(KRON) — Boxing legend and former heavyweight champion George Foreman died last Friday at the age of 76. Foreman was born in Texas. However, after a troubled upbringing, he then moved to the West Coast after ninth grade when he enrolled in President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Job Corps work program.
The program eventually took Foreman to Pleasanton where his legendary boxing career began, according to the United States Olympic & Paralympic Museum. It was in the East Bay city where Foreman met trainer Doc Broadus.
For the next several years, Broadus is credited for guiding Foreman in his early amateur career. Foreman, then 19 years old, would then win a gold medal in the 1968 Mexico City Summer Olympic Games.
Even after Foreman’s teenage years in the East Bay, the boxer would return as a professional and hold training camps in Pleasanton, including one of the biggest fights in boxing history “The Rumble in the Jungle.”
Ahead of his showdown against fellow legend Muhammad Ali in 1974, the then-undefeated Foreman was preparing for the biggest fight of his life in Pleasanton. Foreman held his training camp at the Alameda County Fairgrounds before the championship fight in Zaire, Africa (pictured below).
Heavyweight champion George Foreman winds up a right as he works out on the heavy bag on August 7, 1974 at his training camp at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton, California. Trainer Dick Sadler hangs onto the bag. Foreman is in training for a defense of his title against Muhammad Ali in September. The fight will be in Africa. (AP Photo/Robert Houston) 
Heavyweight champion George Foreman lets trainer Dick Sadler adjusts his protective headgear during a sparring session at his Pleasanton, California on Feb. 26, 1974, training camp. Sadler, who has been with Foreman since the beginning of his professional career, is only one of a number of individuals and corporations with more than just an emotional investment in the champion’s career. (AP Photo) 
Heavyweight champion George Foreman signs autographs as he leaves final workout at Alameda County Fairgrounds training camp in Pleasanton, California, Sept. 9, 1974. Youngster at left clutches autographed tape from the hands of the fighter who is scheduled to meet Muhammad Ali in title clash on September 24 in Zaire. Foreman enplanes for New York and Zaire on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Sal Veder) 
(Original Caption) 8/14/74-Pleasanton, CA- Seating off the excess pounds, heavyweight champion George Foreman is shown just after a recent ring workout as he prepares for his 9/24 title defense against Muhammad Ali in the African nation of Zaire. Foreman is getting down to fighting trim at his camp at the Alameda County fairgrounds, near San Francisco.
The heavy favorite Foreman lost to Ali via 8th-round knockout — his first career loss. That was regarded as one of, if not, the best performance of Ali’s career.
Foreman finished his career with a 76-5 record with 68 knockouts. One of Foreman’s most remarkable feats was recapturing the heavyweight crown at the age of 45, following a 10-year retirement. In 1994, he knocked out the much younger and then-undefeated Michael Moore to become the oldest heavyweight champion ever.
He officially retired in 1997 at the age of 48 after a decision loss to Shannon Briggs. Foreman was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2003. The fighter would go on to become a successful entrepreneur, becoming the face of the George Foreman Grill. The grill sold more than 100 million units and made him more money than fighting.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
(KRON) — Boxing legend and former heavyweight champion George Foreman died last Friday at the age of 76. Foreman was born in Texas. However, after a troubled upbringing, he then moved to the West Coast after ninth grade when he enrolled in President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Job Corps work program. The program eventually took Foreman […]
Leave a Reply