Former heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman has died at the age of 76.
Foreman was best remembered as a fighter as well as in retirement for his epic showdown in the ring that came to be known as the Rumble in the Jungle with the late Muhammad Ali in 1974 which was said to be the most watched boxing match on television.
Foreman lost to Ali who was the underdog.
“Our hearts are broken. With profound sorrow we announce the passing away of our beloved George Edward Foreman Sr. A devout preacher, a devout husband, a loving father and a proud grandfather and great grandfather, he lived a life marked by unwavering faith and purpose,” Foreman’s family said in a Statement announcing the legend”s demise.
Born into a violent neighbourhood in Texas, USA, Foreman took to the ring merely to lose weight as a 17’year old and two years later won the Gold medal at the Olympic Games in Mexico City in 1968.
He was remembered not only for the Olympic Gold but also for parading around the ring with the American flag and remarking later: “I wanted the whole world to know from where I came.”
But the Olympic Games was just the stepping stone for the birth of a great fighter, as he turned professional still in his teens and won a string of 13 fights in 1969. During the course of a three year period Foreman was undefeated stepping into the ring on 32 occasions.
But one of the heaviest disappointments in Foreman’s career was not only losing to Ali but also dejected that he could not have a rematch.
“That night I lost everything I ever was. It was the most devastating event in my life as an athlete,” he said of his loss to Ali.
His last fight was in 1977 but amid financial worries returned to the ring 10 years later at age 38.
Foreman eventually threw in the towel in 1999 after a career that gave him 76 wins and just five loses.
