George Edward Foreman was born on January 10, 1948 in Marshall, Texas. Growing up in the poorest part of Houston, Texas, George joined the Job Corps, where he learned to box. In the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, he won the gold medal, then returned home to embark on his professional career. His first bout was in June of 1969 at the Garden in New York City, where he knocked out Don Waldheim in three rounds. He followed that up with twelve more wins to finish the decade off with a record of 13-0, with all of his wins coming by knockout.
‘Big George’ followed that up with 12 more wins in 1970, 10 by knockout. He followed that up twelve more wins in 1971 and 1972, all by knockout, which earned him a shot at heavyweight champion Joe Frazier’s title on January 22, 1973 in Kingston, Jamaica.
Going into the fight as a 3-1 underdog, Foreman was not expected to defeat Joe Frazier, despite George’s 37-0 record, with 34 knockouts. It didn’t take long to find out the oddsmakers had no idea what they were talking about. George put Joe on the canvas a total of 6 times in two rounds, and the fight was never even close. After the sixth and final knockdown, referee Arthur Mercante called a halt to the slaughter, and Foreman was the new Heavyweight Champion of the World.
The fight will always be remembered for the famous ringside call of “Down goes Frazier!, Down goes Frazier!” by Howard Cosell for ABC sports. To me personally, I vividly remember coming down to get ready for school and hearing the announcement on the radio on top of the refrigerator by the late Philadelphia sportscaster Charlie Swift that Foreman had knocked out Frazier.
Heavyweight boxing now had a big, imposing puncher in George Foreman as the new champion, and it put a spark in the division. George started to appear on tv shows like Sanford and Son, and was a guest on Johnny Carson as well. He was a likeable sort, and to me he was what the sport needed.
George made one defense of his title on September 1, 1973 in Tokyo, Japan and easily disposed of a guy named Jose ‘King’ Roman in one round. ‘Big George’ was looked on as invincible by the public by this point, and there didn’t seem to be anyone that could beat him.
FOLLOW ME ON TIKTOK AT kensoldtimeboxingchat
FOLLOW ON INSTAGRAM AT kensoldtimeboxingchat
LISTEN TO MY PODCAST ON SPOTIFY AT kensoldtimeboxingchat
