George Foreman passed away yesterday, 24th March 2025
We have a lot of boxers we admire. Maybe it’s because we’re older. At my age, my boxing heroes are people like Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr.
But how can we forget the greats like Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Rocky Marciano, Joe Lewis, “Sugar” Ray Leonard, and Sonny Liston? If you’re a boxing fan, you’re probably asking, “Where is George Foreman?”
I didn’t put George Foreman there because I wanted you to look up his name. He’s not new to boxing fans. Today, I’m going to talk about “Big George Foreman,” which is set to be released next April.
Who is this “Big” George Foreman? None of the names mentioned above can punch that hard. Not even Mike Tyson? Yes, not even Mike Tyson.
Biography movies are one of the most popular and respected film genres in the world. One director who has shown his work is George Tillman Jr. George Tillman made the movie Notorious based on the life of the East Coast hip hop king Notorious Big or Biggie Smalls.
Since there are many Georges, let’s not get confused, the name of the movie directed by George Tillman is “Big George Foreman”. The main character is Chris Davis. But my favorite is the one that cast Forest Whitaker to portray the trainer Doc Broadus. It fits perfectly. This is a biography drama movie.
George Foreman is a heavyweight boxing champion. Foreman earned his nickname not only because of his height of over 6 feet 3 inches. It was also because of his broad shoulders and heavy arms. Among the heavyweight champions of those days, Foreman had the most one punch knockout ability.
Raised in a very poor family, Foreman won the heavyweight boxing gold medal at the 1968 Olympics. In fact, in the gold medal match, the referee stopped the fight after two rounds because the face of his opponent, Russian Jonas Chepulis, was already cut in several places.
Foreman, who entered professional boxing in 1969, won his first professional fight by knocking out his opponent in the first round.
But he had to fight during difficult times. Muhammad Ali, considered the greatest boxer in the world, Joe Frazier, a formidable opponent, and Sonny Liston, a tough guy in town, were all active heavyweight boxers at the time.
In 1973, Foreman was given the opportunity to challenge the then world heavyweight champion, Joe Frazier. Everyone said that even though Foreman was a one-punch man, he would give Joe Frazier a match that would hurt his opponents with a marathon boxing match. Despite being a good defensive boxer, Fraser had to take so many blows that he was knocked out six times in two rounds.
In 1974, a match called the Rumble in the Jungle took place between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. Ali wanted to wear Foreman down and win the fight after 7-8 rounds. Foreman was caught. But until then, Ali was in incredible pain. Ali earned the nickname “The Greatest in the World” because of such work. No one has ever escaped Foreman’s way. Ali had to pay that price for the rest of his life.
If we stop there, this tragedy is not big enough to be made into a movie, is it? But the work that needs to be made into a movie will happen later.
After one of the fights in 1977, George Foreman suffered a heart attack or heatstroke due to a high body temperature. At that moment, Foreman, who was fighting death, found the strength to live by asking God for his life. He was a 28-year-old boy.
In 1977, Foreman became a born-again Christian. He later became a full-time pastor, leading a religious life. But that story is not what makes him worthy of being brought to a movie.
Ten years later, in 1987, “Pastor Foreman” returned to the boxing ring. At the age of 38, he came in and knocked out his opponent in four rounds. He won the fight. From there, he won nine fights in a row.
By 1994, Evander Holyfield (who Tyson had eaten) was the world champion. Michael Moore took it from him. George Foreman got the chance to fight Moore. Moore was 19 years younger than Foreman. Foreman was 45 years old. Moore was 26. But Foreman defeated Moore and became the world heavyweight boxing champion once again.
The 46-year-old Foreman, who held the world heavyweight boxing championship until 1996, succeeded.
It is a story that gives strength and support to anyone in the world. That is where George Foreman’s story becomes suitable for cinema.
So there is also an impatience to see how interesting this story has been made into a movie.
Although great hopes are dangerous, having no hope is even more dangerous.
“Big George Foreman” tells us that story
*The first picture is of Chris Davis, who plays the role of Foreman. The second picture is of George Foreman.
Chris Davis
The Great George Foreman.