45 and fighting fit: Foreman on overcoming challenges of old age

With rich legacies, both Muhammad Ali and George Foreman’s careers can hugely impact other people’s lives,particularly the youth.

After their rivalry in the ring in 1974 when Ali knocked out Foreman in the former Zaire to recapture the world heavyweight boxing title (rumble in the jungle), the two boxers became friends and consulted each other often. Both had retired from boxing.

Then something happened to Foreman on his 37th birthday. He broke down and cried, thinking that his life was over, yet he hadn’t reached 40 yet. After he had pulled himself out of the doldrums, he decided to return to boxing, but everyone said he was too old to box. The young guys would kill him, they said.

In his book “God In My Corner: A Spiritual Memoir,” he dedicates a whole chapter to the intrigues of his comeback to boxing.

He says, “ When I turned 40, boxing experts thought it was time for me to hang up the gloves. The great trainer Gil Clancy said, ‘Boxing has too many retreads. What is George Foreman doing out there boxing? He shouldn’t be fighting."

As the calendar pages turned, Foreman wasn’t getting any younger and the skeptics weren’t getting any kinder. They were wondering what an old man like him was doing in the boxing ring, fighting guys half his age and in much better physical condition. In spite of all what his critics said, he won every match.

“They said I was too old at 41. Really old at 42. Should be on a respirator at 43. Age 44? Nearly in the grave. Age 45, heavyweight champion of the world! I am the oldest person to ever capture the title.

“I did what everyone said was impossible but only because God was in my corner. He said: “Let me show you what I can do through you.” Sure, I worked hard, trained hard, and had to fight my way from the bottom to the top. But each step of the way, God gave me the ability to do it. And He still has more things for me to accomplish before I am done on Earth."

Foreman says he sometimes tells people that he wants to live until he is 144 so he can keep testifying about the good Lord. Explaining how old age has nothing to do with one’s performance, he says Moses was an old man when God spoke to him through a burning bush that was not consumed.

When Moses fled from Egypt to the land of Midian, he planned to retire there. But God was just waiting for Moses to turn 80 so he could give him a fresh assignment.

The story of Moses who received his calling from God at the right time in his life is a reminder for every generation that the Lord isn’t finished with you simply because you have reached a certain age. As long as you are alive, says Foreman, God still has a plan for your life.

If you will keep progressing and learning as you grow older, you can be more effective at 60 than when you were 20. Foreman has many examples to give from the Holy Bible.

He says many people in the Bible received their divine assignments when they were considered ready for the rest home. Caleb was 85 when he captured the city of Hebron.

Sarah gave birth to Isaac at the age of 90, and Abraham became a dad at 100 years. That just goes to show us that age doesn’t matter when God wants to accomplish something.
When Foreman made his boxing comeback, he started from  the bottom.

He had researched on all fighters who had come out of retirement because he wanted to discover why they didn’t succeed. They were all great boxers, but they failed to ascend to the top again following their retirement. He concluded they had all taken the wrong approach.

When former heavyweight champion Joe Louis tried to make his comeback from retirement, he was immediately offered a shot at the title. Rocky Marciano almost killed Louis in the fight. Louis tried to get back to the top too quickly and wasn’t ready.

Former heavyweight champion Joe Frazier also came out of retirement to fight again. He trained for about a week and looked horrible in a losing effort.

Every boxer coming out of retirement to fight again had one thing in common - they were on top when they left and thought they could start over at the top. That was their mistake; they tried to return to the top too quickly. They assumed they didn’t have enough time to start over at the bottom.

Foreman’s boxing advisors wanted him to use the same failed strategy as his retired predecessors. He refused and decided to start from the bottom.

Everyone thought he was crazy. He spent hundreds of hours watching boxing films, reading articles on various sports learning all manners of techniques.

His extensive research helped him become a smarter boxer than he was previously.
Foreman doesn’t view himself as getting older, but as graduating to a higher level in life. He had gained insights from every year that he has lived.

His experiences have added greater depth and value to his life, which has taught him to make better transitions as he has grown older. Instead of relying on abilities that become weaker over time, he has capitalized on those skills that become stronger with age.

After being retired from boxing for 10 years, Foreman’s speed and instincts had deteriorated. If he was going to become a champion again, he would have to find a way to compensate for his lack of speed. It forced him to learn a new way to box.

His new style of boxing had to be completely different. He had to find another method for defending himself too, like changing the position of his hands for better protection.

Since he could not run faster anymore, he took to walking to strengthen the muscles he needed for endurance. No longer would he depend on the quick knockouts, but he could work on improving his stamina so he could stay in the ring for the full twelve rounds. It wasn’t easy.

After doing some soul-searching, Foreman knew that he could not recapture the heavyweight title unless he had to believe he could win it before he could actually do it.

So instead of being frustrated about learning a new way to box, he decided to prove to the world that no one is too old to start over.

Among the many new things he developed was to fight without anger. He was careful not to hurt his opponent even when he knew he had an opportunity to do so which sometimes made him lose some fights.

Before Foreman fought Evander Holyfield, he says he had a dream that he killed him in the ring. When he fought him a few days later for the championship, he stunned him with a punch and he held on to him.

If he was the old George, he would have finished him off right then. He remembered his dream and was afraid that if he hit him again at that point, he might truly regret it.

Holyfield had time to clear his head and retain his title but as Foreman would say later, he would have rather lost his fight than see that awful dream come true.

With his newly acquired fighting techniques and smiling all the time, Foreman started attracting the media who would pose questions whose answers attracted many television viewers. That way he got more TV invitations.

Over seven years had passed since Foreman had come out of retirement. His come back record stood at 27 wins and 2 losses, with both defeats being for the heavyweight championship of he would. He had hoped to get one more shot at the title.

Michael Moore had just defeated Evander Holyfield on the judges scorecards to win the heavyweight title. While working as part of the fight broadcast team, Foreman made a controversial comment that upset some people; he had said that he didn’t agree with he judges decision because he thought Holyfield had won the fight.

Strange encounters would follow when Foreman rang his friend Bob Arum, a promoter for Top Rank Boxing.

A dream the same night would follow where Foreman saw himself fighting Moore and winning by knock-out. He would tell Arum about the dream and the promoter would organize a title match. Prophetically, Foreman would explain how he asked God to allow him win.

All that became a reality on November 5, 1994, with Foreman becoming the oldest heavyweight boxing champion of all time at age 45. He also broke the record for a boxer with the most time in between one world championship and the next- twenty years.

After winning the title, he didn’t hang around to celebrate. Instead, he caught a flight that evening back to Houston and preached in his church the next morning. That was the best victory celebration Foreman ever had! Having proved that age has nothing to do with human accomplishment Foreman has given hope to many in all fields of human development.

Says Foreman: “Just like I started over, you can too. God has a plan for everyone, but as you get older your assignments may change. It doesn’t matter what people say about you because all things are possible with God."

A number of Kenyans interviewed on what they thought about Foreman’s achievements feel it is time to understand the man better in order to gain from his vast experience.

Reuben Ndolo, chairman of Kenya Professional Boxing Commission, says our boxers have a lot to learn from Foreman’s experience in and outside the ring.

“To become a world boxing champion at age 45, Foreman has proved that, with determination and hard work, nothing is impossible. Life’s challenges should be taken with a positive mind to help one achieve goals which seem impossible. Even at 70, one can start something and surprise the world,” says Ndolo.

Sammy Ng’ang’a, a sports analyst, says that other than Foreman being an accomplished heavy-weight boxer and an ordained church minister, a little-known fact is that he made much more money by lending his name to a cooking appliance manufactured by Spectrum Brands in USA.

In 1997, Foreman retired from boxing with a record of 76 wins, five losses and 69 knockouts. 

In 2003, he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame and named the ninth greatest puncher of all time by Ring Magazine.

In 2004, at 55 years of age, he had seriously considered another comeback, but his wife Mary put a stop to that idea. Now he is 74 with a net worth of US$300 million.

Could he be having something to shake the world one more time?

[email protected]