NEW YORK, NY – The worst punch that heavyweight boxer George Foreman ever threw was the one that busted up a wall on an episode of Sanford and Son. When I appeared as a co-host on the radio program Impact on WPAT with Ray Negron, I couldn’t wait to ask Big George about his acting partner Redd Foxx. Our guest on that night’s show was musical composer Nabaté Isles, and during a commercial break he asked if we wanted to have George Foreman join us on the telephone. Me and Ray looked at each other and both yelled, “Hell yeah!”
Nabaté, who was friends with Foreman, dialed the number and the show took on a whole new twist. After the boxing questions were asked, I asked the once upon a time heavyweight champ how many takes it took for that punch on the wall to make the final cut. Big George was taken aback as the question came out of left field. Foreman hesitated at first, then laughed before he responded, “One take and it was a wrap.” He marveled over the great Redd Foxx, who played Fred G. Sanfordb in the show, calling him the funniest man he’s ever been around.
The first time I met Foreman was back in 1995 at a book signing at a Barnes & Noble store in the Wall Street area of Manhattan. He was there to promote his autobiography titled By George. He signed the book and we posed for a selfie with the Vivitar camera that I balanced in my hand. Foreman was concerned if the snapshot got both of us, since I had to wait for the picture to be developed at a later date.
I gifted him a Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association courtesy card, and upon inspecting it, he asked if I was a Correction Officer. I replied “yes” and he responded, “Oh boy, that’s a rough job.” He then asked me if I had five more COBA cards that I could spare. He explained that he had five sons, and when I asked him what their names were, he answered, “George, George, George, George, and George.”
As we both laughed, I handed him five more cards, and I’ll never forget his tight handshake. His hand was like a vise grip, the same hand that broke that wall on Sanford and Son. R.I.P. Big George and thanks for the memories
