{"id":49597,"date":"2025-03-28T10:42:03","date_gmt":"2025-03-28T14:42:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/?p=49597"},"modified":"2025-03-28T11:20:46","modified_gmt":"2025-03-28T15:20:46","slug":"flashback-the-late-boxing-legend-turned-minister-reflected-on-his-faith-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2025\/03\/flashback-the-late-boxing-legend-turned-minister-reflected-on-his-faith-journey.html","title":{"rendered":"Flashback: George Foreman reflected on his inspirational faith journey"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here’s the latest from the crossroads of faith, media & culture: 03\/28\/25<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Remembering George Foreman.<\/strong> The legendary boxer, TV pitchman and minister who died last Friday became a living symbol of how faith can change a person and how no comeback is impossible for God<\/strong>. I had the opportunity to talk with Foreman back in 2023 when he was promoting a biopic based on his remarkable life. It seems appropriate to run it again now.<\/p>\n

JWK: You\u2019re an executive producer on Big George Foreman<\/em>. I\u2019m wondering if you went to the studio with the movie idea or if they came to you.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

George Foreman: <\/strong>Well, we all came together bit by bit. Of course, the book (God In My Corner<\/em><\/a>)<\/strong> was done and (I had) a lot of success with the book. Then it was about putting it to the screen and then the story in pictures. We had a lot of meetings and we talked about it. I even tried to convince them (that) since it was going to be my movie we can write it. Why not change the Rumble in the Jungle<\/strong> to where I actually beat Ali<\/strong>?!
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

JWK: That would be a twist!
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

GF:<\/strong> (They said) \u201cThis ain\u2019t a (fictional) movie! We can\u2019t change that, George!\u201d I didn\u2019t like that part. What\u2019s the use of doing a movie if you can\u2019t change the outcome?
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

JWK: So, what do you hope people take from the movie?
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

GF: <\/strong>The idea that it doesn\u2019t matter how far down you go, you can always come up and not only once or twice. America is the place where you get second, third and even fourth chances \u2013 and then finding God<\/strong> there\u2019s no end to the chances you can get. That\u2019s what the movie is all about.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

JWK: Tell me about your near-death experience and how that led to your change in attitude.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

GF: <\/strong>After a boxing match in Puerto Rico (against Jimmy Young<\/strong><\/a> in 1977) I wanted to get (away) because I had lost. I had gone 12 rounds. I didn\u2019t feel that bad. I just wanted to prove to the world \u2013 to the world of boxing, that is \u2013 that I could go 12 rounds. I went back into the dressing room (and was) cooling off . That\u2019s when business picked up.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re George Foreman. You don\u2019t have to worry about that boxing match. You still got your money!\u201d I said \u201cI can go home to my ranch. I can retire and die!\u201d That word sticked in my conversation and I realized in the dressing (that) I was fighting for my life! I heard about athletes dying but I didn\u2019t want to be (one of them). I fought for my life \u2013 and I lost!<\/p>\n

I heard a voice from within me. It said to me \u201cYou believe in God. Why are you scared to die?\u201d I was afraid! Because I didn\u2019t really believe in dying or religion. I tried to make a deal with God. I said \u201cI got money! I\u2019m still George Foreman! I can give to charity and to cancer!\u201dAnd the voice answered me back \u2013 deep within \u2013 \u201cI don\u2019t want your money. I want you!\u201d I knew I had come up against something I had never thought existed \u2013 especially turning down money!<\/p>\n

I lost my life that night. It gave out on me. I said \u201cGod, I believe in You.\u201d Before I could say another word, I was out of this life in a deep, dark river of sadness. Nothing. I was dead. There was no hope! I didn\u2019t think I was gonna come out of that! I lost everything! All of my wealth disappeared and crumbled.<\/p>\n

I got mad and said \u201cI don\u2019t care if this is death! I still believe there is a God! When I said that it was like a gigantic hand reached into nothingness and pulled me out \u2013 and I was back alive in that dressing room breathing, blood flowing through my face (and) screaming that Jesus Christ<\/strong> has come alive in me! I felt blood on my forehead and on my head. I tried to express it to them. They thought I was crazy but I fought eight men to get in the shower and I started screaming \u201cHallelujah, I\u2019m clean! Hallelujah, I\u2019m born again!\u201d And, from that point on, I\u2019ve been screaming it forever since.\u201d<\/p>\n

JWK: And you became an ordained minister after that.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

GF: <\/strong>It didn\u2019t take me long to realize I could go to church and tell this story. The only people that didn\u2019t think I was crazy was people in church. All of my friends and family thought I had lost my mind. Finally, I gave a testimony here. Then I was ordained a year afterwards so that I could go visit prisoners and hospitals and all of that. That was the beginning of my ministry. I\u2019ve been telling that same story all these 45 years now.<\/p>\n

JWK: What brought you back into the ring?
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

GF: <\/strong>The most profound event happened in my life. I got broke! I had all these kids to feed, all these people who were dependent on me. Like I tell everybody, I wish I had been a golfer! I could have gone out and played golf on the green! But all I knew was boxing. I had to go back into boxing. I was a great big man \u2013 315 pounds! I had to lose a lot of weight! And train!<\/p>\n

And I had to listen to people make jokes about me. \u201cHow can George Foreman be the prodigal son of boxing when he\u2019s looking like the fatted calf?!\u201d \u201cHe\u2019ll never be the champion of the world as long as his training camp is next to Baskin-Robbins<\/strong>.\u201d I had to listen to all of that \u2013 but I kept training! I kept my mission and, eventually, I got my chance to fight for the championship of the world again.<\/p>\n

JWK: Did you really believe you were going to become heavyweight champion again?
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

GF: <\/strong>I was a minister (seeking to connect with) money because that\u2019s the way I would support my youth center. The third day at one of the (church) meetings (someone) said \u201cNow, it\u2019s time to give to George. Come on!\u201d He counted the money and said \u201cWe can give more to George than this!\u201d And it embarrassed me. It really did \u2013 that, with all of things that I had in life, there I was asking people for their money who didn\u2019t even have it. I said right then \u201cI know how to get money. I\u2019m gonna become heavyweight champion of the world again! That\u2019s how I\u2019ll get money!\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, I didn\u2019t say I was gonna go back to boxing to get money. I said was going to be heavyweight champion of world again! That\u2019s what, I guess, really gave me the encouragement that I needed to keep boxing and to become champ of the world again. I started to believe!<\/p>\n

JWK: Because you were doing it for your church.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

GF: <\/strong>My wife didn\u2019t want me to go back into boxing. She tried to talk me out of it \u2013 but then she had a vision one night in a dream. She said \u201cGeorge! You became the heavyweight champion of the world again!\u201d So, as she kept trying to discourage me, I said \u201cDon\u2019t forget about your dream!\u201d\u2026It convinced me that I could be champion of the world again.<\/p>\n

JWK: I\u2019m no spring chicken either. I remember you as a young boxer. You seemed so surly and kind of nasty in those days \u2013 and now you project such friendliness and happiness.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

GF:<\/strong> (When I was young) I had gone over three and a half years trying to become heavyweight champ of the world. I sacrificed everything! Friends, family, everything! I wanted to be the champion of the world! So, I wasn\u2019t a very friendly person because I had my mission to destroy people and become champ of the world. I figured the more I beat them and hurt them then no one would stand up to me. So, I became this mean guy \u2013 but after I found my religion and found God all of these things became impossible for me. I didn\u2019t even know how to make a fist. For ten years I stopped boxing. I didn\u2019t even go into the gym. I didn\u2019t want to have anything to do with sports \u2013 but then one day I did open up a youth center. I was trying to teach these kids how to behave \u2013 but they wanted to box. I said \u201cYou can\u2019t be angry! You don\u2019t need to be angry!\u201d (But) I taught them and, in return, I<\/em> learned how to box without anger. I was teaching them and they<\/em> taught me. I (would) never punch in anger, ever again.<\/p>\n

JWK: You actually became good friends with Muhammad Ali, right?
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

GF: <\/strong>Muhammad Ali was one guy I came close to true hate for because he took my title. I didn\u2019t like it \u2013 but then he ended up becoming one of the guys I loved most. We became so close \u2013 beyond brothers. His family and me \u2013 he, all of us \u2013 became good friends. To the end we became good friends. I still miss him to this day.<\/p>\n

JWK: How did that friendship happen?
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

GF: <\/strong>(A reporter) asked me\u2026\u201dGeorge, what happened? What really happened in that fight in Africa? He expected another excuse from me. I said \u201cYou know what? I lost that fight. I got film! I got pictures to prove that I lost that I lost that boxing match!\u201d (He) said \u201cSo, you accept it?\u201d I said \u201cYep. God knocked me down when I lost that fight to Muhammad Ali.\u201d I (finally) realized I didn\u2019t have any other reason to scandalize him or think harshly of him but to accept him as my friend. That was it once I admitted I had lost that boxing match. It was a good thing for me that I had lost that boxing match because think about what could have happened to me if I had won that boxing match, what direction my life would have gone. So, victory was good \u2013 but that defeat took me all the way to the doorstep of God Almighty.<\/p>\n

JWK: Of course, you\u2019ve had other successes \u2013 famously including the George Foreman Grill.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

GF: <\/strong>Yeah. You know, I had a whole (new) life after I got back into boxing. I started started selling. I really became the darling of Madison Avenue. You talk about Doritos<\/strong><\/a>, Pepsi-Cola<\/strong>, McDonald\u2019s,<\/strong> Meineke Mufflers<\/strong><\/a>. Man, you name it, I was selling it! So, finally, our friends said \u201cGeorge, you\u2019re making all these other companies wealthy. Why don\u2019t you get your own product?!\u201d I said \u201cOkay, how much you gonna pay me?\u201d They said \u201cNo, no, no, no! Nobody\u2019s gonna pay you. You get your own product!\u201d And we started this joint venture with the George Foreman Grill. I even signed my name to it and started promoting it<\/a>. I thought I\u2019d only get about 16 of those grills out of the deal for my family and me. I looked one day and the thing had sold 10,000! Then 100,000! Then 100-million! I couldn\u2019t believe it! To this day, I don\u2019t know what happened! What a success!<\/p>\n

JWK: At one point you even had a sitcom that ran briefly. What was that experience like?
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

GF: <\/strong>Every chance I got to spread what I was doing, I would take it. The first sitcom was actually George<\/strong><\/em><\/a>. I played another George \u2013 (named) Foster. I got a chance to reach people \u2013 people who didn\u2019t know me but for the old boxing days. I wanted to make myself known as an actor (and) writing the books. Then, of course, later on I did the (reality) sitcom Better Late Than Never<\/strong><\/em><\/a>. I always wanted to stay in the public eye so I could continue to tell my story about Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

JWK: What is the greatest lesson of your life that you would like people to understand?
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

GF: <\/strong>The best lesson from my life is to understand \u2013 and I try to tell that to people in church too \u2013 (is) stay alive! I want to encourage people. With all of the bad things that have happened to me, my faith in God has pulled me through \u2013 and He can pull anyone through. Just have faith in God.<\/p>\n

John W. Kennedy is a writer, producer and media development consultant specializing in television and movie projects that uphold positive timeless values, including trust in God. <\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Encourage one another and build each other up – <\/span><\/em>1 Thessalonians 5:11<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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