The iconic fight that devastated and defined George Foreman became the making of his reinvention.
The Rumble in the Jungle not only saw Muhammad Ali reclaim the world heavyweight belt but diminished his previously unbeaten rival’s aura of invincibility.
So, synonymous with a bruising setback, there was resentment to shake off – deepened by taunts as brutal as the punches.
“Is that all you got George?” Ali said, wearing down Foreman with rope-a-dope tactics.
The Rumble in the Jungle fight of 1974 between Foreman and Ali. Pic: DPA/Picture-alliance/AP Images
The withering put-downs and punching ferocity that night in Kinshasa in 1974 engrossed and connected an analogue world.
But when you are the loser in one of the greatest sporting contests in history there are constant reminders of hitting the canvas for the first time.
“It was real painful to watch,” Foreman told Sky News in 2023. “Then I’d watch it because I started teaching other boxers about boxing techniques.”
And the resentment and enmity was eventually replaced with admiration for Ali – connected by a bout for the ages. Their legacies intertwined.
“It became something that I had in common with the great Muhammad Ali, we became the best of friends,” Foreman said.
Read more: US boxing legend dies aged 76
George Foreman pictured in 1995. Pic: Reuters
It was Ali who urged Foreman to come out of a retirement that produced the first reinvention – becoming an ordained minister.
“I’m a preacher now and am not coming back,” Foreman recalled telling Ali.
The response evoked Foreman’s religious awakening: “Remember what David did to Goliath? You can come back and fight for God.”
Camaraderie grew from the rivalry, but Foreman waited until Ali’s retirement to make his comeback in 1987 after a decade away.
Foreman (R) fighting Michael Moorer in 1994. Pic: Reuters
Setting a template for celebrity endorsements
Inspired, at 45, to reclaim belts, Foreman in 1994 floored Michael Moorer – almost two decades his junior – to become the oldest world heavyweight champion.
It was the launchpad for another reinvention as an entrepreneur by lending his name to what became a household staple – the George Foreman Grill.
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David Haye on Foreman the ‘inspiration’
For many the first reaction to his death might not be thinking of those epic bouts but the man who went from fighting in the ring to fighting fat in the kitchen.
It set a template for successful and lucrative celebrity product endorsements.
The grill generated more than $200m for Foreman – a fortune far eclipsing those from fighting.
Foreman in 1974. Pic: AP Photo/SJV
A fighter with self-deprecating humour
A life that began in the segregated American South and took Foreman to Olympic gold in 1968 and heavyweight titles, ended with George Foreman remembered as much as a cultural icon as a boxer.
The self-deprecating humour showcased in acting and adverts showed how the decades eased the agony of his Rumble in the Jungle humbling.
His fun side was demonstrated in his Sky News interview in 2023, invoking – when asked about the grill – how all five of his boys are named George.
He chuckled: “How many of them do I own? You know because George doesn’t like meat so he has to have his private grill but George loves hot dogs and then George loves hamburgers you got all these Georges for all of these grills, it gets out of hand.”
