>> Site Map >> News
Lessons From ''Big'' George Foreman
#10 - 0--clubafrika--Lessons From ''Big'' George Foreman--2005-08-18 03:06:36
#
What can black men especially those in the United States learn from big George?08-18-2005
With life there is pain and still more pain, but even with it all, there is always a reason to smile: a beat of music to make you lift your feet and dance; a piece of chocolate to sweeten up a moment. With death, as far as we know, there is no pain, only silence.
George Foreman - In his book: George Foreman's Guide to Life - How to Get Up Off the Canvas When Life Knocks You Down
Ex-Boxer George Foreman Forms New Company
Wednesday, August 17, 2005; 2:43 PM
HUFFMAN, Texas -- Former boxing champ George Foreman is expanding from countertop grilling to something all his own _ a signature line of products.
The former heavyweight champ and grillmaster hopes that by partnering with publicly traded MM Companies Inc. to create George Foreman Enterprises Inc., he can expand on his previous business success with a range of products. - The former world heavyweight champion announced the launch of his new company, George Foreman Enterprises, Inc., on Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2005. Foreman is giving up the boxing gloves and kitchen mitts for something he can call his own: a signature line of health and fitness products.
Foreman has already branded himself through his successful George Foreman Lean Mean Grilling Machine. Revenue for Salton Inc., which manufactures the grill, shot from $77 million to more than $792 million in the first four years of Foreman's association with the Lake Forest, Ill.-based appliance maker.
More | Chronology of Career
What can black men especially those in the United States learn from big George?
A young Foreman was the Olympic heavyweight boxing champion in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. George Foreman of the USA defeated Russia's Iones Chepulis to win the gold medal. He was set for heavyweight glory.
In these Olympic Games, Mexico City America's 200m gold and bronze medallists Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their arms as a 'Black Power' gesture during the Olympic Awards Ceremony. Smith had set a world record of 19.8 seconds in the 200 metre race. Each man wore a black glove on one hand and raised it, with fist clenched as the US flag was raised.
A storm of outrage hit Smith and Carlos immediately. For disrespecting the "Star Spangled Banner" and the Olympic games, the IOC forced the U.S. Olympic Committe to withdraw them from the relays, banish them from the Olympic Village, and expel them from the U.S. Olympic team. Most of white America was also outraged at their actions, and both men experienced a heavy backlash upon their return home. Nonetheless, their legend has grown, and this classic black-and-white image(color version below) has become a symbol of the struggle for equality for black athletes in America.
It was also during these olympics that Africans notably Kenya began to assert their dominance in middle and long distance running, with the great Kipchoge Keino winning the gold medal in the 1500m(handily beating the world record holder Jim Ryun of the US) and Naftali Temu winning the 10,000m, M.Gammoudi of Tunisia winning the 5,000 metres with Keino of Kenya second and third was Temu also of Kenya.
George on the other hand chose to wave his little American flag and was was labeled an "Uncle Tom". Remember that it was about the same time that Muhammad Ali after having been banished from boxing for refusing to enlist for and denouncing the Vietnam war was re-juvenating his career. Kinshasa, Zaire was to be the site of one of the most-anticipated boxing matches in history. Muhammad Ali entered the ring at a low point in his career, having lost his last two big fights, and now faced the new, unstoppable champion, George Foreman. The world held its breath to see if Ali could, indeed, still float like a butterfly--or better--sting like a bee. They met in 1973 in an epic bout in Zaire called the "Rumble in the Jungle."
George Foreman entered the ring younger, leaner and angrier than Muhammad Ali. After having thoroughly beaten the then champion Joe Frazier for the world heavyweight boxing championship, no one expected Ali at an 'advanced' age of 32 to have any chance against the power punching Foreman.
Muhammad Ali won in a knockout and the rest is history.
Foreman dropped from the public eye for years and devoted himself to his religious ministry, but in the 1990s he returned to the ring transformed into a rotund, jovial fighter who somehow beat Michael Moorer in 1994 to regain the heavyweight crown at age 45. His subsequent self-mocking commercials for hamburgers and mufflers made him even more famous. Foreman retired again after a 1997 loss to Shannon Briggs, but his fame was intact: he has made millions as a TV pitchman for a low-fat cooking gadget called the George Foreman Grill.
George Foreman, is quintissential survivor. Over the years he has tranformed himself from a street mean black man into a preacher and eventually into a pleasant and prolific black businessman. He is proof that despite all the obstacles that black men still face in The United States, one can bob, weave and do something for himself. After all according to George: With life there is pain and still more pain......you just have to make sure you get up off the canvas each time.George Foreman's Guide to Life: How to Get Up Off the Canvas When Life Knocks You Down
Discuss this article in Club Afrika Forums
Please recommend Club Afrika to your friend: Click Here--comments-->0--713--11
