George Foreman dead at 76: How boxing legend rose from a childhood in a crime-ridden neighborhood in Houston to become the oldest heavyweight champion ever – before becoming a preacher and making more than $200million from his grill

The oldest world heavyweight champion ever, who regained his title 20 years on at the age of 45, George Foreman is an undisputed legend of boxing.

It is testament to his longevity and constant self-reinvention that different generations will remember George Foreman for so many different reasons.

Foreman changed from the boxer whose devastating punches dominated opponents but who remained aloof from the public, to the smiling, family-friendly older George advertising his grills on TV.

He announced himself to the world as a 19-year old boxing phenomenon, waving the American flag after winning the ‘Cold War Clash’ against the Soviet Union’s Jonas Cepulis to take the heavyweight gold medal at Mexico 1968.

But just two years earlier it looked likely Foreman would take a very different path until he experienced, not for the only time in his life, a moment of clarity.

As he recalled: ‘Only less than two years prior to that date that I’d stood on that platform receiving gold and listening to…