George Foreman posted 76 wins during his career, 20 more than the great Muhammed Ali, who beat Foreman in 1974 in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to regain the world heavyweight crown. But, Foreman scored 68 KOs -- nearly double the 37 Ali posted -- against only five losses. Below is a year-by-year listing of Foremans record over the course of his career that spanned nearly three decades.
In his first year as a pro, alone, Foreman scored seven KOs and three technical knockouts, or TKOs. The listings start with the date of the fight, followed by the opponent, then the location, followed by the result and the number of rounds in the bout. The results include boxing acronyms, with W for a win, L for a loss, KO for knockout and TKO for a technical knockout, where the referee ends the bout when one fighter is unable to continue.
Out of 12 wins this year, Foreman scored a combined 10 KOs and TKOs. Several great fighters would comment later that in his prime, Foreman was the hardest-hitting fighter in boxing history, according to The Sweet Science.
In a remarkable two-year span, Foreman knocked out his opponents in all 12 of his professional fights, either through KOs or referee-declared TKOs. Two of his fights in 1971 were held with only one week of rest in between in 1971, and with a little over a week between two bouts in 1972 -- a feat that would be unheard of in todays boxing world.
Foreman won the world heavyweight title -- the World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association belts -- with a convincing second-round TKO of reigning champ Joe Frazier in January. He successfully defended his title nine months later.
Foreman defended his title against challenger Ken Norton in March, but he lost the crown to Ali, who had been allowed to return to boxing after a three-year ban due to his refusal to enter the draft for military service.
After losing the title, Foreman essentially took a year off in 1974, fighting only exhibition bouts, but he returned to form in 1976 with five convincing wins --
