Sports Legends Pay Tributes to George Foreman 

NBA legend, Charles Barkley, was amongst early sports icons that paid tributes to late boxing heavyweight champion, George Foreman, who died late Friday evening.

Similarly, other NBA stars like Magic Johnson and Scottie Pippen took to their X accounts to speak about the departed boxing icon. Mike Tyson also sent in his condolence

Speaking on CBS Sports, Barkley said he got to know Foreman and always “picked his brain about trying to be an entrepreneur when your career is over.”

The former basketball player said Foreman’s death “hurts a lot.”

“He was obviously one of the greatest boxers ever, but just a gentle man, he was a pastor – and it just hurts man, plain and simple”, he adds.

“I’m shook up right now, that caught me so off guard,” concludes Barkley.

Magic Johnson on the other hand said  he was sad to hear of the death of one of his “boxing heroes”, adding that he attended many of Foreman’s fights throughout his career.

“He was a knockout artist in the ring, and it was a pleasure getting to know him not only as a boxer but as a man”, stressed Johnson .

Alongside a picture of Foreman during one of his wins, Pippen writes: “Rest in peace, George Foreman. Your legacy lives on, champ.”

Heavyweight champion and Olympian Mike Tyson shared some old photos with George Foreman, as the boxer posts his condolences to social media.

“Condolences to George Foreman’s family. His contribution to boxing and beyond will never be forgotten,” Tyson noted.

Along with his remarkable comeback, George Foreman’s boxing career is most associated with a fight which he lost against Muhammed Ali – but which is now regarded as possibly the most iconic bout in the sport’s history.

The 1974 Rumble in the Jungle saw a 25-year-old Foreman facing off against Muhammed Ali, who at 32, was thought to be past his peak and a heavy underdog against his bigger, stronger opponent.

Staged in Kinshasa, the capital of Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), the fighters walked to the ring at 04:00 local time, to accommodate for television times in the US.

Foreman reflected on the legendary fight 50 years later in an October interview with BBC World Service Newshour, explaining that everyone thought he was going to decimate Ali.

“Oh, he’s not going to last one round,” the boxer said experts were predicting at the time.

But the wily Ali used a tactic that later became known as “rope-a-dope”, which wore out Foreman, causing him to throw out hundreds of punches before Ali unloaded on him in the eighth round and scored a knockout.

After a second professional loss, Foreman retired in 1977 and became an ordained minister at the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ in Texas, which he founded and built.