Sad news to report….George Foreman, a heavyweight boxing champion who returned to the sport to regain his title at the improbable age of 45, and parlayed his fame and amiable personality into a multimillion-dollar grill business, died on Friday night at a hospital in Houston. He was 76.

His family announced his death on his Instagram account. Roy Foreman, George’s brother, said the cause of death was not known.

When Foreman returned to the ring after 10 years away, there was skepticism that a fighter of his years could beat any younger fighter, much less come back to the top of the game. But in 1994, he beat the undefeated Michael Moorer to reclaim the world title, shocking the boxing world.

Foreman’s career spanned generations: He fought Chuck Wepner in the 1960s, Dwight Muhammad Qawi in the ’80s and Evander Holyfield in the ’90s.

With Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali, Foreman embodied a golden era in the 1970s, when boxing was still a cultural force in America. The three great champions thrilled fans with one classic bout after another. Foreman was the last living member of the trio.

And his popularity helped him make millions selling grills after his retirement.

George Edward Foreman was born Jan. 10, 1949, in Marshall, Texas, to Nancy Ree (Nelson) Foreman and J.D. Foreman, a railroad construction worker. As an adult, he learned that his biological father was a man named Leroy Moorehead.

Foreman was candid about being a bully and a petty criminal in his youth. After dropping out of school, he joined the Job Corps at 16. At 17, he tried his hand at boxing.

Success came quickly in the amateur ranks; only a year and a half later he was Olympic heavyweight champion, defeating Ionas Chepulis of the Soviet Union by a second-round knockout in Mexico City in 1968.

After the fight, Foreman, who was Black, waved a small American flag in the ring, days after the track athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised clenched fists during the national anthem to protest the country’s treatment of Black people.

“I was just glad to be an American,” Foreman said afterward. “Some people have tried to make something of it, calling me an Uncle Tom, but I’m not. I just believe people should live together in peace.”

Fast forward from his illustrious career in the ring, Foreman began endorsing the George Foreman Grill in 1994, with a big smile and predictable but still charming lines like “It’s a knockout.” The grills were electric and portable and could be used inside as an alternative to outdoor charcoal grilling. Foreman helped propel the grills to become an American kitchen mainstay.

In 1999, Salton Inc. paid $137.5 million for worldwide rights to use Foreman’s name on grills; Foreman got about 75 percent of the payout. He also endorsed mufflers, fried chicken and chips.

Foreman’s affability helped him transcend boxing and cross over into the media world. In 1993-94, in the midst of his comeback, he starred in “George,” a short-lived sitcom on ABC in which he played a retired boxer helping troubled youth, and he made guest appearances on several other shows over the years. He appeared in a Venus-flytrap costume on “The Masked Singer” show in 2022 (his performance of “Get Ready” by the Temptations was not enough to stave off elimination). [NYTimes]

Foreman is survived by his wife, Mary Joan Martelly, and 12 children, five sons and seven daughters. “Big George” famously named all of his boys George Edward Foreman so “they would always have something in common.”