17.02.04 – By Matthew Hurley: The announcement that George Foreman will be leaving his post at HBO came as a shock to many in the boxing media and within the lunatic fringe of sports fans who only watch boxing when unlimited beer is supplied and Mike Tyson is scheduled to debase the sport yet again. But for those who care about the sport and prefer to have the volume on during an HBO telecast, this turn of events induces only smiles and collective sighs of relief. Finally the malapropism-prone, disingenuous, too-goofy-for-it’s-own-good age of George Foreman is over. It was a long time coming and finally HBO can right the terrible wrong it made when the network hired this agenda-driven media darling.
It’s uncomfortable tearing down an icon, especially one who is perceived by the general public as a big fat teddy bear who sells hamburger grills and laughs with a patriarchal reassurance at anything anyone says. Foreman has used the media and his own savvy to sell himself to us as a favorite uncle or the good neighbor who invites all to his family barbecues or, in his particular case, his sermons. As a preacher of the gospel, Foreman knows that a message is not received if the messenger isn’t a good salesman. To preach the word of God the preacher damn well better captivate his audience and make it believe in what he is selling. That’s why lovable George has sold millions of grills with his name on them.
And you know what? There is something lovable and inspirational about George Foreman. He reinvented himself. He reentered the public consciousness the complete opposite of how he had left it when we last saw him in a boxing ring.
During his initial ascension to the heavyweight crown in the early seventies, Foreman was a glowering, menacing figure. There wasn’t a jolly bone in his tightly muscled body. He was a murderous punching machine out of the Sonny Liston mold. Forget Mike Tyson, Liston was the original “baddest man on the planet.” Sonny Liston made fighters’ bladders loosen with just a glance. Jack Dempsey may have intimidated his foes but Liston, as he did in his title-winning effort against Floyd Patterson, beat them before they even stepped into the ring. Foreman was the reincarnation of Liston. Ironically both fighters would be humbled and their lives altered by the fists of Muhammad Ali.
But where Liston succumbed to his demons and wound up alone, dead and all but forgotten, Foreman reinvented himself and captured the public’s fancy. He even won the heavyweight crown again, the oldest man to do so. He was a jolly, grinning media sensation and the public ate it up.
Then HBO hired him. As the third point in the HBO broadcast triangle, with Larry Merchant and Jim Lampley, Foreman quickly proved to be the proverbial square peg. His nonsensical asides immediately began to create tension within the team. Although it never reached the levels seen with Howard Cosell, Frank Gifford and Don Meredith at their worst during Monday Night Football, but towards the end of Foreman’s tenure it became apparent that Merchant must be downing a few extra martinis in celebration of his liberation from his broadcast partner. The mark of contention between the two came recently when the cynical Merchant rightly condemned the dreadful Bernard Hopkins vs. Morrade Hakkar middleweight title bout. During this awful mismatch Foreman kept telling whoever would listen that the feather-fisted, and scared to death Hakkar had a puncher’s chance. Only boxing insiders knew that Hopkins and Foreman can’t stand each other which obviously tainted George’s rambling analysis. In every broadcast George’s commentary is colored by his own personal agenda or whatever particular axe he has to grind. He is a salesman pure and simple. He’ll sling anything, from a grill, to mufflers, to bad fights, to himself. It’s no wonder that the verbose Merchant often seemed at a loss for words when force-fed Foreman’s particular brand of lunacy.
Yet it’s all packaged in that big bear of a man with the ready smile and a self-deprecating fat joke if he feels he needs to disarm his audience a bit more. It was charming at first. It was even glorious when this gregarious grandfather regained the heavyweight championship against Michael Moorer in 1994. But then HBO put a microphone in front of him and slowly but surely we, the audience, began to understand why Howard Cossel loathed the idea of former sports greats pretending to be announcers. Cosell may have lost his objectivity in the waning years of his career but he got that dismissive barb correct. One can only wonder what he would have said about Foreman’s on air performances.
With Foreman scheduled to work his last bout in February, HBO is now faced with the responsibility of finding a proper replacement. On the surface there seem to be only three logical choices. Emanuel Steward, who often calls HBO’s Boxing After Dark series and works various pay-per-view events, seems the obvious choice. HBO would keep its hiring in-house and Steward, arguably the best trainer in the sport, brings a low-key elegance and brilliant analytical mind to the team. His only real flaw seems to be his propensity for hyping fighters he may train in the future – i.e., Oscar De La Hoya, Naseem Hamed, or Lennox Lewis.
A second possibility, but a far less reasonable choice, is light heavyweight champion Roy Jones Jr. Jones, despite the enormity of his ego, is an above average commentator with a keen insight into the sport. There are no Foremanesque verbal gaffes with Jones, only accurate analysis. The problem lies both in a proposed contract deal and Jones’ notorious unpredictability. HBO suffered through its last contract with Jones, which paid him handsomely and allowed him to fight pretty much whomever he wanted. It was a bad deal, one Merchant himself harped on during telecasts that involved Roy. Also Jones is known for simply not showing up, whether it’s for interviews, press conferences or photo shoots. His last transgression was during the buildup for his WBA heavyweight title match against John Ruiz. Jones was nowhere to be found, leaving the uncharismatic Ruiz to handle all the publicity. The way Jones sees things, once the money is in the bank his responsibility is only to himself. It’s doubtful we will ever see Jones behind a microphone calling fights for HBO.
The third choice is perhaps the most interesting. ESPN’s combative and opinionated Teddy Atlas would bring an undeniable energy and flair to the broadcast booth. The idea of Atlas locking horns with Merchant is a fascinating one. If anyone can release Merchant from the negativity that he has been wallowing in these past few years it’s the hyper-kinetic Atlas. With Lampley acting as the voice of reason, this triumvirate could be as entertaining as the bouts they call. And with ESPN cutting back on its boxing programming you may even be able to throw analyst Max Kellerman into the mix, however that seems highly unlikely.
The feeling here is that HBO will stick with Steward. Should he be unavailable, whether due to training obligations or working the corner of one of his fighters, look for HBO-payroll guest analysts such as Boston Globe columnist Ron Borges, IBF heavyweight champ Chris Byrd or Bob Costas to fill in. Regardless of who lands the assignment it’s with a sigh of relief that we say good-bye to George Foreman. He was a great fighter, a nice man and a good story, but a terrible broadcaster and a hindrance to the best boxing program on television.