Although I don’t pay a lot of attention to boxing nowadays, back when I did George Foreman was always tops with me. No, he was never much for fancy footwork, finesse, or the more subtle aspects of the Sweet Science. Even in his heyday, a more well-rounded, agile pugilist like Mohammed Ali could run rings around old George, and literally did sometimes.
But that hardly means Foreman didn’t know exactly what he was doing in the squared circle. George was well aware that if he could just hang in there until the opportunity arose to land just one of those cinder-block hands of his in exactly the right spot, his opponent would be going down like a bag of wet sand, regardless of who that opponent might have been. Foreman’s victims may have danced their way into the ring, all right. But an awful lot of them would wind up being carried out, with their glassy, vacant eyes rolling around in their heads like pinballs. Some of the fighters put down by a Foreman brick claim that you never really get over one of those earthquake haymakers; in one way or another, the effects stay with you for life. I don’t doubt it, not one bit.
Ali, Evander, Sugar Ray, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Larry “You so damn ugly” Holmes, Thomas Hearns, Boom Boom Mancini, De La Hoya—I liked ’em all. But I always loved George Foreman best, and I still do. I mean, how could you not?
Boxing legend George Foreman said Sunday that he’s been pressured to stop publicly saying that he loves the United States, but will continue to do so, anyway.
“For about 54 years, people have ask me not to keep saying ‘I love America,’” Foreman posted to Twitter on Independence Day.“Well I do and I’m not ashamed,” he wrote. “Don’t leave it; Love it.”
“Happy 4th of July,” Foreman closed the succinct post.
The former boxer used the message to caption a photo of himself with his eyes and holding the American flag after taking gold for our nation at the 1968 Olympic Games.
The post quickly went viral, racking up nearly 85,000 likes by Monday.
Here’s the Tweet:
For about 54 years, people have ask me not to keep saying “I love America” Well I do and I’m not ashamed. Don’t leave it; Love it.Happy 4th of July. pic.twitter.com/EqWmbWjgbz
— George Foreman (@GeorgeForeman) July 4, 2021
What a breath of fresh air, a most welcome change from the usual run of things with today’s repellent crop of professional athletes. May God bless and keep you, George.
He’s my favorite, always has been, and it’s clear why.
The ’68 Olympics were in Mexico City, in the middle of Anti-American horseshit everywhere you looked, and there was George on the worlds largest stage, making it very clear who he was and who we are.
Makes me want to go grillin’
Amen! Thanks for sharing this, and for a great tribute to not only a great boxer, but a great AMERICAN.
I’m not much of a sports fan. I like hometown baseball. But, I used to really like boxing. It seemed such a pure sport: just two men battling in the world’s oldest contest. But after Ali began having problems due to his head injuries, I couldn’t bear to watch it any more. I think that Sugar Ray Leonard vs Marvin Hagler in ’87 was the last fight I ever saw, and I stopped following the sport completely.
George Foreman, though, kept his cheerful, optimistic face out in the public. From revolutionizing home cooking (heh!) to naming all his kids “George”, his good humor has cheered Americans without fail for all these years.
God blessed us with him. Glad to see he is still going strong.
Thanks George and I hope you had a great 4th Of July as well and many more in the future.
I have always loved George Foreman. In an era when other black Olympians were doing the black power salute, Foreman waved the American flag in tbe boxing ring after his victory. What a class act.
Few people realize that he fell on hard times for awhile after his heavyweight championship luster had faded. It was furing this time that he devoted his life to God. He subsequently became, of all things, a street preacher. For about two years, he preached the word of God literally in the mean streets. (I think it was Houston.)
For many years now, he has been the pastor of a flourishing parish, and that has been his main focus in life. His successful business dealings have always been secondary to his calling as a man of God.
To go just a bit off-topic, I knew his brother, Francis Foreman back in the early eighties. I was living and working in Gaithersburg, Maryland, which is a suburb of Washington, DC. Francis was the manager of a large Gold’s Gym facility where I worked out. He was an ex-footballer, and he was a HUGE guy. If George was anywhere as big as his brother Francis, that probably helped contribute to his success in the ring. Anyway, Francis was a wonderful guy, just a very good natured, sweet dispositioned mountain of a man. I was proud to call him my friend. Both he and George are a credit to their family and to their country.