George Foreman is running late — six hours late. Yet when the former heavyweight champion gets on the phone, it’s impossible to stay miffed at him.
He is that charming, which may be hard to believe for those who recall his glower in the ring. The one-time thug-turned-gold medal Olympian, then two-time boxing champ, is on a book tour, signing copies of his memoir, “God in My Corner.”
Driving from Manhat-tan to Pennsylvania, Foreman chats about his storied life. Besides serving as the world’s best-known grill salesman, preaching and tending to his ranch, Foreman is a judge on ABC’s “American Inventor” Wednesdays.
“I respect it more than anyone else would,” Foreman says. “I see people with dreams. I took someone’s invention, and a dream came true for me. People who are homemakers come on the show, and that’s all they do. They say, ‘I made this work for my first child, and with my second child, I perfected it.’ They are on the verge of becoming millionaires. This is the most exciting thing I’ve done other than fight for the championship of the world because this can be big for someone else.”
Thinking of others spurred him back into the ring. After he retired, he opened the George Foreman Youth & Community Center with his savings.
To keep it open, he returned to boxing at 38, which was shocking enough. Even more shocking, he won the world title — at age 45.
The winner of “American Inventor” will have, he says, “the gleam in the eye, a person who really believes in the invention. If you believe in it is the first thing. The second is: Can it be marketed? How can I sell this? If they are excited, and I feel it can be marketed, then I know it can be big.”
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Birth date: Jan. 10, 1949.
Hometown: Marshall, Texas.
Where he threw his first sanctioned punch: The Job Corps.
When he became known: At the 1968 Olympics, he won a gold medal.
His spiritual side: After losing a fight in 1977, he had a spiritual awakening and has become a minister with his own church.
Family: He and wife, Mary, have 10 children. The five boys are all named George.
Country living: He lives on a 300-acre ranch with horses, ostriches and chickens — all kept away from his grill.
