Along with being a frighteningly strong puncher, heavyweight legend George Foreman had other attributes as a fighter: toughness, sheer physical strength, a granite chin (especially, quite amazingly, in his second ring career), a pulverizing jab, great stamina (again, especially in his second career, this when Foreman had learned how to relax in there), and immense mental strength.
Foreman was as we know, some special fighter. The tributes continue to roll in as a result of the sad passing of “Big George” yesterday, and a nice article from the Houston Chronicle has listed Foreman’s five greatest KO’s. Now, it’s down to opinion when picking out just five of Foreman’s 68 scored knockouts and ranking them as his very best, but the following list from the Houston Chronicle is indeed a remainder of how power-packed Foreman’s two fists were.
5: KO 5 Joe Frazier, 1976.
The rematch with Frazier saw Joe last a little longer than he had managed when he first ran into – and was run over by – Foreman, this in 1973. But Foreman’s brute strength and power were again too much for Frazier. This time, Joe went down twice before the savagely one-sided affair was stopped in round five.
4: KO 4 Ron Lyle, 1976.
Not only did Foreman level a fearless Lyle in terrific fashion to get his first win after having been upset by Muhammad Ali the previous year, but the Foreman-Lyle fight ranks as one of the greatest, most thrilling heavyweight slugfests ever seen. Both men hit down twice in total, with Foreman’s non-stop barrage finally taking an exhausted Lyle out in the fifth.
3: KO 2 Ken Norton, 1974.
Arguably Foreman’s peak performance. The reigning and defending heavyweight king smashed Norton to defeat with some exquisitely placed bombs. Foreman was accurate, he was cool and calm, and in the end he was flawless on this night. After doing what he did to Norton – who had twice given Ali hell, breaking his jaw in the first fight, losing the second fight by a razor-thin margin – people began to wonder if any man could ever beat Foreman.
2: KO 10 Michael Moorer, 1994.
A full 20 years after being upset by Ali, Foreman, at age 45 years and 10 months, stunned Michael Moorer to take back the crown. “It happened!” bellow HBO’s Jim Lampley in memorable fashion. Foreman knelt in prayer in a corner of the ring after making good on his comeback dream.
1: KO 2 Joe Frazier, 1973.
Foreman, a 3/1 underdog, shocked the world in Kingston, Jamaica when he turned an unbeaten, on top of the world Frazier into a human yo-yo. Six times Frazier hit the canvas, with Foreman’s howitzers proving chilling. In short, no man ever came close to doing to Joe Frazier what George Foreman did to him.
Foreman again had the top commentator of his day shouting at the top of his lungs, this time with Howard Cosell bellowing “Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier!”
George Foreman: January 1949 to March 2025. Career record – 76-5(68). Heavyweight champion of the world January, 1973 to October, 1974, and November, 1994 to November, 1997.
