Per his own admission in his autobiography, George Foreman had a troubled childhood. After dropping out of school at the age of 15, Foreman wasted his time on the streets as a mugger.
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However, at age 16, Foreman he had a change of heart and convinced his mother to sign him up for the Job Corps after seeing an ad for the Corps on TV.
As part of the Job Corps, Foreman earned his GED and trained to become a carpenter and bricklayer.
Foreman then moved to Pleasanton, California, with the help of a supervisor and began to train in football and boxing.
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Though Foreman was interested in football and idolized Jim Brown, he gave it up for boxing.
Not long after moving to California, Foreman won a gold medal in the boxing/heavyweight division at the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games.
In the finals, Foreman defeated the Soviet Union’s Jonas Čepulis. The fight was stopped by the referee in the second round.
Foreman’s victory in the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games set him up for a very prolific boxing career.
Foreman retired with a boxing record of 76 wins (68 by knockout) and 5 losses.
He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2003.
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