‘Big’ George Foreman is regarded as one of the most formidable heavyweights in the long history of boxing.
The 76-year-old from Texas won the world heavyweight championship on two occasions in a career that spanned three decades. His crowning moment came in January 1973 when he defeated Joe Frazier via 2nd-round stoppage to capture the WBC and WBA titles.
He fell short to the legendary Muhammad Ali in ‘The Rumble In The Jungle’ just a year later, in what was the first defeat of his tenure. Ali secured an eighth round stoppage victory to dethrone ‘Big’ George, using his infamous ‘rope-a-dope’ style to get the better of his opponent.
At the peak of his powers, Foreman cemented his status as one of the hardest hitters in the sport, but once admitted he didn’t actually want to face a certain heavyweight.
In an interview with Gareth A. Davies, ‘Big’ George spoke of how he was ‘afraid’ of Frazier ahead of their showdown in Jamaica 52-years ago and never wanted to get in the ring with the ‘giant killer’.
“Joe was the only one I was truly afraid of, because we’d looked at Joe Frazier as the giant killer. He had just beaten so many guys, he had beaten Ali, they were so much bigger than him, but he just played around with all these giants.
I wanted a title shot but I didn’t want to fight Joe Frazier, I can remember that just like it was yesterday.”
Known for his incredible strength and durability, ‘Smokin Joe’ became the first fighter to defeat Ali in their first of three bouts in 1971, despite suffering defeats to ‘The Greatest’ in their second and third showdowns.
