George Foreman talks about his early life and rise to fame as the Olympic and World Heavyweight Boxing Champion.
Boxer George Foreman talks to Pat Kenny about his life and career.
In this excerpt from the interview, George describes his rise to success and fame. As a teenager, he was what he calls "a juvenile delinquent" but got a second chance after he joined an anti-poverty programme called 'The Job Corps'.
George fell into crime and says that he was so ignorant that he thought robbing people was "nice".
I was a mugger.
Known by his siblings as 'Mo-head', George later discovered that he had a biologically different father to his brothers and sisters, a man of the name Leroy Moorehead.
George describes the point at which he turned away from crime, having been chased by the police one night after a robbery and hiding in sewage under a house.
I didn't want to be a thief. It was the first time I realised that I was a criminal.
He got a second chance when he joined the Job Corps, got a basic education and in the evenings he learned to box. In 1968 he won a gold medal in the Olympic Games in Mexico and went on to become World Heavyweight Champion, beating Joe Frazier for the title.
I've been known to hit a guy with one shot and then he goes asleep.
George goes on to describe his encounters in the ring with Muhammad Ali.
The documentary 'When We Were Kings' told the story of the unseating of the reigning heavyweight boxing champion of the world by Muhammad Ali in the famous Rumble in the Jungle. He might have finished a lesser man, but Foreman went on to make history by regaining the heavyweight title twenty years later at the
age of 45. He talked to Pat about his upbringing, how he started boxing, Muhammad Ali, his family, and his success in his various careers.
This episode of 'The Late Late Show' was broadcast on 15 November 2002. The presenter is Pat Kenny.
