I never had the opportunity to interview George Foreman, who has died at age 76, but I once talked about him with the great sportswriter Frank DeFord.
He told me that for several years, Foreman was acknowledged by everyone in the boxing world to be the hardest hitter in the sport. Mike Tyson may have usurped him in that category years later, but Frank said that in his prime — from 1968, when he won the gold medal at the Olympics, to his first retirement in 1976 — getting in the ring with Foreman could be hazardous to your health.
His right hand was so powerful that when he fought Joe Frazier in 1973, Foreman not only knocked him down six times, one of his uppercuts literally lifted Frazier off the canvas before he fell. Foreman so dominated the match that the referee called it off halfway through the second round.
Since I don’t have any other stories about George (and never bought one of his grills), I’ll direct you to my friend Mark Evanier, who not only got to know him a little bit, but even hired Foreman for a part on “Garfield,” the animated show Mark wrote and voice-directed. Read Mark’s piece here.