T he shockwaves of George Foreman’s stunning two-round knockout of Joe Frazier are still being felt around the boxing world. There are many who feel that big George’s victory over the heretofore invincible Frazier was simply a fluke, that Frazier was (a) not in top condition and (b) failed to take Foreman seriously enough. And, if you listen to Cassius Clay, he’ll have you believe he’s the one who really beat Frazier, and that Foreman, despite the fact he is the heavyweight champion of the world, is the rankest of amateurs. But George Foreman is as big as life and hits twice as hard. He is a gentle giant, goes about his business quietly and efficiently, believes in God and the United States of America, not to mention Mom’s apple pie. A fellow who waves a little American flag after winning the Olympic heavyweight Gold Medal can’t be all bad. The 25th boxer to hold the heavyweight title was born in Marshall, Texas, on January 22, 1948 (editor’s note: This should be 1949), when Joe Louis was a year away from retiring as heavyweight boss. George was the fifth of seven children born to a railroad construction worker and his wife, Nancy. “I was always in trouble as a kid,” George candidly admits. “The juvenile authorities were always after me. I grew up in the Fifth Ward in Houston, which is mostly black. The cops knew me. You name it, I had done it. There was one week when I broke 200 windows and didn’t even get caught. But the next week I’m walking down the street with a rock in my hand and the cops picked me up. “In the Bloody Fifth I mingled with dope addicts, ex-cons, the worst of thieves and criminals. At the time it seemed as if I would end up just like them. And I was always in some kind of street fight. “I also was a high school dropout, quitting E. O. Smith Junior High in 1963, then took to hanging around on street corners because there didn’t seem
A GENTLE GIANT
to be much of anything else to do.” Of course, that spelled more trouble. Then came the dawning and a complete turnabout in the life of George Foreman, future champion of the world. When he was 16, he saw pro football star Jim Brown on television talking about the Job Corps. Deciding that he had nothing to lose, Foreman joined up in 1965 and was sent to the Fort
Broadus talked Foreman into trying some boxing. The youngster put on a pair of gloves for the first time in December 1966 and, as Broadus recalls, was given a rather rough time of it by veteran Max Briggs. For several days thereafter, George stayed away from the gym. “I went looking for him,” remembers Broadus. “He told me he didn’t have
Tournament. In February 1967, Foreman won the San Francisco Examiner’s Golden Gloves Junior Division heavyweight title. Later that month, George went to Las Vegas, Nev., to capture the Golden Gloves Senior Division crown with a knockout of Thomas Cook. In early March, Foreman lost a split decision in the Senior Division finals of
Olympics had done for them. Suddenly, I developed a lot of interest in what Doc had been telling me.” In July 1967, Foreman completed his training with the Job Corps and went back to Houston. He couldn’t find a job, however. George then decided to return to the Job Corps as an avocation instructor, being paid $465 a month in the Parks’
the National AAU heavyweight championship in Toledo, O., by winning four bouts, three by knockouts. That accomplishment virtually assured George of a place on the U.S. Olympic team. In August 1968, the AAU sent a 10- man team to West Germany, where Foreman won two of three bouts, the loss coming on a disqualification for an accidental punch to the back of his
Foreman attacks Brazil's Luis Perez at Madison Square Garden in 1971.
As a 19-year-old, Foreman captured Olympic heavyweight gold in Mexico.
Vannoy Conversation Center, near Grants Pass, Oregon, where he learned bricklaying and carpentry. In February 1966, George was assigned to the Parks Job Corps Center, operated for the Job Corps by Litton Industries, in Pleasanton, California, about 40 miles east of Oakland. It was there where he qualified as an electronics assembler and earned his high school equivalency certificate. Always a good athlete, Foreman spent many of his off-duty hours playing tackle on the Pleasanton football team, where his size and speed attracted the attention of Nick (Doc) Broadus, the camp’s vocational guidance director.
the National Golden Gloves. Doc Broadus was extremely pleased with the progress of his young charge. He felt that in George he had a future ring great, predicting, “He’ll stop everybody in sight because he’s a natural. God bless the puncher.” But it wasn’t until much later that George began to appreciate the faith Broadus had in him. “Doc kept talking about the 1968 Olympics and how I could win a Gold Medal in Mexico City. But it didn’t make too much of an impression on me. What did I know about the Olympics? But Broadus kept telling me about Floyd Patterson, Cassius Clay and Joe Frazier and what the
physical education department. In recalling his failure to find work in Houston, George says, “I think it’s discrimination, but I can’t prove it.” He went back to boxing with an eye set on the Olympics. George won his first fight in 58 seconds, and the next in 54 seconds. In January, 1968, Foreman took on Clay Hodges, the National Golden Gloves champion, but lost a split decision. In February, George won the Examiner Senior title in San Francisco with a KO over L. C. Brown. A bit later that month, in Las Vegas, Foreman dropped another decision to Hodges. Then in March, Foreman captured
any tennis shoes, so I got a pair for him and invited him to work out with the team. He trained for a few weeks, then disappeared again when he was scheduled to appear with the Parks team in a local meet. But later, he showed up and began working out again with the squad.” Foreman’s debut as an amateur boxer occurred on January 26, 1967, when he scored a one-round knockout in the Parks Department Diamond Belt
opponent’s head. Upon returning to the U.S., Foreman faced a final match for a berth on the Olympic squad against Otis Evans, whom Foreman had decisioned in Toledo for the AAU crown. It was on September 21 at the Olympic training site in Santa Fe, N.M., that George defeated Evans via a unanimous decision, thus becoming the heavyweight representative of the U.S.A. at Mexico City.
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