George Foreman: The great who went from juvenile delinquent to national treasure

Redemption was a long time coming for George Foreman, and when it finally arrived he grabbed it with both fists.

For years Foreman, who reigned as world heavyweight champion during his division’s greatest era, was forced to act as an antidote to the more popular successes of his main rivals, Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier.

In the build-up to the ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ in what was then Zaire in 1974, Foreman, who died at the age of 76, was characterised as a humourless ogre in stark comparison to Ali’s ebullient charm: a persona Foreman did little publicly to try to change.

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But in later years, beginning with his Herculean triumph over Michael Moorer in 1994 to become the oldest heavyweight champion at the age of 45, Foreman would fashion a remarkable change in his public perception, which ultimately made him one of the most enduringly popular American sportsmen.

Foreman was born in Marshall, Texas, in 1949 and endured a troubled childhood, responding to local bullies by becoming, by his own admission, a juvenile delinquent, involved in shop-lifting and mugging and frequently finding himself in trouble with the police.

After dropping out of high school at the age of 16, Foreman enrolled for the local job corps, a decision he credits with helping to turn around his life. It was during a session that he caught a glimpse of an Ali fight against Floyd Patterson, and convinced himself he could become a boxer.

Just over a year after winning his first amateur fight, Foreman won the right to represent the United States in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. Three straight wins took him through to the gold medal match against Ionas Chepulis, before which Foreman admitted he was