George Foreman: Daily Routine

George Foreman ran 10 miles a day, punched a moving bag off the back of a truck, and trained until he cried — all to reclaim the title at 45.

At the beginning of 1974, George Foreman was the scariest boxer alive. The heavyweight gold medallist was fresh off of beating Joe Frazier and Ken Norton. But it wasn’t just that he had beat them, it was the way he demolished these two men — knocking down Frazier six times before their fight was called off and stopping Norton in just two rounds.

Both Frazier and Norton had previously beat Muhammad Ali in their recent fights — the former had knocked him down in ther 1971 bout while the latter had broke his jaw the earlier year. The stage was thus set for the historic showdown between the 25-year old Foreman and the ageing Ali: The Rumble in the Jungle.

Set in Kinshasa, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), the fight was meant to be a walk in the park for the heavyweight champion — Ali’s best days were behind him while Foreman was in his athletic prime.