Forman biography

His mother Nancy was a housewife and interrupted by random earnings, and Father Jay Dee worked at the railway station. After George’s birth, his mother found a job in Houston, where the whole family soon moved. The youth of the future world boxing champion was held in a dysfunctional area Fayv Ward, who in the middle of the 20th century received the unofficial name “Bloody” due to a series of murders that occurred in it.

In those years, emigrants and people of a low social situation, which George’s parents, also belonged to. After his career was completed, he said that his father drank a lot, often beat his wife and did not spend time at all with the children, whom he and Nancy had seven. When George was five years old, Jay Dee left his family. Mother had to work for two to feed the children, because of which they often remained unattended.

George did not get along with his brothers and sisters - they constantly mocked him, because he outwardly did not look like any family member, so he often was alone. As a result, circumstances pushed the future boxer on the slippery path of a street life. By the age of 14, he was already in local criminal groups, hunted with small pocket thefts and consumed alcohol, and at 15, due to problems with the law, he was expelled from school.

Forman in later interviews noted that at that time he significantly exceeded peers in physical strength and growth, but at the same time barely knew how to read and write. His life could end on Houston's streets, but one night there was a case that became a turning point in his fate. For some reason, I remembered that in television TV shows, criminals, when they are pursued, try to hide under water so that the dogs would not feel them, and immediately began to burst into the mud.

At that moment, for the first time I realized that he was a criminal, I threw a school and had no idea what I was to do next. ” After some time, he came across an advertising video of the program to provide free education and professional labor training of the US Department of Labor Job Corps “Workers' Corps”, which has just begun to function in those years.

A few days later he signed up in it and moved to the city of Plezanton, California. Within the framework of the Job Corps, he learned literacy, mastered the crafts of the mason and carpenter, and also met with the boxing coach Doku Brodus, who advised the forman to splash out natural aggression in the ring. Olympic gold so the amateur career of the future member of the hall of boxing glory began.

However, after an invitation to the US team to the Olympic Games, Forman decided to fully concentrate on the box in Mexico City. Before the Olympics, there were only 18 amateur fights in his asset, and the first two of them he lost in just in amateurs, he suffered four defeats. Forman has become one of the most “fast” debutants of games, usually boxers for calling at least 50 battles are required in the national team.

This circumstance fueled the public interest in the person of a young boxer, but the lack of practice in amateurs did not affect his technique in the best way. However, Forman had that all its shortcomings leveled, namely, outstanding, even by the standards of heavy weight, athleticism, natural endurance, coupled with a stone chin and, in the literal sense of the word, a murderous blow that all rivals were afraid of.

In a word, Forman had weak places - and many knew about them, but almost no one managed to use them. Soon, fans of boxing around the world were able to see the exceptional power of the future world champion. At the Games in Mexico City, he easily dared all rivals in preliminary rounds, and in the final he met with the famous Soviet heavyweight Jonas Stepulis, who was much more experienced by the forman and had good statistics among fans.

From the first round of the final fight, the American took possession of the initiative and perfectly attacked his left jab - a couple of minutes after the start of the battle, Chepulis's face was flooded with blood. By the end of the round, the judge, seeing the passivity of the Lithuanian, decided to stop the duel. The feeling of unreality of what was happening haunted me for several days.

I won the belts in professional boxing, and it was incredible, but the best moment of my career was the Olympic medal ”BetSafe - the race after the victory at the Olympics Forman decided to go to professional boxing. A difficult childhood, coupled with the criminal past, reflected on the character of the future champion, he chose for himself the image of a closed and aggressive person, like the legendary boxer Sonny Liston, with whom George conducted sparring in amateurs.

He stamped the victory for victory, in the first three years in professionals, he spent 32 fights in total, not having suffered a single defeat in them. However, the most vivid essence of the young forman reflects the insignificant duel fifth in his professional career, which was held in the year.Then I began to beat him, and at some point he changed a lot in his face, but I lacked some pair of inches to his head to finish everything with a knockout.

And then he just fell, I did not even touch him at that moment. I shouted to Carroll to rise, the crowd demanded the same, people threw the ring with garbage, but he remained to lie. ” Forman was declared the winner, and after the end of the fight, Carroll came to his locker room to explain what happened. Then he asked: “You wanted to kill me there? I laughed, although this probably really made sense.

” For such a small time period, he collected an impressive track record, but the audience still did not support him. The image of a sullen and incredibly cruel, dark -skinned guy did not find a response in society, besides, Forman did not serve in the army during the Vietnam War, which was also negatively appreciated by the Americans. In order to win the sympathy of the crowd, he needed a truly big victory, and very soon he managed to win it.

The possession of both belts of other professional boxing organizations at that time did not exist gave an unofficial title of absolute world champion. At that time, this title was owned by American Joe Fraser, who was already considered if not the first heavyweight of his time, then at least the second after Mohammed Ali. Which, by the way, Fraser won the same year.

In the year, the fight of Fraser and Forman was officially appointed, the fight was scheduled for January 22 in the Yamai city of Kingston. Both boxers approached a full -time confrontation in the rank of invincible, Fraser at that time spent 29 victorious fights of 25 - by knockout, Forman - 32 ALL FARMEMERIA FARMECRAR, in his favor, there was a victory over Ali's living legend, and the forman of the forman of fighting for fighting for moving in the ring and active work.

corps. Formen has no real advantages, in addition to a cannon impact,. Fraser was the main star of this battle. The police accompanied him during the exit to the ring in order to protect him from local fans who were in abundance in the stands. Fraser's fight began actively and immediately went to a huge rival Forman surpassed the champion in growth by 10 cm and, in a scale of his hands by 14 cm “in the forehead”.

However, Forman brilliantly prepared for battle and thoroughly studied the style of the opponent. He in advance determined the moments and zones of the opponent’s attacks and warned the blows, and when Fryizer's attempt to reduce the distance, he simply pushed him away from himself and counterattacked from afar. By the middle of the first round, it became clear that Fraser was in an impasse.

In the second half, several left -wing lateral forms were a success, after which the battle flowed into a mutual exchange from the middle distance, but after the right Upermkot, Fraser could not resist his feet for the first time in his career. The audience met a knockdown with a whistle and a dissatisfied rumble, and the famous commentator Howard Korlle, who was broadcasting the battle on ABC, erupted in screams: “Fraser fell!

Fraser fell! At the beginning of the second round, the champion managed to bring his crown left hook to the head of the forman, but he seemed to not feel a blow at all. Then Forman again clamped Fraser in the corner of the ring and began to strike alternately from the left and right hands. The champion could neither block nor evade the attacks of the applicant eager for the victory and at one moment just ran from him, but due to the length of his hands, Forman was able to get through him with his right lead, and Frayser collapsed on the floor for the fourth time.

And after a few seconds - in the fifth, and then in the sixth. Seeing the fortune of Fraser, the judge decided to stop beating despite the fact that the champion was able to get to his feet again. Not understanding what happened, Fraser went to the center of the ring and was preparing to continue the battle, so the judge had to take him to the other land and with gestures to explain that it was all over.

Forman for the first time in his career won the championship belts, and now the public had to reckon with him. Boxing on Box Fraser - Ali, after the victory over Fraser Forman, held two defense of the titles, after which the main battle in his career and one of the most significant in the entire history of boxing took place. Mohammed Ali, who returned after a three -year break, rose in the ratings and won the right to a title fight.

The promoter Don King took up his organization, for whom the battle was the first in his career. Then he turned to President Zair now - the Democratic Republic of the Congo Mobutu Cece Seko, who ordered to allocate funds and prepare the infrastructure. Officially, the battle was scheduled for September 24 later transferred to October 30 due to the injury of forman in the capital of Zaire Kinshasa and became the first heavy weight in the African continent.

Ali was not at all a favorite of a fight at the bookmakers. The incredible statistics of the forman at that time are 40 victories at 37 knockouts and the dubious physical form of Ali made this battle almost one -sided. There is a legend that shortly before the fight in the team of Forman prayed, so that he would not kill the opponent right in the ring.Already in the second round, boxers began to get tired - the heat and strong humidity affected.

Ali tried to box near the ropes, which facilitated his protection against powerful forman blows and helped him avoid exchanges in the situation unprofitable to him. Forman, on the other hand, focused on strikes on the opponent’s body and practically did not spare the strength, which would later affect his functional state. Ali's task was extremely clear - to force the champion to exhaust and at the same time to maintain strength to the late rounds.

To do this, he allowed him to strike but only in the positions beneficial for himself and tried to provoke a forman with sharp phrases, because of which the champion attacks became even more violent and reckless.

With each round of this incredible in the intensity of the fight, Ali's advantage increased. Forman beat a lot, often missed, but from the blows that eventually reached Ali, most boxers would be on a canvas. However, the applicant kept steadfastly and more and more often allowed himself to reveal himself for his own attacks, moving from single attacks to combination. Starting with the sixth round, Forman could barely catch his breath in his corner of the ring in breaks, and Ali even refused to sit down.

Then he whispered in my ear: “Is that all you can, George? Religion and the return of the world champion title Forman very painfully perceived the defeat from Ali. For a long time, he demanded a revenge, but his offender chose to no longer meet with the "Big George" in the ring. I could not let go of this moment. ” In the locker room after the battle, Forman suffered a thermal blow, which the boxer himself perceived as a divine providence, after which he decided to leave boxing and become a priest.

I was myself, I could calmly come to the grocery store or go out. I liked it. " He later opened the youth center in Houston to help difficult teenagers find themselves in life. In parallel with this, he read sermons, worked as a priest at weddings and funerals and was engaged in charity. In the year, he had to take up boxing gloves again due to a lack of money for life and financing of youth organizations he created.

Forman replaced the image of a formidable bully to a soft good-natured “at the age”, signed a contract for advertising Fast Food and at a press conference before battles came with a plate of hamburgers. His physical form was far from the ideal, but he himself treated this with humor. However, this did not interfere with his results in the ring. He knocked out a number of unknown rivals and in the year won the right to meet with the absolute world of heavyweight world Evander Holifield.

The bookmakers suggested that Forman would not be simple and half the rounds, but the former champion did not justify these forecasts. The battle was lost by the decision of the judges, and the will of the forman was positively appreciated in the press. Three years later, he again tried to win the championship belt.