Big George Foreman: No longer in the ring but not out of the spotlight
Heavyweight champion, Christian minister, Olympic champion, and businessman – for seven decades George Foreman has delivered knockout blows in and out of the ring.
Nicknamed “Big George,” the Olympic Gold medallist is one of boxing’s most famous champions, known as one of the most fearsome punchers of all time.
And now Foreman is back in the spotlight in a new biopic about his life, from growing up in 1950s Texas to becoming the oldest heavyweight champion of the world.
The real Rumble in the Jungle as Ali pounces off the ropes to finish Foreman
Asked about his infamous 1974 fight against Muhammad Ali dubbed “Rumble In The Jungle”, the boxer told Sky News it was “real painful to watch” but said his defeat led the pair to become the “best of friends”.
Held in Kinshasa, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), 25-year-old Foreman was favourite to beat Muhammad Ali, who was then 32, having won 40 of his previous fights without defeat.
Speaking about the fight, Foreman, 74, said: “I watched it for a little while, it was real painful to watch. Then I’d watch it because I started teaching other boxers about boxing techniques. I watched because it became something that I had in common with the great Muhammad Ali, we became the best of friends”.
At 6ft 4ins and known for his devastating punches, “Big George” had Ali on the ropes in the early rounds but “The Greatest” refused to go down. It was in the eighth round that Ali won by knockout.
Not only was it Foreman’s first defeat as a professional, it was the first time he had hit the canvas in his career.
Foreman recalls: “I was shocked after three rounds and he [Ali] was still on his feet. He would talk about all of his exploits, but he didn’t want to bring up beating me. I’d say ‘yeah, you defeated me’. I still miss him today. Somehow, he still stays alive in me.”
Actor Khris Davis plays Foreman. Pic: Sony Pictures
Entering the ring to the crowd chanting “Ali, bomaye” translating to “Ali, kill him,” Foreman says he was aware of the chanting but remained unfazed by the hostile crowd.
“Oh yeah, that didn’t bother me. I was the bad guy because I was knocking out everybody and I wanted to knock him out as well. So, it doesn’t matter what people scream, it was what I was gonna do in the ring.”
Actor Khris Davis, who plays George Foreman in the film described the former Olympic champion as an inspiration.
“I encountered a lot of challenging moments during this film, and he encountered a lot of challenging moments during his life. Mr Foreman had to meet his challenges face to face.
“So, as I was doing this, I was seeing how far I could be pushed, and what I could do to overcome those challenges. So, I think moving forward in my life, I’ll always hold that with me.”
(R-L) Davis and Forest Whitaker. Pic: Sony Pictures
After a 10-year hiatus from the sport, struggling financially and spiritually, 45-year-old George Foreman made history by reclaiming his title, becoming the oldest World Heavyweight Boxing Champion ever.
Retiring in 1997, his successful career was recognised in 2003 when he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
Director of the film George Tillman Junior says George Foreman’s life story can be a message to young Americans who may have been written off.
“The idea that you can really put your mind to it and get to where you want to be. And forget the clichés – let’s talk about the subtext, you could change your mindset and be different in how you do things.
“You can do it in a way that can be helpful for yourself or helpful for others. And I think that’s the inspiring story that people will be able to take away.”
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Outside of the ring, Foreman who has 12 children including five boys all named George, is known for the kitchen gadget the George Foreman grill.
On whether he still owns one he laughs saying: “How many of them do I own? You know because George doesn’t like meat so he has to have his private grill but George loves hot dogs and then George loves hamburger you got all these George’s for all of these grills it gets out of hand.”
Big George Foreman: The Miraculous Story of the Once and Future Heavyweight Champion of the World is in cinemas on Friday 28 April.
Angelina Jolie says although she appreciates being an artist, she would prefer for her legacy to be “a good mother” and to be known for her “belief in equality and human rights”.
The Oscar-winning actress stars as Maria Callas in the new Pablo Larrain film about the opera singer’s life.
Pic: StudioCanal
She has called Maria “the hardest” and “most challenging” role she has had in her career and put months of preparation into immersing herself into the world of opera.
Jolie, who recently reached a divorce settlement with actor Brad Pitt, told Sky News: “To be very candid, it was the therapy I didn’t realise I needed. I had no idea how much I was holding in and not letting out.
“So, the challenge wasn’t the technical [side of opera], it was an emotional experience to find my voice, to be in my body, to express. You have to give every single part of yourself.”
The biopic combines the voice of the Maleficent actress with recordings of Maria Callas.
Jolie believes it “would be a crime to not have [Callas’] voice through this because, in many ways, she is very present in this film”.
Who was Maria Callas?
Born in New York in 1923, Maria Callas was the daughter of Greek immigrants who moved back to Athens at the age of 13 with her mother and sister.
After enrolling at the Athens Conservatory, she made her professional debut at 17 and went on to become one of the most famous faces of opera, travelling around the world and performing at Covent Garden in London, The Met in New York and La Scala in Milan.
Callas’s final operatic performance took place at Covent Garden in 1965 when she was 41 but she continued to work conducting master classes at Juilliard School, doing concert tours and starring in the 1969 film Medea.
Written by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, Maria focuses on the artist’s final years in the 1970s when she moved to Paris and disappeared from public view.
She died on 16 September 1977 at the age of 53.
Pic: StudioCanal
Jolie on changing motivations as an actor
Maria follows the life of an artist fully consumed by the art she creates and even remarks that “happiness never developed a beautiful melody”.
Reflecting on her own life in the spotlight, Jolie said she noticed her own career motivations change over the years.
“There’s this kind of study of being human that we do when we create, and we communicate with an audience because our work is not in isolation – it’s a connection.
“I think when I was younger, I had different questions about being human and different feelings and now as I’ve gotten older, I understand some things and now I have different questions.
“It’s a matter of life, right? And so maybe that’s interesting that this now is a character really contemplating death and really contemplating the toll of certain things in life that I, of course, couldn’t have understood in my 20s”.
Jolie at the New York Film Festival in September with three of her children (L-R) Pax, Zahara and Maddox. Pic: AP
A family affair
Two of Jolie’s children, Maddox and Pax, took on production assistant roles during the filming of Maria and witnessed their mother perform opera for the first time in public.
She says the film allowed them to create new experiences together and for her children to see her approach to playing a difficult role.
“Everyone in my home, we all give each other space to be who we are and we’re all different.
“I’m the mom, but I’m also an artist and a person and so my family has been very kind and gives me their understanding. They make fun of me, and they support me and just as you’d hope it would be.”
She adds: “When you play somebody who is dealing with so much pain, it’s very important to come home to some kindness.”
Maria is in cinemas now.
Tom Holland’s dad has confirmed his son’s engagement to Zendaya – revealing how the 28-year-old meticulously planned the proposal.
Zendaya, also 28, sparked engagement rumours when she attended last Sunday’s Golden Globes wearing a sparkling diamond on her ring finger.
Neither star has publicly addressed the rumours but Tom’s comedian father, Dominic Holland, has now confirmed the pair are set to wed.
He wrote in a post on his Patreon account: “Tom, as you know by now was very incredibly well prepared. He had purchased a ring.
“He had spoken with her father and gained permission to propose to his daughter.”
“Tom had everything planned out… When, where, how, what to say, what to wear,” he added.
Zendaya arrived at the Golden Globes with a noticeable piece of new jewellery. Pic: Invision/AP
Dominic also noted that while most men worry about being able to afford an engagement ring, he suspects his actor son was “more concerned with the stone, its size and clarity, its housing, which jeweller”.
Tom and Zendaya met on the set of Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2016, when they played the titular hero and his love interest MJ, respectively. Their romance was confirmed in 2021.
In his post, Tom’s father admitted fears over whether being in the spotlight could put a strain on the couple’s relationship.
He wrote: “I do fret that their combined stardom will amplify their spotlight and the commensurate demands on them and yet they continually confound me by handling everything with aplomb.”
“And even though show business is a messy place for relationships and particularly so for famous couples as they crash and burn in public and are too numerous to mention […] yet somehow right at the same time, I am completely confident they will make a successful union.”
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Zendaya rose to fame after landing a role in Disney sitcom Shake It Up, and became a household name after starring in Euphoria.
Holland – who has starred in three Spider-Man films opposite his now-fiancée – made his stage debut in Billy Elliot the Musical in 2008.
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