George Foreman dies at 76: A look at the legend’s five most memorable fights, from Joe Frazier to Muhammad Ali

The title of “The Baddest Man on the Planet” has been bestowed on many a heavyweight champion in boxing history. At his peak, it was hard to argue that George Foreman did anything but live up to that moniker as a heavy-handed wrecking ball.

Foreman died on Friday at the age of 76, leaving behind an incredible legacy in the ring as well as associating himself with an electric countertop grill that was seemingly present in every kitchen in America in the 1990s. Foreman’s is a prototypical boxing story of a fighter who rose from turbulent adolescence to global superstardom.

Foreman’s in-ring legacy is littered with accomplishments, from an Olympic gold medal, to legendary fights with the best fighters of heavyweight’s golden era, to a stunning world title win at 45 years old.

With all of that in mind, let’s take a look at five of Foreman’s most memorable fights, presented in chronological order.

Joe Frazier (first meeting)

Foreman entered the fight with a 37-0 record with all but three of those victories coming by stoppage. Facing Foreman was a terrifying prospect, not only because of his power but because he had the technical boxing chops to get that power home, as evidenced by his 1968 Olympic gold medal. Frazier had won the WBA and WBC titles in February 1970, titles that had been stripped from Muhammad Ali, and had successfully defended those titles four times, including an iconic 1971 victory over Ali in “The Fight of the Century.”

Foreman made good on his opportunity to face the champ, frequently trapping Frazier along the ropes and letting power shots rip. Frazier was frequently rattled and was dropped three times in the first round and three more times in the second before the fight was stopped at the 2:26 mark of the round. This was the fight that produced Howard Cosell’s legendary call of, “Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier!” while also crowning Foreman as world champion for the first time in his career.

Ken Norton

After an easy first title defense against Jose Roman, Foreman was paired with a much tougher task in the form of Norton. Coming off back-to-back fights with Ali, with Norton winning the first by split decision before losing the second, also by split decision, Norton had proved he had the chops to go toe-to-toe with the best in the world and had fully earned his right to challenge for Foreman’s status as the best heavyweight on the planet.

The fight played out in a way that made Norton’s bonafides seem anything less than legitimate. Norton, a future Hall of Famer, was down three times in the fight before it was stopped at the 2:00 mark of Round 2, marking the second time Foreman had stopped a legendary heavyweight within two rounds in three fights.

Muhammad Ali

There’s no doubt how impressive someone’s career was when they created several iconic phrases. While the first Frazier fight produced “Down goes Frazier!” the Ali fight introduced the phrase “Rope-a-Dope.” The fight called “The Rumble in the Jungle” is one of the most iconic in boxing history for the action and the involved personalities. Ali avenged both his losses to Norton and Frazier in a three-fight stretch to earn the right to challenge Foreman and regain the world titles that were controversially stripped from him for refusing to fight in the Vietnam War.

After a strong start from Ali, Foreman tracked Ali down and repeatedly caught him along the ropes. Little did Foreman realize this was a part of Ali’s plan as Ali covered up, taking punches to the body and arms as Foreman slowly wore himself out with a steady stream of heavy punches. In Round 8, a badly fatigued Foreman was caught by a flurry of Ali punches that dropped him and resulted in the fight being stopped. While it was a loss for Foreman, it further cemented his place in boxing lore as the perfect foe fought the perfect fight to topple the most dangerous man on the planet.

Ron Lyle

While Foreman fought other legends in his career, including his 1991 loss to Evander Holyfield, his fight with Lyle was one of his most exciting. Lyle had rebounded from back-to-back losses to Jimmy Young and Ali with a sixth-round knockout of Earnie Shavers. Foreman was fighting for the first time in more than a year after the loss to Ali.

Lyle dropped Foreman in the fourth round of the bout. Moments later, Foreman dropped Lyle with a huge right hand. Were that enough action for the round, Lyle connected with a wild right that sent Foreman down awkwardly before he was saved by the bell signaling the end of the round. In the next round, with both men seemingly exhausted, Foreman trapped Lyle in the corner and unloaded a barrage of punches until Lyle spilled the the canvas, landing on his face and failing to beat the referee’s count as Foreman got back in the win column.

Michael Moorer

After a loss to Jimmy Young in 1977, Foreman stepped away from the sport. A decade later, Foreman decided to make his return. It took 25 fights for him to earn his shot at the titles again when he face WBA, WBC and IBF champion Evander Holyfield, but came up on the wrong end of the decision. Four fights later, Foreman again lost, this time against Tommy Morrison in a fight for the vacant WBO title. Despite the loss to Morrison, Foreman was given the chance to face Moorer, who defeated Holyfield to win the WBA and IBF titles.

In the fight, Foreman relied on a simple plan of throwing a straight right hand behind a jab. That combination would be what decided the fight as Foreman landed both shots in Round 10, sending Moorer spilling to the canvas where he was unable to beat the count. The win crowned Foreman as world champion at 45 years, five months and 18 days. To this day, Foreman holds the record as the oldest heavyweight champion in boxing history.