Hem
George Foreman, 2015. (Timothy D. Easley / AP)

Boxningsikonen George Foreman död – blev 76 år

Den legendariske tungviktsboxaren George Foreman har dött vid 76 års ålder, rapporterar amerikanska medier.

Han är främst känd för sin rivalitet med Muhammad Ali, som kulminerade i den ikoniska matchen ”Rumble in the jungle” i Zaire (nuvarande Kongo-Kinshasa) 1974 – ett av tidernas mest sedda idrottsevenemang på tv.

Den då 25-årige tungviktsmästaren Foreman var favorittippad, men den 32-årige Ali gjorde en sensationell comeback och vann i åttonde ronden.

1994 tog Foreman tillbaka tungviktsbältet, och tre år senare gick han i pension. Därefter blev han en framgångsrik affärsman och multimiljonär på att sälja bordsgrillar av märket som bar hans eget namn.

bakgrund
 
George Foreman
Wikipedia (en)
George Edward Foreman (January 10, 1949 – March 21, 2025) was an American professional boxer, entrepreneur, minister, and author. In boxing, he competed between 1967 and 1997 and was nicknamed "Big George". He was a two-time world heavyweight champion and an Olympic gold medalist. As an entrepreneur, he was known for the George Foreman Grill. After a troubled childhood, Foreman took up amateur boxing and won a gold medal in the heavyweight division at the 1968 Summer Olympics. Having turned professional the next year, he won the world heavyweight title with a stunning second-round knockout of then-undefeated Joe Frazier in 1973. He defended the belt twice before suffering his first professional loss to Muhammad Ali in the Rumble in the Jungle in 1974. Unable to secure another title opportunity, Foreman retired after a loss to Jimmy Young in 1977. Following what he referred to as a born again experience, Foreman became an ordained Christian minister. Ten years later he announced a comeback, and in 1994 at age 45 won the unified WBA, IBF, and lineal heavyweight championship titles by knocking out 26-year-old Michael Moorer. He dropped the WBA belt rather than face his mandatory title defense soon after, and following a single successful title defense against Axel Schulz, Foreman relinquished his IBF title as well on June 28, 1995. At 46 years and 169 days old, he was the oldest world heavyweight champion in history. Foreman was the oldest to ever win the world heavyweight boxing championship of major honors and the second-oldest in any weight class after Bernard Hopkins (at light heavyweight). He retired in 1997 at the age of 48, with a final record of 76 wins (68 knockouts) and 5 losses. Foreman has been inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame and International Boxing Hall of Fame. The International Boxing Research Organization rates Foreman as the eighth-greatest heavyweight of all time. In 2002, he was named one of the 25 greatest fighters of the past 80 years by The Ring. The Ring ranked him as the ninth-greatest puncher of all time. He was a ringside analyst for HBO's boxing coverage for 12 years until 2004. Outside boxing, Foreman was a successful entrepreneur and known for his promotion of the George Foreman Grill, which has sold more than 100 million units worldwide. In 1999, he sold the commercial rights to the grill for $138 million.
Omni är politiskt obundna och oberoende. Vi strävar efter att ge fler perspektiv på nyheterna. Har du frågor eller synpunkter kring vår rapportering? Kontakta redaktionen