an all-time great boxer, but he never let being a boxer limit or define himself. He never saw his boxing career as a peak to look back on. He took every day as a new adventure.