As the 2025 Championships kick off, Pacific island nations continue to defy the odds — proving that population size is no barrier to producing world-class sport, writes JAMES NALTON
Remembering Big George’s impact on boxing and history
ROGER McKENZIE writes about late boxing legend Foreman’s legacy, from his part in Rumble in the Jungle to becoming world heavyweight champion at 45
(L-R) Former World Heavyweight Champions Joe Frazier, George Foreman and Muhammad Ali, October 17, 1989
In a town shaped by hardship and history, a grassroots boxing club led by Andrew McFarlane gives purpose to the next generation — including a rising champion, writes JOHN WIGHT
MY DAD was excitedly rousing us. ”He won! He won!” I didn’t need to hear the next line from my dad, “Ali won.” At least that’s the memory I have of dad waking us up on Halloween morning 1974.
It’s a strong memory — whether real or not — that my dad would have woken me, my brother and my sister up with the news that Muhammad Ali had performed the miracle of defeating George Foreman to win back the Heavyweight Championship of the World.
What I know for sure is that “Big George” Foreman, who joined the ancestors last week, will always be remembered in relation to his part in the so-called Rumble in the Jungle.
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The Congolese independence leader’s uncompromising speech about 80 years of European colonial brutality and injustice went round the world in 1960, and within months, he had been executed by Belgian and CIA-backed forces, writes KEITH BARLOW
JOHN WIGHT pays tribute to the late great George Foreman who defied the odds throughout his life and career to become a household name and legend of the sport
JOHN WIGHT explains how the eighth-round stoppage back in 1974 remains among the most important moments in the entire history of sports
