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From the Ring to Real Life: George Foreman’s Journey in Stunning Photos

The champion boxer, Christian minister, and frontman for an eponymous grill company d.i.e.d. on Friday, March 21. He was 76.

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George Foreman, the champion boxer turned pop culture icon, died late Friday, his family announced via social media. He was 76. The boxer, who was familiar even to non-boxing fans for his famous rivalry with Muhammad Ali and his line of hamburger grills, died “Surrounded by loved ones,” his family said. “He lived a life marked by unwavering faith, humility, and purpose.”

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George Foreman was born on January 10, 1949, in Marshall, Texas. After an occasionally troubled childhood, he discovered boxing at age 17. By 1968, he was the Olympic heavyweight champion. After his medal success, he began to box professionally, taking the heavyweight title during a 1973 match made forever famous by commentator Howard Cosell’s frenzied reaction to a knockout punch.

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In subsequent years, Foreman would retire then return to the ring. In 1994, he became the oldest heavyweight champion in the history of the sport when he bested 26-year-old Michael Moorer in Las Vegas during a brutal 10-round match.

That same year, he began the business relationship that arguably cemented him as a household name. The George Foreman Grill, an angled, electric panini press-like kitchen device became a kitchen mainstay. According to a 2024 report from The Hustle, at its heyday company owner Salton says it sold about 14 million grills a year; in 2000, TV shopping network QVC said the Foreman-fronted grill was its biggest seller in the kitchen appliance space.

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The familiarity from the grill sales helped Foreman transition into acting, including the title role in George, a 1990s-era ABC sitcom about a retired boxer. Most recently, he appeared as “The Venus Flytrap” in a 2022 episode of celebrity appearance grab bag competition series The Masked Singer. “It’s the greatest show on earth,” he said when his identity was revealed.

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Foreman, who had been married five times, is survived by wife since 1985 Mary Joan Martelly and brother Roy Foreman. His living children include six daughters: Natalia, Leola, Michi, Georgetta, Isabella and Courtney Foreman. His five sons, as has been frequently noted, are all named George.

“I named all my sons George Edward Foreman so they would always have something in common,” Foreman said on his website. “I say to them, ‘If one of us goes up, then we all go up together. And if one goes down, we all go down together!'”

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