George Foreman, Heavyweight Boxing Legend and oldest World Champion, dies at 76

Heavyweight Boxing Legend, George Foreman has passed away peacefully at the age of 76. The Boxing Champion turned entrepreneur died on Friday night while he was admitted to a hospital in Houston.  

The family of the sports legend has confirmed that he was peaceful at the time of his passing. The cause of his death was not confirmed by the family members, who shared the news of his passing on Instagram. 

George Foreman’s career in Boxing started at the age of 17, after he had dropped out of school and joined the workforce. He was the Olympic Heavyweight Champion at 19, making America and the Black Community proud. 

When he turned to professional boxing, Foreman’s schedule was packed and slotted with as many as 12 fights a year.  Foreman’s career was both long and eventful, spanning a massive three decades starting in the 1960s.  

The 70s were described as the golden era for the legend and the sport as thousands of fans stormed to rings to catch Foreman in action. George Foreman, Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali kept boxing enthusiasts on the edge of their seats.  

The first time that Foreman fought for the title of the world champion, he was undefeated 37-0. During the fight for the World Championship, George Foreman faced Joe Frazier in Kingston, Jamaica. In the fight, the so called underdog, Foreman dominated Frazier, knocking him down six times in the ring.  

He dominated the undefeated, till that fight, Joe Frazier throughout the fight to claim the title of World Champion. The title stayed with the legend through two more fights, till Muhammad Ali, in a match famous among the boxing enthusiasts as Rumble in the Jungle, won and became World Champion. 

After being defeated by Ali, he went on to win five more times, one of which was against Joe Frazier again. In 1977, after being defeated by Jimmy Young, Foreman opted to retire from the ring at the age of 28. 

He claimed religious reasons for his early retirement, however, the legend of George Foreman did not wane easily. By the year 1987, Foreman wanted to be champion again and returned to the ring at 38. After years of training 24 consecutive wins, he fought his World Championship match at the age of 42.  

In this match, he was lauded for his valiant effort, but was defeated by Evander Holyfield. Three years later, in 1994, Foreman was given another shot at the title. This time, he was up against Michael Moorer, who had defeated the former World Champion, Holyfield.   

Foreman knocked Moorer out in the 10th round in this match and became the only boxer to enter the ring and claim the title of World Champion at the age of 45. At the end of his career as a Professional Boxer, he had won 76 matches and faced losses five times. He was widely considered one of the ten best heavyweight boxers of all time.