What boxing needs to capture America isn’t a Gervonta Davis, but a George Foreman
George Foreman fits the stereotype of retired athlete who sits on the front porch and mercilessly rips the current state of his chosen sport.
All one has to do is open their ears to hear another older guy who hates the way the “game is played today.”
Foreman said of the current state of his sport, “Boxing today is as good as it was at any time.”
This is George Foreman saying it, not Don King. Not Bob Arum, or any other shameless promoter. Not some Showtime executive trying to convince you to buy the next $85 PPV fight.
“We all want to say ‘our time’ was better but in reality one page is turned, you go to the next page,” Foreman said in an interview last week. “You never get through a book re-reading the same page over and over.”
That answer can apply to nearly everything.
George Foreman remains his own stereotype. George has always been too big for a stereotype.
He’s 74 now, and there is a new Hollywood movie about his life; “Big George Foreman: The Miraculous Story of the Once and Future Heavyweight Champion of the World” opens this week. Big George’s life is so varied, and unbelievable, it could be an entire series.
Listening to the man talk remains a joy; we may have taken him for granted during his two stints as a boxer.
Boxing is still boxing. We need to retire the aspirations that boxing will ever be what it was, just as much as we need to jettison the idea that it’s dead.
Boxing is boxing. It’s biggest problem now is that same as then: The corrupt officials who run it, and exploit young men to sinful gains.
The only thing the sport really needs is another George Foreman type.
“It’s a still a good sport, and I love it. It’s still a challenging sport,” Foreman said. “When someone gets in the ring, and gets knocked down and then gets up, I’ve seen a lot of it, it lets me know boxing is the same.”
One night later after this discussion, Gervonta “Tank” Davis knocked down Ryan Garcia in the second round of their lightweight title fight in Las Vegas that was billed, “It Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This.”
Garcia got up. He lasted until the seventh round until Davis landed a body shot so brutal Garcia basically took a knee to end the fight.
It does get better than this.
Immediately after the fight Davis was called the face of boxing by people desperate to make such claims.
Boxing has no face. Boxing has a collection of upper echelon fighters. Men like Gervonta, Fury, Spence, Bud, and Canelo. Not sure how many people outside of the hard core boxing community know these gentlemen.
Not one of these names grabs our attention like a Foreman. An Ali. Tyson. Holyfield. Sugar Ray. Hearns. Mayweather.
No promoter, or marketing team, can create a Foreman. Those stories organically grow from life.
We didn’t know how good we had it with Big George.
Certainly not in his first go around as a boxer, in the 1970s, when he was a quiet, angry man who thought that would make him a great fighter.
When he returned to the ring, after a 10-year hiatus, he was re-made.
He was a salesman. He was captivating. He was inspiring.
“I wasn’t putting on an act. It was truly me in both lives,” he said.
Watching a 45-year-old Foreman land that devastating jab-straight combination in the 10th round to knock out Michael Moorer for the heavyweight title in 1994 is one of those feats that may be a stand alone moment with no sequel.
Boxing has not offered such an inspiration, and figure, since George. He was the rarest of fighters whom everyone loved.
People adored this man, because what he was selling, whether it was himself or those grills, felt genuine.
“My first comeback fight in 1987, I didn’t even want to take off my shirt. I was so embarrassed to be back in boxing,” he said. “The crowd gave me a standing ovation. I said, ‘Man, I knew it was right to love ‘em.’ That’s when I realized I had something going for me.”
Foreman kept boxing from 1987 to 1997, when he finally retired at the age of 48.
He didn’t need the money. He loved boxing. It’s the one thing about the sport that unless you’ve stepped in the ring you can never grasp the highs, and bolts of life, only boxing offers.
In that second career as a fighter, Foreman inspired millions of us.
“Boxing was a small part of it. People told me, ‘George, after what you did I was able to go back to college.’ Or, ‘I was able to start a new company,’” he said. “It was people starting from the bottom because it inspired them to keep getting up and trying again.”
Boxing is in the same shape, good or bad, as it’s been for decades.
What it really needs is another Iron Mike, or Big George.
