East Texas native, boxing legend George Foreman dies at 76

Published 5:15 pm Saturday, March 22, 2025

Heavyweight champion, businessman, minister and Marshall native George Foreman died Friday at 76, his family announced.

“Our hearts are broken,” the family wrote in an Instagram post. “With profound sorrow, we announce the passing of our beloved George Edward Foreman Sr., who peacefully departed on March 21, 2025 surrounded by loved ones. A devout preacher, a devoted husband, a loving father, and a proud grand and great grandfather, he lived a life marked by unwavering faith, humility, and purpose.

“A humanitarian, an Olympian, and two-time heavyweight champion of the world, He was deeply respected — a force for good, a man of discipline, conviction, and a protector of his legacy, fighting tirelessly to preserve his good name — for his family.

“We are grateful for the outpouring of love and prayers, and kindly ask for privacy as we honor the extraordinary life of a man we were blessed to call our own.”

Foreman, who was a two-time heavyweight champion and an Olympic gold medalist, was proud of his Houston roots. He was born in Marshall but moved there as a child.

“I love this city,” Foreman told the Houston Chronicle in 2016. “I really do.”

Foreman, the fifth of seven children raised by a single mom, attended elementary and junior high in Houston, but dropped out before making it to high school. At 16, he talked his mother into signing him up for the Job Corps where he learned bricklaying, carpentry and forestry, while getting his GED and, in a life-changing moment, discovered boxing.

Foreman, who was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame in 2003, won a gold medal in 1968, then went on to knock out Joe Frazier for the heavyweight title in 1973 in Kingston, Jamaica, eliciting the iconic “Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier!” call from Howard Cosell on the TV broadcast.

After two successful title defenses, Foreman lost the belt to Muhammad Ali in the “Rumble in the Jungle” in 1974 in Zaire. He would go on to win five more fights, including another stoppage of Frazier, but he gave up boxing in 1977 when he found religion.

He returned to Houston and became an ordained minister, opening the George Foreman Youth and Community Center.

After 10 years away from boxing, Foreman returned to the ring, making a comeback at 38 years old. He would go on to become the oldest heavyweight champion when he beat Michael Moorer for the title in 1994 at 45 years old.

Three years later, he retired with a lifetime record of 76-5 with 68 knockouts.

“I never intended to stop,” Foreman said in 2019. “I just got so busy, I couldn’t box. It wasn’t a pride thing. I’d gone into boxing to earn money, and I did that.

“You don’t really realize you’ve done all these things (statistically). Religion took a greater hold on me. That’s who I am.”

Foreman became so ubiquitous, he was a household name even in homes that never watched a boxing match. He was the pitchman behind the George Foreman Grill, which also seemed to be in every household in the late 1990s, and his gregarious personality often was featured on late-night talk shows. All of that, plus being the father of 10, kept the former champion plenty busy.

Foreman’s life was filled with enough twists, turns and comebacks, a biopic “Big George Foreman” was released about him in 2023.

Foreman kept a ranch in Marshall.

“When someone tells your life story, the best ones are usually when people have already passed on,” Foreman said when the film debuted. “Let’s hope this is good so there can be an even better one later on. In America, we all love the second-chance story. You go down, and you get back up. Boy, what a story that’s always been.”