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RIP Big George: The Knockout Life of a Champion, Preacher, and Grill Master · Gil I Am

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Welcome listeners to this special episode of my podcast, A
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: rest in Peace memorial for a Titan of the Ring,
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: a giant of faith, and a man whose life story
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  Speaker 1: feels like something out of a legend. Today, March twenty second,
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  Speaker 1: twenty twenty five, we gather to honor George Edward Foreman, Senior,
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  Speaker 1: known to the world as Big George, who passed away
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  Speaker 1: peacefully yesterday, March twenty first, at the age of seventy six,
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  Speaker 1: surrounded by loved ones in Houston, Texas. His family shared
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: the news with heavy hearts, calling him a devout preacher,
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  Speaker 1: a devoted husband, a loving father, and a proud grandfather,
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  Speaker 1: a man who lived with unwavering faith and purpose. Today
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  Speaker 1: we're not just mourning a loss. We're celebrating a life
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  Speaker 1: that punched through adversity, faith, and time itself to leave
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  Speaker 1: an indelible mark on the world. So settle in, folks,
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  Speaker 1: this is the story of Big George Foreman. Let's start
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  Speaker 1: where it all began January tenth, nineteen forty nine and Marshall, Texas.
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  Speaker 1: George was born into a world that didn't offer much
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  Speaker 1: to a poor black kid growing up in Houston's Fifth Ward,
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  Speaker 1: a place he once called the Bloody Fifth because of
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  Speaker 1: its rough streets. Raised by his mother Nancy, alongside six siblings,
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  Speaker 1: George new hunger, not just the kind that growls in
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  Speaker 1: your stomach, but the kind that gnaws at your soul.
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  Speaker 1: His family struggled to make ends meet, and George later
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  Speaker 1: admitted he'd stand on neighbor's porches at night, peering into
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  Speaker 1: their kitchens, dreaming of leftovers. That hunger fueled a rage
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  Speaker 1: inside him, a fire that could have burned him out early.
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  Speaker 1: By fifteen, he'd dropped out of school and turned to
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  Speaker 1: the streets, mugging, robbing, just trying to survive. But at sixteen,
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  Speaker 1: something shifted. He saw an ad for the Job Corps
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  Speaker 1: on TV, and with his mother's nudge, he signed up.
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  Speaker 1: That decision didn't just change his life, it changed the
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  Speaker 1: world of boxing. The Job Corps gave George structure a
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  Speaker 1: ged skills in carpentry and bricklaying, but it was a
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  Speaker 1: man named Doc brought Us who saw the real potential
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: in those fists. Doc, a boxing trainer, introduced George to
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  Speaker 1: the ring, and let me tell you, it was like
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  Speaker 1: handing a sculptor a block of marble. George was raw
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  Speaker 1: powerful and angry, and boxing became his chisel. In just
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  Speaker 1: a year, he was stepping onto the world stage at
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  Speaker 1: the nineteen sixty eight Olympics in Mexico City. Picture this
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  Speaker 1: a nineteen year old kid from the fifth ward, standing
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  Speaker 1: tall with a gold medal around his neck after pounding
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  Speaker 1: Soviet boxer Jonas Chapulis into submission while others raised fists
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  Speaker 1: in protest. That year, George waved a small American flag,
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  Speaker 1: proud to represent his country. That moment wasn't just a victory,
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  Speaker 1: it was a declaration Big George had arrived from there.
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  Speaker 1: George turned pro in nineteen sixty nine, and oh man,
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  Speaker 1: did he hit the heavyweight division like a freight train.
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  Speaker 1: By nineteen seventy three, he was thirty seven and zero
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  Speaker 1: with thirty four knockouts, and he faced the undefeated Joe
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  Speaker 1: Frasier in Kingston, Jamaica the Sunshine Showdown. Howard Cossel's voice
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  Speaker 1: still echoes in our ears. Down goes for Down, goes Frasier.
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  Speaker 1: While six knockdowns and two rounds, and George was the
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  Speaker 1: heavyweight champion of the world. At twenty four. He was unstoppable, big, brooding,
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  Speaker 1: and terrifying. But then came nineteen seventy four, the Rumble
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  Speaker 1: in the Jungle in Zair, Muhammad Ali, the underdog, outsmarted
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  Speaker 1: him with the Ropidope, taking George's title in the eighth round.
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  Speaker 1: It was his first loss and it hit him hard.
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  Speaker 1: Three years later, after a defeat to Jimmy Young in
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  Speaker 1: nineteen seventy seven, George collapsed in the dressing room heat stroke, exhaustion,
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  Speaker 1: and something more. He said. He died that night, saw
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  Speaker 1: nothingness and cried out, I still believe there's a God.
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  Speaker 1: A hand, he said, pulled him back. That was the
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  Speaker 1: moment Big George Foreman found faith and walked away from boxing.
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  Speaker 1: For the next decade, George traded gloves for a Bible.
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  Speaker 1: He became an ordained minister, preaching at the Church of
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  Speaker 1: the Lord Jesus Christ in Houston, building a youth center
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  Speaker 1: to give kids like him a chance. He married Mary
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  Speaker 1: Joan Martelli, started a Family and Me eight piece with Ali,
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  Speaker 1: turning an old rivalry into a deep friendship. But in
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  Speaker 1: nineteen eighty seven, at thirty eight, financial troubles loomed. His
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  Speaker 1: youth center was drowning in debt, so George did the unthinkable.
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  Speaker 1: He laced up the gloves again. Skeptics laughed, he's too old,
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  Speaker 1: too slow, But George wasn't the same fighter. He'd swapped
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  Speaker 1: rage for resolve, and over the next few years he
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  Speaker 1: climbed back up the ranks. Then, on November fifth, nineteen
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  Speaker 1: ninety four, at forty five years old, he faced Michael Moore,
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  Speaker 1: a twenty six year old champ. In the tenth round,
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  Speaker 1: George landed a right hand that shocked the world. Moore
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  Speaker 1: went down, and George reclaimed the heavyweight title, becoming the
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  Speaker 1: oldest champion in history. Jim Lampley's call still gives me chills.
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  Speaker 1: It happened, It happened. But George's story isn't just about boxing,
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  Speaker 1: It's about reinvention. After retiring for good in nineteen ninety
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  Speaker 1: seven with a record of seventy six and five sixty
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  Speaker 1: eight by knockout, he became a household name in a
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  Speaker 1: new way. The George Foreman gri that Lean Mean grilling
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  Speaker 1: machine sold over a hundred million units, netting him one
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  Speaker 1: hundred and thirty eight million dollars when he sold the
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  Speaker 1: rights in nineteen ninety nine from a kid who couldn't
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  Speaker 1: afford lunch to a business man who fed the world.
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  Speaker 1: How's that for a comeback? And through it all he
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  Speaker 1: stayed humble, funny, a gentle giant who'd chat with anyone,
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  Speaker 1: always quick with a smile or a story about faith.
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  Speaker 1: George Foreman passed yesterday, March twenty first, twenty twenty five,
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  Speaker 1: at seventy six, leaving behind a legacy that's more than
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  Speaker 1: titles or grills. He was a two time champ, an Olympian,
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  Speaker 1: a preacher, a father of twelve, yes twelve, including five
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  Speaker 1: sons named George, and a symbol of second chances. His
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  Speaker 1: family said he fought tirelessly to protect his name and
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  Speaker 1: his loved ones, and you can feel that strength in
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  Speaker 1: every chapter of his life. The boxing world mourns him.
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  Speaker 1: Mike Tyson called him a legend, Jake Paul said he's
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  Speaker 1: forever goaded, and Charles Barkley choked up remembering their talks.
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  Speaker 1: But beyond the tributes, George's own words linger, There's a
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  Speaker 1: living God and I'm proof of it. So here's to you,
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  Speaker 1: Big George. You knocked out opponents, you knocked out doubt,
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  Speaker 1: and you showed us that even the hardest punches can't
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  Speaker 1: keep a good man down. Rest in peace, Champ. Your
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  Speaker 1: fight's over, but your story lives on.