Former two-time heavyweight champion "Big" George Foreman, a fearsome figure with prolific punching power inside the ring and an iconic personality that transcended beyond boxing, passed away on Friday at 76.

Foreman, whose career spanned four different decades, achieved a remarkable reinvention from a menacing fighter to a beloved businessman, pleasant pitchman, sitcom star, author, youth counselor, and ordained minister in his hometown of Houston, Texas.

Foreman’s death was announced by his family on social media, but they did not say how or where he died.

“I love the man,” Hall of Fame promoter Don King told The Ring. “He was my brother and was truly a wonderful man. George Foreman was innovative and imaginative. He ranks with the immortalized group of greats. George dreamed the dream. He came from a class of people that was poor, underprivileged, and denied. But he said, 'Yes, I can,' and in spite of that, he became the world champion. I love George because George was an example for our youth, for when they knock you down and say ‘You can't,’ you say, ’Yes I can.’”

King promoted “The Rumble in the Jungle” in 1974 between Foreman and Muhammad Ali, one of the most historic sporting events of the 20th century.

By then, Foreman had already proved his potential and promise from a 1968 gold medal run in the Olympics and was an undefeated world champion, fresh off a pair of second-round knockout wins against Joe Frazier and Ken Norton. The victory against Frazier in 1973 was for the heavyweight title, as Foreman came in as the underdog and further personified the threatening, Sonny Liston-like surly demeanor he exuded and embraced from his hero.

“Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier!” commentator Howard Cosell famously called.

But Foreman met his match in Ali, who rope-a-doped him into frustration en route to an eighth-round knockout win in Zaire. The transcendent event was memorialized over two decades later in the 1996 Academy Award-winning documentary “When We Were Kings.”

“The Rumble in the Jungle was the greatest event that's immortalized in history,” said King. “It was history in the making. I loved being involved with it. I have the greatest admiration and respect each time a man walks up those steps and gets in that ring. They were historic figures. You can’t imitate and emulate their stunning characteristics of positivity and not give into criticism. George demonstrated that a God-fearing and good-faith human being can be whatever he wants to be if works at it and has the faith. While George has left us here on earth, his spirit lives on. I am delighted and thrilled that I can celebrate George's life as well as give respect, and condolences, and mourn his existence while he was here. But he will live forever in spirit.”

After losing to Ali, Foreman again knocked out Frazier and outlasted Ron Lyle in the 1976 Ring Magazine Fight of the Year but retired at the age of 28 after having a religious awakening shortly following a loss to Jimmy Young in 1977.

Foreman dedicated his life to a church he opened and was inactive until 1987, when he returned for one of the most iconic comebacks in sports history.

One of the fights Foreman encountered during the campaign was a bout against former title challenger Gerry Cooney in 1990. Billed as the "The Geezers at Caesars" in Atlantic City, the contest concluded after a vicious second-round knockout by Foreman.

“I caught him good in the first round and he told David Letterman that I was the hardest hitter that ever hit him,” Cooney told The Ring in an interview. “But I got caught and it was great for George, and it helped me get on with my life. He got the victory and moved on. He was a great man and had a great family. He was determined, dedicated, a true warrior, and one of the most devastating punchers. They don't make those warriors anymore. He was a great man of God. I will miss him and pray for his easy passage home, wherever that is for him.”

Foreman endured a loss to Evander Holyfield at the age of 42 in a classic slugfest in 1991. The bout was billed as the “Battle of the Ages” and kick-started boxing’s pay-per-view era.

A loss to Tommy Morrison in 1993 again derailed his chase for the title.

Hall of Fame broadcaster and journalist Randy Gordon, who hosts a boxing show with Cooney on SiriusXM and previously called fights with Foreman in the 1980s, said he ranked Foreman as a top-four heavyweight of all time.

“I spoke to him a couple of weeks ago to invite him to our show to talk about the current heavyweight picture,” Gordon told The Ring in an interview. “His death comes as a total shock to me.”

Foreman’s comeback reached its crescendo in 1994 when he scored a come-from-behind knockout win against Michael Moorer to capture the heavyweight title at the age of 45, making him the oldest heavyweight to ever accomplish the feat, an accolade that still stands today.

“It happened!” said commentator Jim Lampley.

"Tonight I am flooded with tears,” said Lampley, who worked alongside Foreman for HBO Boxing. “I loved him. He was a great fighter and a far, far greater human being … It’s a massive loss, but I feel blessed and privileged to have known him and spent countless hours in his presence. He’s with Ali now, and they are at peace with each other."

Top Rank founder Bob Arum, the primary promoter of the second half of Foreman’s career, said “We've lost a family member and are absolutely devastated.”

Foreman cultivated the masses outside of boxing with a warm, approachable attitude and TV-ready smile as the lean, mean, fat-reducing grilling machine entrepreneur behind the commercially successful George Foreman Grill, which has sold upward of 100 million units to date.

“Legendary boxing champion, life-changing preacher, husband, father, grand- and great-grandfather, and the best friend you could have,” said WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman. “His memory is now eternal, may Big George rest in peace.”

In 1999, Foreman was paid $137.5 million for the permanent use of his name on the grills. In 2024, sports business publication Sportico estimated that Foreman earned $705 million in inflation-adjusted earnings throughout his lifetime, good for 26th on the all-time list for athletes.

Along the way, Foreman married five times and had at least 12 children.

Foreman officially retired from boxing in 1997 at the age of 48 after losing a majority decision to Shannon Briggs.

His record stands at 76 wins (68 KOs) and five losses. His life story – marked by triumphs, setbacks, reinvention, and redemption – was encapsulated on the big screen in a 2023 biopic produced by Sony Pictures, which showcased Foreman’s rise from living in chronic poverty in Houston’s Fifth Ward to the boxing and cultural icon he evolved into.

“He helped people throughout his life and he gave away millions without telling anyone,” Foreman’s career-long publicist and Hall of Fame inductee Bill Caplan told The Ring. “He was one of a kind in so many ways. I’ll miss him forever. Hopefully, there is a place called heaven and I'll be able to see him again there. To me, he will always be alive.”