A week after the great George Foreman passed away, the BoxingScene team is paying tribute to one of the best heavyweights of all time, sharing our favorite memories and moments of a man who was beloved by the sport.

Tris Dixon: In the ring, you could take your pick, really. I wasn’t alive when he fought Joe Frazier, but those fights were the most stunning demolition jobs. Similarly what he did with Ken Norton was equally incredible, given that Norton might have been able to match him for strength. But I suppose my most lasting memories will be him insisting on calling him after Muhammad Ali died so he could share stories, saying how important it was that his contemporaries were remembered far and wide.

I suppose another thing – and it speaks to what Colin Hart told me here about having Ali’s phone number – was that so many writers I knew had Foreman’s phone number. And they spoke to him whenever they needed. That is a level of access that you just don’t get today.

Jason Langendorf: His finest hour? That’s debatable. But the moment he is most widely known for today – and my enduring memory of Foreman – was his knockout of Michael Moorer in 1994 to make him, at age 45, the oldest fighter in history to win a heavyweight title.

The scowling-villain-turned-lovable-grill-pitchman got picked off by the much younger and fleet-footed Moorer for most of the fight, but Moorer gradually fatigued from all that wood-chopping. In the 10th, Foreman popped him with a simple one-two. When he did it again a moment later, Moorer went down like a bag of hammers. I was dubious. Then HBO showed the slow-motion replay of the crack to Moorer’s jaw and the overhead view of him on his back: Ten thousand-yard stare. Blood spattered on his chest and smeared on the canvas. To this day, I rewatch that sequence, see Foreman casually sling his right hand as if casting a line into the Brandy Branch Reservoir near his home in Marshall, Texas, and marvel at the double-dose of power the gods bestowed on Big George’s anvil hands.

Declan Warrington: On the day that Ali died, my then-employers asked me to speak to relevant people about his life and death. I phoned Foreman, considerably more in hope than expectation, and he quickly answered and proceeded to explain that when he had heard the news he decided to sit by his phone all day and agree to as many interviews as possible as his own “tribute” to Ali.

I had the privilege of interviewing him four times in total. I don’t believe he once knew who I was, but he was happy to give his time to someone interested in his career. Those interviews spanned 11 years; I could detect the deterioration by the last of those, but he carried himself with the same spirit.

Eric Raskin: Most of Foreman’s career took place before I was following boxing closely. I get to brag that I was at his final fight, but his disputed loss to Shannon Briggs was the only one I covered. So when I think of Foreman memories, I think of two particular times I had the opportunity to speak with him.

One was a year ago, when I interviewed him for the 50th anniversary of his fight with Ken Norton, and George struck me with his recall of minute details as well as his deep fondness for that time in his life and for the men he had competed against.

The other was in 2017, when he joined me and Kieran Mulvaney on the “HBO Boxing Podcast.” As I’ve shared on social media since his death, George sent a text a few minutes after we wrapped up that I will forever save on my phone. He began it with “Good needs!” – I had no idea then and have no idea now what that meant, and can only assume it’s an autocorrect. But he continued: “What a way to start my day, I felt so important this morning, you brought back great memories. George.” Not many people of Foreman’s stature would send a note like that. That showed me how down-to-earth he remained, no matter how much larger than life he became.

Elliot Worsell: I owe most of what I know about Foreman to the documentary “When We Were Kings,” which introduced me to Big George back when I was a child. I was too young to watch him box live, so my enduring memory of Foreman is probably the scene from “When We Were Kings” in which he left a large dent in the heavy bag after methodically whacking it ahead of his fight against Ali.

Kieran Mulvaney: My mind immediately goes to the interview that Eric mentioned above. I was struck by how genuinely humbled Foreman seemed to be by our call, and how self-deprecating he was: After he answered the call, when we asked him how he was doing, he laughed and said, “I'm just sitting here trying to remember all my sons’ names.” (He of course famously called all of them “George.”)

And yet, even deep into his second career, he was straight-up mean in the ring, perfectly happy to inflict punishment on his opponent. He was just much more judicious about how he used his energy. That one-two with which he finished off Moorer was the most beautifully relaxed power punch combo you'll ever see.

Tom Ivers: Unfortunately for me, I am far too young to have been around for any of Foreman’s career. But when I first fell in love with the sport as a child, I would find myself watching old fights when I should really have been in bed. I can still remember the first time I watched Foreman stop Moorer for the heavyweight championship. I think I was as shocked 20 years later as all those who sat ringside for it. Such an iconic moment in the sport – and one I’ll never get tired of watching.

Ryan Songalia: I had the pleasure of meeting Foreman once in Macau, where he was working as an HBO Boxing commentator on a card headlined by Zou Shiming back in 2013. I didn’t really know what to say to Foreman, so I just said the first thing that came to mind, which was to gush over his slugfest with Ron Lyle. I told him, “Man, I remember how great that fight was.” And Foreman, being as quick-witted as he was and underscoring the brutality of that contest, just replied, “I don’t."
But what sticks out most in my mind was something I saw from him a few nights later while he was working the show. Andy Ruiz, who himself would later pull off a massive upset to win the heavyweight title, was matched with Joe Hanks, a talented but unheralded big man from New Jersey. Ruiz pummeled Hanks, as expected, leaving Hanks dejected in his corner to ponder his first defeat. Foreman, perhaps seeing a bit of his own experiences in Hanks' struggle, actually left his spot on commentary to console him. It was a touching moment that showed Big George’s incredible sense of empathy. We in the media often are accused of being cynical, but in that moment, I was convinced that the good things people say about George Foreman are true.

Owen Lewis: I’m also too young to have seen Foreman live, and I’m sure my colleagues will populate this list with firsthand accounts of his most iconic fights. So how about a more underrated Big George knockout: the Frazier rematch. Foreman is typically talked about for his violent first reign and his improbable comeback but rarely his initial rebound from the loss to Ali. Foreman-Frazier I is arguably Foreman’s greatest destruction.

A bewildered Frazier went down heavily six times, once lifted fully off his feet by a heat-seeking uppercut, and the heavyweight picture fundamentally shifted. In the rematch, Frazier boxed more cautiously and made it through the first four rounds without hitting the deck. Then Foreman closed the distance and started teeing off on Frazier in the fifth. A left sent “Smokin’ Joe” stumbling onto his stomach, a right sent him flying into the turnbuckle, and that was it. Not Foreman’s flashiest or quickest knockout, but he showed the first dissection of Frazier wasn’t a fluke. And it’s funny – for all the talk about the loss to Ali impacting Foreman’s psyche, his next two entries on BoxRec were KO5s over Ron Lyle and Frazier. Not bad!

Lucas Ketelle: The memory that stands out is his fight with Moorer. Foreman was 45 when he knocked out Moorer, and as a child, that sounded ancient. I remember opening the sports page in the newspaper, eager to see if he had done it. He had, and it was exciting. I don’t think I saw the fight for another 10 years, but the image of the knockout and the achievement was a tentpole event in my childhood. Reading about Big George becoming the oldest heavyweight titleholder felt important when a lot of things in life didn’t.

Matt Christie: I found his comeback fascinating from start to finish. If I was to pick just one fight from it, and the one I enjoy watching the most, it would be his knockout of Adilson Rodrigues in 1990. As the sun was setting he iced Rodrigues with an incredible shot and the HBO commentary is a joy. It was if Lampley and co suddenly became believers during the course of the fight. Also, go back and watch Foreman's face when he's introduced to the crowd and his appreciation of the applause and cheers he receives. He savours every second of it. It's magical.