Foreman, George

The Fruits of My Research - Foreman, George

Foreman is the only former music hall act ever to be crowned World Heavyweight Boxing Champion.
His early career saw him touring northern English theatres playing his ukulele way down on the bill in front of rowdy mill workers who were impatient to see the major stars of the day like Arthur Askey and Vera Lynn. “If you can survive on stage in Rochdale on a wet Friday night, you’ve nowt to fear from Sonny Liston” he once quipped.
It was to be his quipping and his sense of fun that led him to his second career – boxing. Not everybody shared his sense of humour and Foreman often got into fights. Seeing him in action one night at the stage door of the Alhambra Theatre in Bradford “settling an argument” about Mr Wu’s new job, a friend suggested he challenge Muhammad Ali for the vacant World Heavyweight title.
At this early stage of his career Ali was still honing his technique. His experimental “float like a butterfly, cling like a leech” style led to the 1974 bout in Kinshasa being described as the “fumble in the jungle”, due to the lack of punches being thrown.
The public however wanted to see more and 3 epic, if somewhat anti-climactic rematches followed throughout the 70s. Despite the public interest, the boxing press were scathing in their criticism, calling the bouts “The Snooze in Syracuse”, “The Slee-ep in Dieppe” and the “Coma in Roma”. Having secured the title in the final contest, Foreman quit boxing, at the peak of his second career.
Initially he tried to make a living cleaning windows but one day fell off his blinkin’ ladder trying to get to the top.
During his rehabilitation he chanced upon the idea of grilling meat in a box, as you do. Further experiments led to him inventing his famous “Boxer’s Broiler Box”. He sold his first few models to family and friends. Within a year he had made 2,000 units on his own, by hand, in his shed, on crutches, from bits of old Breville sandwich toasters and Buick body panels. Soon he was to be the world’s foremost manufacturer of Broiler Boxes with 87% market share in the US alone. He needed help and so teamed up with his old friend, George Remington. Together they take turns, working alternate days in Foreman’s shed making the boxes for export throughout the world.