Boxing Memorabilia > Boxing Autographs >
George Foreman Boxing
Autograph
A great quality 11x14 Colour Photograph of
boxer George Foreman. This is a real tough autograph as
Foreman rarely signs autographs.
George Foreman
£125.00
George Edward Foreman was born in 1949 in
Texas. Although his real father was Leroy Moorehead, he
was raised by J.B. Foreman who was in fact his stepfather.
Foreman was the fifth of seven children.
Foreman was the fifth of seven children and
grew up in a very poor household thanks to his stepfather’s
tendency to drink away his railroad worker salary and the
family having to depend on his mother’s small wage.
During his youth he often crossed paths with
the wrong side of the law and subsequently harboured a great
deal of anger which soon became evident from his street
brawling and gang fights.
Foreman fast became known for his size and
his aggression was well-known on the streets of Houston,
earning him the respect of several local gangs. After dropping
out of high school he spotted an advertisement for the Job
Corps on television and decided to join.
He was sent to Oregon first and brought with
him that infamous ability to pick fights, this time with
his fellow trainees. One day whilst he was in the midst
of one of his brawls, a supervisor stepped in to end the
fight. The supervisor, Doc Broadus was a keen boxing enthusiast
and spotting Foreman’s obvious potential he realised
that Foreman could channel his penchant for fighting into
a better outlet- boxing. With help from Broadus, Foreman
began to develop his technique and within two years he had
qualified for the Olympic boxing team.
In 1968 aged 19, Foreman headed to Mexico
City for the Olympics. At that time in the US there had
been rioting in the streets of many cities over the debate
of civil rights and Vietnam. Subsequently there were divisions
within the African-American community as to whether they
should support the US policy. Foreman was tempted to join
their protest as two other African-American track athletes
had been ejected on the award podium for raising their fists
to the US National Anthem but he didn’t and went on
to win a gold medal in heavyweight boxing.
After his gold medal success, Foreman undertook
a serious training regime and turned professional in 1969.
He went up against Don Walheim in New York in his first
pro boxing match and won in a three-round knockout. By the
end of the year he had notched up a total of 13 fights and
had won them all. The following year he continued his victory
streak by knocking out 11 men, while his career rose rapidly
amongst his other better known counterparts.
Despite his succession of wins over the next
couple of years, some people grumbled silently that Foreman
was only winning because he was fighting has-beens so these
critics sat up and took notice when he was faced with the
much-feared Joe Frazier in 1973. Frazier was sent to the
mat twice in the first round by Foreman- even lifting him
off his feet with a couple of his punches and by the second
round, Frazier was beaten. The world had a new heavyweight
champion.
Foreman went on to successfully defend his
title twice and made the headlines in 1974 for beating notorious
heavyweight Ken Norton - who was known for not only breaking
Muhammad Ali’s jaw a year earlier but also for his
awkward boxing technique. Foreman displayed a ferocious
round of aggression and would later write in his autobiography
that he was attempting to kill Norton during the fight.
At this point it seemed Foreman could do no wrong, his success
in the ring seemed unending.
The summer of 1974 became a pivotal moment
in Foreman’s career. He traveled to Congo to fight
against Muhammad Ali. During the match, the two battled
hard and by the eighth round it seemed that Ali’s
infamous fighting style had begun to tire Foreman resulting
in Ali delivering a final series of blow’s to Foreman’s
head and jaw that brought him down and caused the referee
to stop the match. It was Foreman’s first defeat.
The loss was a severe dent to Foreman’s
pride and his devastation led him to slowly spiral into
a pattern of destruction where he carelessly wasted his
money on spending sprees and would sleep with a different
woman every night.
After losing his title Foreman remained inactive
for the following year but made his comeback in Las Vegas
in 1976 against Ron Lyle. After five rounds of heaving pounding
from both boxers Lyle finally succumbed and Foreman’s
last delivery of blows sent him to the ground with Foreman’s
win declared. By the end of the year, Foreman was back to
his previous form and had emerged victorious from all of
his fights.
1977 was not to be as triumphant for Foreman.
After winning a fight in four rounds against Pedro Agosto
in Florida, it was the match against boxer Jimmy Young that
was to be life-changing. Like his fight with Ali, Foreman
became tired in the later rounds of the fight and was beaten.
In his dressing room after the match Foreman became ill
and was suffering from exhaustion and heatstroke. Believing
he had gone through a near-death experience, Foreman declared
himself a born-again Christian and from this point onwards
decided to dedicate his life to Christianity.
Despite not officially retiring, Foreman stopped
fighting after the Young match and became an ordained church
minister back in his hometown of Houston where he devoted
his time to his family and parishioners.
Between 1981 and 1983 Foreman was married
and divorced three times. One wife fled to Barbados with
their children and Foreman flew straight there to steal
them back. But by 1986 he had managed to find inner solitude
once again by building a small gym next to his church to
give local children an alternative to hanging around on
the streets - an option he wished he’d had during
his own childhood.
In 1987 Foreman surprised the sporting world
by announcing his comeback at the age of 40. The money from
his boxing days had begun to run out and by this time he
had eight children to support. Foreman beat Steve Zouski
in four rounds in his first comeback bout, despite looking
badly out of shape. Four more wins that year and a gradual
return to his former slimmer self put his fitness levels
back on track.
By the next year Foreman had won nine more
matches and it appeared that he was once again king of the
boxing ring. At the same time Foreman started to forge a
successful venture as a businessman, selling everything
from grills to mufflers on television.
Back in the boxing ring he continued his comeback
hiatus over the next couple of years with an increasing
list of wins. But in 1991 Foreman faced the undisputed heavyweight
champion Evander Holyfield. Foreman was 42 by this time
and many didn’t rate his odds against Holyfield’s
skills. Their doubts were confirmed when Foreman was defeated,
despite the fact that he surprised many by lasting the full
12 rounds and lost on points.
A year later and it seemed Foreman’s
comeback high had well and truly peaked. A fight against
Alex Stewart led to Foreman’s worst ever defeat when
Stewart administered a series of forceful blows which left
Foreman’s face bloodied and swollen.
In 1993 Foreman was shown up in the ring once
again when he lost a match against Tommy Morrison who was
much younger and agile than him. Although it seemed unlikely,
Foreman once again had the chance to fight for the world
championship in 1994. Despite initially being refused a
shot after his loss to Morrison, he took the case to court
pleading age discrimination and won.
The fight took place in Las Vegas with Foreman
wearing the same red shorts he’d worn in his title
loss to Ali some 20 years earlier. This time round though
the match was of a different calibre entirely thanks to
the fact that he was fighting Michael Moorer, a boxer twenty
years his junior.
For nine rounds Moorer easily outboxed Foreman
but two minutes into the tenth round he delivered a sudden
short right hand punch to Moorer’s chin which sent
him straight to the floor. As Moorer lay flat on his back
with the referee counting him out Foreman regained the World
Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation heavyweight
titles at the age 45. It was an astounding achievement and
he broke two records in becoming the oldest fighter with
a world heavyweight crown and secondly for elapsing the
longest interval between one championship and the next.
Commentators also noted the change in Foreman
himself. Gone was the inner menace and snarling and instead
stood a cheerful, amiable boxer carrying the world championship
title. Sadly his world title crown didn’t last when
he was stripped of the honour in 1995 after choosing to
fight Alex Schultz instead of number one ranker Tony Tucker.
Despite losing his title he was rewarded with a new-found
popularity and respect from fans and critics alike.
It was the fight against Shannon Briggs in
1998 for the right to face WBC champion Lennox Lewis that
was to be Foreman’s final match. After 12 rounds Briggs
took the victory and Foreman bowed out graciously aged 48.
Despite various mid-leading mumbles of yet
another ‘comeback’ turn, no further fights materialised
and instead Foreman lent his knowledge to HBO as a boxing
analyst for a short while. His separate business ventures
had continued to grow and he finally parted ways from boxing
when he severed his relationship with the TV channel to
concentrate on other pursuits.
Nowadays Foreman is best known for his famous
‘Lean Mean Fat Reducing Grilling Machine’ which
he tours the world to promote. Created in 1995 there have
been more than 100 million grills sold worldwide. Having
created the grill himself he has said to have made more
money from the product than his entire boxing career (said
to be around $240 million), proof that there was a career
for him beyond his fighting talents.
Foreman now lives with his fifth wife Mary
Joan and has nine children. He’s known to a whole
new generation of fans as the face of a fat-reducing grill
yet his true fans will never forget his record victories
and unique place in history in the boxing world.
