Faith, Hope and Second Chances: The True Story of BIG GEORGE FOREMAN

Published: January 3, 2024

Faith, Hope and Second Chances: The True Story of BIG GEORGE FOREMAN

By Movieguide® Contributor

Boxing legend George Foreman opened up with Movieguide® about his movie, BIG GEORGE FOREMAN, and his incredible journey from heavyweight champion of the world to a life built on faith.

“I got a chance to become heavyweight champ of the world and then a second time built on faith in God,” Foreman told Movieguide®.

Foreman’s mother, Nancy Foreman, firmly believed in God. She shared her faith with her son, but Foreman tried to get her to leave Christianity. Eventually, Foreman adopted the same faith and reverence for the Lord that his mother had.

Foreman says, “45 years I’ve been preaching, 46 years in the ministry, and that’s all I do. My whole life is built around my ministry.”

Foreman pastors at The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ in Houston, Texas, and runs the George Foreman Youth and Community Center. To help kids build confidence and keep them out of trouble, the youth center provides kids with weights, a basketball court, boxing gloves and a boxing ring. As a child, Foreman never had hope, but he wants the new generation to have hope and confidence that they can do anything, no matter their background.

“You know you start from the bottom without hope. There’s nothing,” he said about his upbringing.

“I didn’t have any hope,” he said. “The words potential, success—I lived in an environment where those words didn’t even exist—hope. And sometimes it’s good to see a movie like this so you can remember to get back and make certain that we helped the younger kids who are coming in. We have a lot of people coming into Texas, of course, from Mexico, and gotta make sure I grab them and give them that hope that I didn’t have so that they can become champions of the world, great artists, great singers and dancers, great teachers, and lecturers.”

Screen Rant asked Foreman which scene in BIG GEORGE FOREMAN stirred his emotions when he saw it on film.

“I saw the young boy, the young George Foreman, moving into these houses with these rusty old refrigerators and stoves,” Foreman said. “People left them behind because they didn’t work. I’d forgotten those things in my life because you start thinking about income tax, paying bills, trying to meet this [and that], and you forget about what [you] had really come from. I cried when I saw that boy.”

Movieguide® previously reported:

“Big George Foreman: The Miraculous Story of the Once and Future Heavyweight Champion of the World is based on the remarkable true story of one of the greatest comebacks of all time and the transformational power of second chances,” Sony Pictures/Affirm Films wrote of the movie…

Over the course of his career, Foreman became one of the best boxers in history, famously winning two heavyweight titles two decades apart—in 1973 and 1994. He also became an Olympic Gold-medalist at the 1968 games held in Mexico City.

Up until Foreman’s 1974 battle with Muhammid Ali—known as “Rumble in the Jungle”—Foreman was undefeated in the ring. After the loss and a life-threatening experience, Foreman turned towards Christ and the life of a pastor—but he was far from done with his boxing career.

Foreman reflected on the message that he wants people to get from the movie: everyone deserves a second chance.

“The thing about my mom never giving up on me and then meeting Doc Broadus, who kept giving me another chance, that all of us should reach out and never give up on your children, never give up on your husband, your wife,” he shared. “Always remember you give them that one extra chance. They can be, we can be anything you want us to be. Just don’t give up on us. That movie tells that story.”

Foreman’s wife also never gave up on Foreman.

The boxer shared, “She had a vision. She dreamed, ‘You’re a heavyweight champion of the world again, and you got all the things you had lost before,’ and I kept faith in that dream…She prayed for me and we both celebrated the championship of the world again. She dropped me off 17 miles from home, and she said I’ll see you back at home. That much faith in a human being. I crawled back home, and eventually, I became champion of the world.”