The two-time heavyweight champion, entrepreneur, author and minister, George Foreman, best known for his hugely popular Foreman Grill outside of the ring, has passed away Friday at age 76, according to his family and publicist.
“Our hearts are broken. With profound sorrow, we announce the passing of our beloved George Edward Foreman Sr. who peacefully departed on March 21, 2025, surrounded by loved ones,” Foreman’s family announced on Instagram.
“A devout preacher, a devoted husband, a loving father, and a proud grand and great grandfather, he lived a life marked by unwavering faith, humility, and purpose.”
The statement added: “A humanitarian, an Olympian, and two time heavyweight champion of the world, He was deeply respected – a force for good, a man of discipline, conviction, and a protector of his legacy, fighting tirelessly to preserve his good name – for his family,” the family said, describing Foreman in a post on Instagram.
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After a troubled childhood, George Foreman took up amateur boxing and won a gold medal in the heavyweight division at the 1968 Summer Olympics. Having turned professional the next year, he won the world heavyweight title with a second-round knockout of then-undefeated Joe Frazier in 1973. Two successful title defenses were made before Foreman’s first professional loss to Muhammad Ali in “The Rumble in the Jungle” in 1974. Unable to secure another title opportunity, Foreman retired after a loss to Jimmy Young in 1977.
Following what he referred to as a religious epiphany, Foreman became an ordained Christian minister. Ten years later, he announced a comeback and, in 1994, at age 45, he regained a portion of the heavyweight championship by knocking out 27-year-old Michael Moorer to win the unified WBA, IBF, and lineal titles. Foreman remains the oldest heavyweight champion in history, and the second oldest in any weight class after Bernard Hopkins (at light heavyweight). He retired in 1997 at the age of 48, with a final record of 76 wins 5 losses and 68 knockouts.
The True History Behind the ‘Foreman Grill’
But when the former two-time World Heavyweight Champion finally decided to leave the professional boxing limelight, the extra pounds he’d gained decided to hang around for a while longer.
Not one to stay overweight or feel sorry for himself, Foreman lost the weight and credited his success to eating healthy. This made him a perfect fit to be the spokesperson for a fat-reducing grill, which was appropriately named the George Foreman grill. The George Foreman Grill has resulted in sales of over 100 million units since it was first launched, a feat achieved in a little over 15 years.
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The company producing the product paid him $137 million in 1999, in order to buy out the right to use his name. Previous to that he was being paid about 40% of the profits on each grill sold (earning him $4.5 million a month in payouts at its peak) so it is estimated he has made a total of over $200 million from the endorsement, substantially more than he earned as a boxer.
Since then, he’s learned a lot about himself and business. He even wrote a book titled, God In My Corner, where he shares some of his learnings like,
“To succeed in business, you need somebody in your corner who cares enough to challenge you and is courageous enough to tell you the truth, especially when the pressure is on.”
“Nobody can do everything well,” explains Foreman. “So learn how to delegate responsibility to other winners and then hold them accountable for their decisions.”
Since then, Foreman has had a string of successful businesses, all making millions, but it all started with the George Foreman grill.
Inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame and International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2003, many consider Foreman to be one of the 25 best boxers of all-time.
The Moment That Transformed George into a Believer
Though Foreman has lived a life filled with fame and fortune, he confessed, much of it was spent without God. No one was more surprised by the boxer’s embrace of religion than Foreman himself. Especially when it comes to picking between good and evil, he’s seen his share of both.
Foreman’s mother, working three jobs to single-handedly support seven children, had no time for church, he said. And although the adolescent Foreman sometimes went to church at his sisters’ urging, it was only to take advantage of a free lunch.
But his ultimate collision with religion came in 1977, minutes after he suffered defeat by the hands of heavyweight Jimmy Young, and it came in the most frightening way.
“In the dressing room I was walking back and forth to cool off,” he told the Houston Chronicle (http://bit.ly/1ORR7zX). “Then in a split second, I was fighting for my life.”
Foreman’s mind filled with battling thoughts: preening pride vs. death, panic.
“I kept thinking, ‘You believe in God, why are you afraid to die?’” Foreman said. “But I really didn’t believe.” Foreman bargained, offering to devote his boxing prize money to charity.
“I don’t want your money,” Foreman heard a voice say, “I want you.”
Instantly the boxer found himself cast into the bleakest darkness he had experienced. “It was the saddest, most horrible place I had ever seen,” he said.
Then a “giant hand” plucked him into consciousness. Foreman found himself on a locker room table, surrounded by friends and staff. He felt as if he were physically filled with the presence of a dying Christ. He felt his forehead bleed, punctured by a crown of thorns; his wrists, he believed, had been pierced by nails of the cross.
“I knew that Jesus Christ was coming alive in me,” Foreman said. “I ran into the shower and turned on the water and — hallelujah! — I was born again. I kissed everybody in the dressing room and told them I loved them. That happened in March 1977, and I never have been the same again.”
The change immediately was noticed by the boxing world.
“There was a transformation from a young, hard character who felt a heavyweight champion should carry himself with menace . (to) a very affectionate personality,” said HBO boxing commentator Larry Merchant. “I would say this was a sincere evolution of a human being maturing and it suggests real effort.”
Foreman is survived by his wife, Mary Joan Martelly, and 12 children, five sons and seven daughters. “Big George” famously named all of his boys George Edward Foreman so “they would always have something in common.”
