He now holds the WBA and IBF heavyweight world-champion belts. By his own admission in his autobiography, George was a troubled youth. Foreman's title challenge against Moorer took place on November 5 in Las Vegas, Nevada, with Foreman wearing the same red trunks he had worn in his title loss to Ali 20 years earlier. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) in 2003. Omissions? One judge scored the bout 114114, while the other two judges scored it 117113 and 116112 for Briggs. B. Williamson, Galveston, Texas, W TKO 5, 07-20-Everett (Bigfoot) Martin, Tucson, Arizona, W 10, 01-15-Gerry Cooney, Atlantic City, W KO 2, 04-17-Mike Jameson, Stateline, Nevada, W TKO 4, 06-16-Adilson Rodrigues, Las Vegas, W KO 2, 07-31-Ken Lakusta, Edmonton, Canada, W KO 3, 12-07-1991 -Jimmy Ellis, Reno, Nevada, W TKO 3, 04-11-1992 -Alex Stewart, Las Vegas, W 10, 01-16-1993 -Pierre Coetzer, Reno, W TKO 8, 06-07-1993 -Tommy Morrison, Las Vegas, L 12, 11-05-Michael Moorer, Las Vegas, W KO 10, 11-03-Crawford Grimsley, Chiba, Japan, W 12, 04-26 -Lou Savarese, Atlantic City, W 12, 11-22-Shannon Briggs, Atlantic City, L 12. As the second minute of the round began, Holyfield rebounded and proceeded to land a 15-second, multiple punch combination that staggered Foreman. Norton did not hit the canvas, but continued on wobbly legs, clearly not having recovered, and shortly he went down a further two times in quick succession, with the referee intervening and stopping the fight. In 1970, Foreman continued his march toward the undisputed heavyweight title, winning all 12 of his bouts (11 by knockout). November 5, 1994: Foreman becomes a unified heavyweight world champion by beating Michael Moorer via 10th round KO. [citation needed], On April 22, 1995, Foreman fought midlevel underdog prospect Axel Schulz, of Germany, in defense of his remaining IBF title. By his last professional fight on November 22, 1997, Foreman's boxing record stood at 76-5 (68 KO wins, 1 KO loss). In a remarkable two-year span, Foreman knocked out his opponents in all 12 of his professional fights, either through KOs or referee-declared TKOs. Foreman lost a 12-round bout to Evander Holyfield in his first attempt to regain the title in 1991. [49][50], His seven daughters are Natalia, Leola, Freeda, Michi, Georgetta, Isabella, and Courtney. His five-fight win streak is halted with this loss. [1] Since ending his 10-year retirement in 1987, Foreman was a perfect 240, with 23 of his wins coming via knockout. In a career spanning 28 years and four months, George Foreman fought 81 times with 76 wins and 5 losses. BoxRec: Shannon Briggs On June 7, 1993, a 44-year old George Foreman (72-3, 67 KO) faced fellow American boxer Tommy Morrison, who was 24 years old with a record of 36-1 for the vacant WBO (vacant) heavyweight title. George Foreman was very heavy handed and there was a different feel to his shots. In February 1968, he knocked out L.C. Foremen was met with jeers all throughout the night as the crowd grew increasingly displeased at Foreman's defeats of his first three opponents, of which defeated all by knockout. He retired from the ring in 1977 and became an evangelist. Foreman's next defense was against a much tougher opponent. He also opened a youth center[36] that bears his name. We've had guys on Boxrec saying Sonny would stop Evander, Frazier, Foreman, Lewis,Tyson the Klitschko's etc even beat Ali if he was a little younger. Foreman had fought for the last time, at the age of 48. Evidence later surfaced that Foremans promoter, Bob Arum, had paid bribes to the International Boxing Federation (IBF) in order to manipulate the rankings and permit Foreman a chance at a title fight. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Other analysts have commented that Foreman has a great combination of strength, speed, and agility. Foreman fought cautiously early on, allowing Young to settle into the fight. George Foreman vs. Shannon Briggs - Wikipedia After moving to Pleasanton, California, with the help of a supervisor, he began to train. The strategy paid off and he outboxed Foreman from long range. "[26] Ali used this time to tour Zaire, endearing himself to the public, while taunting Foreman at every opportunity. Both the boxers were of the same height but Norton had a 4 cm reach advantage over Foreman. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Foreman was sometimes characterized by the media as an aloof and antisocial champion. Young constantly complained about Foreman pushing him, for which Foreman eventually had a point deducted by the referee, although Young was never warned for his persistent holding. January 22, 1973: Foreman becomes the undisputed heavyweight world champion in his first world-title fight by beating Joe Frazier via 2nd round TKO. Foreman defeated Stewart via 10 round majority decision. [57], When Foreman came back from retirement, he argued that his success was due to his healthy eating. He is a two-time world heavyweight champion and an Olympic gold medalist. He graduated from Culver Military Academy in Culver, Indiana, in 2001 with a high school diploma, where he played lacrosse. The following is a list of some of Foreman's most significant fights. On November 5, 1994, a 45-year old George Foreman (72-4, 67 KO) faced an undefeated fellow American boxer Michael Moorer, who was 26 years old with a record of 35-0 for Moorer's WBA and IBF heavyweight titles. George Foreman, in full George Edward Foreman, (born January 10, 1949, Marshall, Texas, U.S.), American boxer who twice was the world heavyweight champion (1973-74, 1994-95). He was so gifted technically and his jab was the best I ever faced in the ring. As a child, Foreman watched his father train and sat ringside when his father was doing color commentary. The late-round fatigue that had plagued him in the ring as a young man now seemed to be unexpectedly gone, and he could comfortably compete for 12 rounds. Foreman later attributed his demeanor during this time as an emulation of Sonny Liston, for whom he had been an occasional sparring partner. After an even first round, Foreman staggered Norton with an uppercut a minute into round two, buckling him into the ropes. [18], After winning the gold-medal fight, Foreman walked around the ring carrying a small U.S. flag and bowing to the crowd. George Foreman boxer - BoxerList [10] He is currently 160 in professional boxing as of December 2012. Foreman attributed this to his new, relaxed fighting style (he has spoken of how, earlier in his career, his lack of stamina came from an enormous amount of nervous tension). He was eliminated on "Hall of Fame Night" alongside George Clinton as "Gopher". On January 22, 1973, in his 38th professional fight, a 24-year old George Foreman (37-0, 34 KO) had his first world title fight against an undefeated fellow American boxer Joe Frazier for Frazier's WBA, WBC, and Ring Magazine heavyweight belts. Savarese was on a 36-fight win streak with 30 KO wins, and was the taller of the two by 4 cms and also had a 4 cm reach advantage over Foreman. He is a two-time world heavyweight champion and an Olympic gold medalist. Another stated ambition was to fight Mike Tyson. I have interviewed Chuck Wepner who fought both George Foreman and Sonny Liston and he always claimed that Liston hit harder. Foreman defended his title against challenger Ken Norton in March, but he lost the crown to Ali, who had been allowed to return to boxing after a three-year ban due to his refusal to enter the draft for military service. [5] Ten years later he announced a comeback, and in 1994 at age 45 won the unified WBA, IBF, and lineal heavyweight championship titles by knocking out 26-year-old Michael Moorer. BoxRec: George Foreman On April 22, 1995, a 46-year old George Foreman (73-4, 68 KO) faced German boxer Axel Schulz, who was 26 years old with a record of 21-1-1 in a heavyweight title defense fight. In 2022, Foreman competed in season eight of The Masked Singer as "Venus Fly Trap". Foreman continues to speak about his experience on Christian television broadcasts such as The 700 Club and the Trinity Broadcasting Network. BoxRec: BoxRec is not under the control of any governing or sanctioning body, data may be incomplete/inaccurate. He was subsequently tired, and Stewart rebounded. He suffered his first loss against Muhammad Ali via 8th round KO on October 30, 1974, which ended his 40-fight win streak. Foreman dug vicious body punches into Ali's sides; however, Foreman was unable to land many big punches to Ali's head. As of 2009[update], the George Foreman Grill has sold over 100 million units. As such, the two fighters received high payouts, Holyfield was guaranteed $20 million, while Foreman took home a guaranteed $12.5 million. Despite his age, the outspoken Foreman remained confident that he could dethrone Holyfield and in the months before the fight often said as much in the media. Still, a potentially massive money-making encore with Foreman never happened, whatever the reason. George Foreman's professional boxing career spanned more than 28 years from 1969 to 1997. April 19, 1991: George Foreman loses to Evander Holyfield via 12 round unanimous decision. Natalia and Leola are from his marriage to Mary Joan Martelly. The fight was to be billed as "The Birthday Bash" due to both fighters' upcoming birthdays. Make sure to follow us on Twitter for updates and announcements. He explained that he sensed God asking him to change his life and ways. He was suffering from exhaustion and heatstroke and stated he had a near-death experience. Despite boycotting a title elimination caused by the vacancy resulting from the championship being stripped from Muhammad Ali, Frazier had won the title from Jimmy Ellis and defended his title four times since, including a 15-round unanimous decision over the previously unbeaten Ali in 1971 after Ali had beaten Oscar Bonavena and Jerry Quarry. Background [ edit] By his own admission in his autobiography, George was a troubled youth. Frazier was knocked down six times by Foreman within two rounds (the three-knockdown rule was not in effect for this bout). He defeated Frazier via 2nd round TKO to become the heavyweight champion of the world. Foreman was the taller of the two by 21 cms and also had a 11 cm reach advantage. With this historic victory, Foreman broke three records: He became, at age 45, the oldest fighter ever to win a world championship; 20 years after losing his title for the first time, he broke the record for the fighter with the longest interval between his first and second world championships; and the age spread of 19 years between the champion and challenger was the largest of any heavyweight boxing championship fight.