Grill King Returns to the Ring: Foreman Never Too Retired to Rumble
by Allie Martin and Jenni Parker
February 27, 2004
(AgapePress) - The oldest man ever to hold the title of heavyweight boxing Champion of the World says true happiness is not found in the riches of the world, but in a relationship with Jesus Christ.From the late 1960s through the mid 1970s, George Foreman rose to the pinnacle of professional boxing. He first won the heavyweight title in 1973 by knocking out Joe Frazier. But in 1977, after losing a 12-round decision to Jimmy Young, Foreman experienced a self-proclaimed religious awakening.
The fighter became a preacher and retired from the ring. Although he eventually returned to professional boxing in 1987, he recently told the press at a National Religious Broadcasters convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, that his relationship with Christ has been the most important and sustaining factor in his life.
"I've been a minister since '78 -- well, '77 really," Foreman said, "and I run a congregation. I try to go to the prison and visit guys and tell them about faith in God. I never knew it would take over my life, but it did."
Now, at age 55, Foreman has reached a $20-million verbal deal and declared his intention to return to the boxing ring again. But the boxer-minister and retired businessman says he is stepping back onto the canvas not for the money, but to prove a point.
"I told people I'm going to come back at 55 for one boxing match, just so I can show the world that there's no such thing as a death sentence, just because you have birthdays," Foreman says.
It is a point the redoubtable and re-bout-able fighter has made before. In 1991, he won the respect of the public and the pugilistic world by challenging Evander Holyfield to 12 rounds for the heavyweight title.
Though Foreman did not win that fight, he had a record 1.4 million pay-per-view subscribers paying attention to his message: that age 40 is not a death sentence for an athlete. And then in 1994, he punched the point home at age 45 by winning the heavyweight title from a 26-year-old Michael Moore.
Never Throw in the Towel
Foreman has also enjoyed success outside the ring over the years as an author, an entrepreneur, a self-styled gourmet, and a much sought-after product spokesman. And his partnership with Salton, Inc., to promote his "George Foreman Lean Mean Grilling Machine" made him not only a household name among homemakers, but also garnered him a new title -- "King of the Grill" after sales surpassed the 10-million mark.
Foreman says after he sold his company some years back, several people told him he was so rich that he need not do anything but relax. However, the energetic fighter and man of faith says he could not bring himself to just sit and watch the Dow Jones for the rest of his life.
Once again, Foreman wants to let senior citizens know that there is no reason to "bow out" of life just because they get older. "I think the new frontier for the whole world is not Mars," he says. "The new frontier, where we need to find life, is 50-, 60-, and 70-year-old people."
That belief springs out of the same life experience this rumbling Renaissance man shared in George Foreman's Guide to Life: How to Get Up Off the Canvas When Life Knocks You Down (Simon & Schuster, 2003) when he wrote, "Old age is not something that happens to you; it's a choice you make. you can look in the mirror and cry ... or you can look in that mirror and dream another dream."
