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George Foreman didn't just Rumble in the Jungle. He lived a remarkable life.

Related Topics: George Foreman, Muhammad Ali

It was sometime in the late 1980s. I think. When George Foreman punched me in the face.

Foreman was in Houston and I was sent to do a story on the legendary fighter while working at the Dallas Morning News. Foreman was in the middle of his metamorphosis from a scowling boxing bad guy into one of the sport's greatest ambassadors. Then, later, an all-time pitchman.

People would stop by a makeshift gym in his garage and he would lightly spar with them. Toy with them, really. Using a fraction of his power to make a point: boxing is hard.