George Foreman

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Man, George Foreman was an unbelievable boxer and always seemed to be such a good guy.

The George Foreman grill was a huge deal when he finished boxing, but man, I saw the big man fight plenty of times.

Foreman came on the scene in the 70’s and he was so damn powerful.

His battles against Ali and Frazier were legendary, and then Big George went away for a while.

My favorite fight of his was when he came back in the early 90’s and went up against Moorer, a much younger man.

George was in his early 40’s and the boxing world was against the comeback, swearing that he was going to die in the ring fighting men who were so much younger and in much better shape.

I watched that fight in Baltimore with a whole bunch of people and man, I was rooting hard for Foreman, but it wasn’t looking good.

He was slow and looked old and was way behind on all the cards.

I’m not sure who the girl was who was watching with us, but she was horrified.

“That old man is going to die!!!”

Yet, with George he was just one punch away.

He knocked out Moorer with a vicious shot that met its mark.

And then he flashed that legendary smile.

Champion of the world again, decades after he won the first time.

Of course, we all know that George named all his children George - or some variation of it.

I heard him talk about it.

“I just call out ‘George!’ and one of them answers.

He was a colorful guy.

A great, great puncher.

A pastor.

A good spokesman, and his grill was pretty damn great too.

We lost a legend.

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