George Foreman Biography

Boxer

George Foreman was young, lean and angry when he beat Joe Frazier for the world heavyweight boxing championship in 1973. The next year he lost the title to Muhammad Ali in an epic bout in Zaire called the "Rumble in the Jungle." Foreman dropped from the public eye for years and devoted himself to his religious ministry, but in the 1990s he returned to the ring transformed into a rotund, jovial fighter who somehow beat Michael Moorer in 1994 to regain the heavyweight crown at age 45. His subsequent self-mocking commercials for hamburgers and mufflers made him even more famous. Foreman retired again after a 1997 loss to Shannon Briggs, but his fame was intact: he made millions as a TV pitchman for a low-fat cooking gadget called the George Foreman Grill. In February of 2004, Foreman announced that he intended to return for one more fight, this time as a 55-year-old grandfather, in honor of the 30th anniversary of his rumble with Ali.

Extra credit: Foreman was the Olympic heavyweight boxing champion in 1968... It's true: Foreman has five daughters and five sons and has named all of the sons George: George Jr., George III, George IV, George V, and George VI.

Other popular pitchmen on Who2 include Suzanne Somers, Miss Cleo and the Pillsbury Doughboy.