George Foreman: A theory on the lack of sizable Houston Sports success

The Foreman examination

George was born in Marshall, Texas, but spent his childhood growing up in Houston’s Fifth Ward. He dropped out of school at the age of 15 before joining the Job Corps. When he moved out to California later on, George Foreman took up boxing. As an amateur, George Foreman posted a 22-4 record, which also included winning the gold medal at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. He did cause a little stir when he raised up a tiny American flag at a time when racial protests took over the news outlets.

Turning pro in 1969, George Foreman started off winning 13 fights with 11 K.O.’s. This would soon turn into a 37-0 record with 33 knockouts before he made his presence felt against then-heavyweight champion Joe Frazier in 1973. This fight is best remembered in three words: Down Goes Frazier! 

The Turning Point

George Foreman knocks down Frazier seven times before the fight is stopped and a new champ is crowned. But George Foreman’s reputation takes a big hit as he’s not the most popular fighter out there. After defending his title with K.O. wins against Jose Roman and Ken Norton, George Foreman faces his biggest challenge against Muhammad Ali in Zaire. The fight known as “The Rumble in the Jungle” would be a turning point in George Foreman’s life. He loses his title in eight rounds as Ali knocks him out.

Haunted, George Foreman is so desperate to get back at Ali that he even challenges to fight six men in one night in front of Ali. The rematch would never happen. George Foreman loses to Jimmy Young in 1978 before having a “spiritual awakening”. He retires and becomes a minister. Nine years go by before George Foreman decides to come out of retirement and fight. Risking health because of age, George Foreman starts off with fighting and beating lesser-known opponents or has-beens. But in 1990, he gets a heavyweight title shot against Evander Holyfield. He loses but gets the respect of his peers and fans again.

Redemption

This, in turn, leads to a changing in how people perceive him. George Foreman is soon beloved by everyone. Thanks to his ability to promote himself and his soon-to-be entrepreneurship, people start to like George so much that they want him to win. In 1994, at the age of 44, Foreman gets another crack at the heavyweight title.

This time,  he’s facing Michael Moorer, who’s younger and in prime shape. But in the 10th round, Foreman stuns Moorer with a haymaker that sends the champ down. It’s a major upset as Foreman retains the heavyweight title to become the oldest champ. Ironically, he was wearing the same trunks that he wore the night he lost to Ali.

Foreman fights on until he loses his title to Shannon Briggs before retires for good in 1997. He finishes with a career record of 76-5 with 68 knockouts. To this day, he remains one of the most inspirational and incredible people in the world. Once a man feared by others because he wanted to be bad, his change of heart, along with his beliefs, have endured himself to the public.

Okay, so we know Foreman’s story. But again, what does this have to do with Houston Sports? Well, we’ll examine that in the next slide. This is not to knock Foreman down and blame him for retiring. But rather, it’s trying to decide for ourselves if the theory that Foreman’s retirement led to a decade-plus drought for our beloved teams.