From a brooding menace to a genial, powerful man. I'm so, so sorry that he's gone.
One of the best documentaries ever made, to my mind, is "When We Were Kings" - there you see the old George Foreman and the flashy Ali in the Rumble in the Jungle in Zaire. You don't need to be a boxing fan, or even particularly a sports fan, to enjoy it - the film is about a time and a place, the run-up to the fight, what happened during it, and has an incredible sound track. Watching Foreman walk to his doom to the hushed music of Miriam Makeba is like watching a Greek tragedy.
George had a revelation one day in 1977 after a fight when he was in the ready room feeling like he'd been almost beaten to death. It was actually a true 'come to Jesus' moment and he changed his life. He did not become a preacher of hate as we see how, but a true ambassador of the spirit. That's when we went from a menace to a leader - you can see flashes of it in the documentary.
His fight with Michael Moorer at the age of 45 was incredible as it was won by knockout. Moorer danced around old slow George, but George countered, shifted, used his experience, and still had one of the hardest punches in the division. He wore his 'lucky shorts' which he had worn during one of his Ali fights and his cornerman told him he was getting arm weary from pulling those old drooping old things up between rounds.
George preached at a small church, and many of his parishoners (who were often white, BTW), didn't even know he was a boxer - they liked his sermons and his inspiring kindness.
I never used a George Foreman grill as I cook in a wok, but lots of people love it. Not sure why anyone wouldn't "admit' to using one (?1).
Try watching "When We Were Kings", though - it's a real piece of history.
Sorry for the TED talk lol - I'm a boxing historian and it's hard to stop.
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