Foreman

For george foreman to win the heavyweight championship of the world at age 45 is inspiring this tale of redemption from a man who was bitter at the world to a born again Christian who completely turned his life around for the better he returned to boxing to raise money to keep the youth centre open a place of solace for trouble youth and in return he won the heavyweight title at age 45 proving all the naysayers wrong

I watched a couple of George Foreman fights back when I was a kid. Later, when Foreman came back in the 1990s, I passed on most of those fights. Like everyone else, I thought Foreman was just trying to sell his Foreman Grills. I had a hard time believing that a nice fat old man could be serious about boxing.

Thanks to Covid-19, this was on free premium cable, so I watched it, and I was pleasantly surprised. I was amazed and inspired too. George Foreman made an incredible transformation of his life. He also took a lot of disrespect and ridicule from people, and yet Foreman was not resentful of anyone. He is a really genuine humble good guy.

I think that is what I appreciated the most about Foreman (the documentary). It showed what he cared about was people. Foreman figured out how to make money and get famous again, and he had incredible faith in God and in himself, and he stuck to his plan, even after years of ridicule.

I do not think I could have done it. Seeing the story in detail, I honestly cannot imagine sticking to it like George Foreman did. He is an real American hero, with a giant heart of gold. I am glad I saw this!

In the summer of 1987 as Mike Tyson became the unified Heavyweight champion of the world. Ending the chaos in the heavyweight division with multiple world champions some with questionable abilities.

George Foreman announced that at the age of 38 he was planning a comeback in boxing. How we all laughed, he was a name from the past. We had seen the future of boxing and his name was Mike Tyson.

People older than me were constantly telling me that Tyson would had been no match for Frazier, Ali or Foreman in their prime. The operative word was prime and Foreman had not boxed since 1977 when he became a preacher.

When I did see Foreman in the ring again. He was old, bald, slow and podgy. The only way he was going to become a champion again if someone like Tony Tubbs won the world title and fought Foreman.

The last laugh was on Foreman. In 1994 at the age of 45, George Foreman became the WBA/IBF Heavyweight champion of the world by beating Michael Moorer. The WBA title was the one he took from Frazier and later lost to Ali.

Foreman is less of a documentary and more of a fairy tale.

The George Foreman of the 1970s was a mean surly man. A boxer of few words but a big punch. He destroyed Frazier in the ring. When he fought Ali in Zaire. Ali's own entourage were looking at a map figuring out the quickest way to get Ali to hospital.

The Foreman that emerged in the late 1980s was such a contrast. He smiled, he joked, he was full of zest. The time spent preaching meant he could articulate at a time when most boxers mumbled in monosyllables. As promoter Bob Arum noted in this documentary. Foreman could sell PPV seats and when he fought Evander Holyfield for the world title, the promoter sold over 1.5 million PPV showings.

The documentary gives more nuance to George Foreman. After he became Olympic champion there is a happy go lucky part to him. Foreman is grateful that President Lyndon B Johnson's anti poverty initiative took him out from a life of petty crime.

When Foreman turned professional he used Sonny Liston as his role model. The mean and moody act was just that; an act. The knockout punch was not. Foreman was big and fast, this is clearly demonstrated in his fight with Frazier.

The low point of his life was The Rumble in the Jungle. Ali's rebirth as a legend meant Foreman had to be the villain. It was a role that should had defined him for the rest of his life. Ali cleverly ensured he would never meet Foreman in the ring again.

A defeat for Foreman in 1977 in the heat of Puerto Rico led to a religious experience in the locker room as Foreman was delirious with heatstroke.

Foreman stopped boxing became a born again Christian and started preaching. Needing funds for his youth club meant that a decade later Foreman started at the bottom taking on journeymen. This time he did it with a smile.

Foreman the documentary is about a man who reinvented himself. It shows that F Scott Fitzgerald was wrong. There are second acts in American lives. After Foreman beat Michael Moorer to be come a world champion, you can see it in Foreman's face. The Rumble in the Jungle was now in the past. George Foreman just beat one of the new breed of boxers and this time he was the hero.

Praise Jesus Christ and His champion George Foreman.

This film takes you back to the halcyon days of boxing, when boxers had to prove themselves. Might be 2 belts, but each holder wanted undisputed title.So you had epic confrontations between Ali / Frazier / Foreman. These bouts were watched throughout the world even if in the early hours. Tyson was the last to ignite that sort of interest. Now they can fight for 4 or 5 belts and avoid each other, that's why the non boxing fans have lost interest. But watch this anyway because of George, you watch a man as well as a boxer grow up and mature. Why he's not proclaimed as a role model for black youth I don't know, but I could probably guess.