George 'Monk' Foreman III set for boxing debut
By STEVE CAMPBELL Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
June 3, 2009, 11:23PMPhotos by Michael Paulsen: ChronicleGeorge Foreman III received one day’s notice that his day of reckoning was arriving. George Foreman the original, the former heavyweight boxing champion of the world, walked into the steamy gym nearly a year ago and said, “We’re going to spar tomorrow.”
Sweet dreams, son.
The genial giant of a man who had been so generous with his fatherly advice showed up the next day at the George Foreman Youth Center with a menacing glower. He didn’t smile at the son he’d nicknamed Monk, didn’t offer any coaching or even polite chit-chat. He just put on his headgear, stepped in the ring and tried to beat his son to a pulp. They went at it for three days, with Monk offering this verdict: “He just pulverized me.”
The father saw those sparring sessions a lot differently, which helps explain why he has given his blessing to Monk embarking on a career in professional boxing. Monk will make his professional debut Saturday night at the Coushatta Casino Resort in Kinder, La., taking on Clyde Weaver in a four-round heavyweight fight.
“He scared me,” said George Foreman the original, who won 76 of 81 professional fights. “I was trying to hit him with that big jab of mine. He’d jump back, and he kept jumping up like, ‘I’m going to hit you.’ I thought, ‘I don’t think I’m going to be doing this much. I don’t want to be hit in the head anymore.’ He had that (air) like, ‘Any time I want, I can hit you.’ Now I know if he really wants to do something, he can do it.”
A late startMonk is 26 and has a business degree from Rice. He is the business manager of the George Foreman empire, which sells everything from grills to cookbooks to guides to life. He likes the television cameras, and the cameras have liked him back in a couple of reality shows. He stands 6-5, weighs 240 pounds, drives a Bentley and has what his father describes as a “silk-pajamas” existence.
And yet, Monk insists he is ready to climb into a ring and get in harm’s way.
“How about for $200 million and stardom?” veteran promoter Ron Weathers said. “You think that’s a pretty good motivation? A couple hundred million and being a superstar — not to mention all the other stuff that goes with it. That’s where he’s headed.”
The Foreman family — in all its fruitful, multiplying glory, with George the original having fathered 10 children that include five sons named George — is well aware of the face of boxing. George Foreman the original won the heavyweight title with a 1973 knockout of Joe Frazier, only to lose the 1974 rumble in the jungle with Muhammad Ali. Twenty years later, at age 45, Foreman became the oldest heavyweight champion in history.
“I thought I was done seeing the black eyes, the puffy faces,” said one of Monk’s sisters, Natalie Foreman. “Monk, he’s a beautiful dude. He’s got that smooth, chocolate skin. I just don’t want anybody to hit him. He’s too pretty.”
Monk was the second of the five Foreman sons named George. The father got tagged with the nickname “Monkey” by his siblings. He passed along that nickname to George Foreman III. As much as George Foreman could, he steered his children to as close to a monk’s existence as he could.
“The one thing about me and boxing is I didn’t even discuss it or hint about it until I had my college degree,” Monk said.
An unlikely fighter?As a boy, Monk watched his father train. He sat at ringside when his father did color analysis of fights and had blood splatter in his face. Boxing, he said, was always in the back of his mind. Some five years ago while attending Pepperdine, Monk popped into a gym one day and did some sparring. He didn’t go back, afraid his father would find out what he’d done.
On the surface, at least, Monk was the least likely of the five Georges to get into the fight game
“My other brothers, I’ve seen them lose their temper, and I’ve thought, ‘My God, there’s a beast in there,’” Natalie Foreman said. “With him, I never saw him lose his temper. He was so kind. But as he has gotten older … I think still waters run deep.”
Monk began training two Augusts ago. His regimen includes what he calls the “torture chamber” of his father’s ranch. Like father, Monk drags trucks as far as he can, digs holes, chops wood and runs until he’s sure he’ll drop — and then runs some more. Once Monk passed muster in the sparring sessions with his father, following the Foreman footsteps became more a matter of when than if.
“His feet are bigger than mine,” George Foreman said. “He’s doing it for the right reason. He loves it. He wants to be a part of it. I did it for vain reasons. He can do more than me because the first time around all I cared about was the fame and fortune and really trying to hurt someone.”
Ready for tough trainingThe way Monk figures it, genetics give him a good two decades — if necessary — to complete his quest of becoming heavyweight champion of the world. In one breath, Monk describes his style as “an impersonation of George Foreman impersonating Sugar Ray Robinson.” In another breath, Monk said he’s not sure if he could beat his 60-year-old father but added, “I’m sure if I got my brothers we could whip him pretty good.”
“My view of boxing has always been the hours of training,” Monk said. “The hours of sparring. Denying your body of things you really like. Being away from your family. The dedication and sacrifices that you have to make. So when I decided to get into boxing, believe me, there were no surprises at all.”
In two days, Monk Foreman will find out for sure what it’s like to fight under the lights in front of a crowd that wants to see destruction.
“Without boxing, there would be no George Foreman Grill today,” Monk Foreman said. “So how could you talk bad about boxing?
steve.campbell@chron.com
