Legendary Hall of Fame Promoter Frank Warren has revealed some details on Foreman and the UK that not many know.
Warren is one of the great promoters in boxing history and has put on many huge fights over the years.
Speaking recently after the passing of former two-time heavyweight champion Frank Warren said to BoxNation:
“It’s sad he’s gone. I had the privilege of promoting him in 1990 at the London Arena on his comeback trail. He was a lot different then from the first incarnation of George Foreman. You know the one who came from the 1968 Olympics. Winning the gold medal at heavyweight. Back then he was quite surly. Not miserable. But you didn’t get much out of him. You’d never get an interview. It was all one-word answers. Very gruff.”
He also added:
“After that fight against Ali in Zaire he basically went off the radar for a while and took 10 years out. When he came back he’d been ordained as a preacher and he was the friendliest guy you could meet. He’d completely changed. Where you couldn’t get a word out of him before. Now you couldn’t stop him talking. It was quite a privilege for me to put that fight on in the UK. It was the first and only time he ever fought here. It was a dream for the press. We sold out the arena. He was a great man. A great entrepreneur. Selling his grills. I think he sold them for $140 million. He was a very clever guy.”
Gone but not forgotten.
The outpouring of respect for the man has been immense and correct.
Rest in peace George Foreman.
