April 25, 2023 • 5 mins
Legendary boxer George Foreman zooms in to talk new biopic and more!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is on with Mario Lopez.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
It's up you all with Mario Lopez joining me now
on zoom. The former two time heavyweight champion of the World.
My man, Big George Foreman, Welcome to the schell sir,
how are you.
Speaker 3 (00:12):
I'm happy to be with you, feeling good about seeing
your face man making me happy.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Oh, thank you very much. You make me happy. We
were just talking before we got on air.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Not only a huge fan of you as a fighter,
but as a person to everything you've gone through. And
you know I'm a huge fight fan. I was sparring
this morning. I was on point today, so I felt good.
It was nice and I dang it, I should have
wore my Foreman shirt. I got my Roots of Fight
Foreman shirt. I should have done that for next time
so we could talk fights all day. But coming out
this Friday, I'm excited about Big George Foreman, the miraculous
(00:41):
story of the once in future heavyweight champion of the World.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
It's about time this story is told.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
I think it's completely fascinating and people are really gonna
enjoy it.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Is it weird to watch another man play on screen that.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Chris Davis, who was the George Foreman of that movie. Yes,
she became George Foreman, and I enjoyed it. If someone
had to do it good as a true actor.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Nice, nice, so good. So if he's got your stamp
of approval, and that's all that matters is that you
know the thing about boxing movies sometimes the fighting could
really bother guys that are that know the sport and
and and and love boxing.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
How how was the the fights in the ring for you?
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Did it?
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Did it come across to your liking?
Speaker 4 (01:27):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (01:28):
It was just good with me because it wasn't like
I'm in love with boxing. I loved working out in
the spar.
Speaker 4 (01:33):
And like you do.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
But that boxing, it was like, please glamorize that part
of it. Yeah, well those were hard days for me.
So the boxing scenes were man.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Good, I love it.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Forrest Whittaker, great actor, plays your your mentor Doc brought us?
Did he give that character the gravitas there?
Speaker 3 (01:52):
And that touched my heart so much because if a
star had to be in a movie, it was Doc
Brother's character who never gave up on me.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
He wanted me to be a boxer. It wasn't me.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
I didn't want boxing, but he stayed on my back
and became the best thing.
Speaker 4 (02:08):
That happened to me being a boxer.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
So does the movie start from like when you were
born in Houston and all the way to almost present day?
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Does it cover all of that? George?
Speaker 3 (02:21):
Yeah, it's such a touching part because I saw me
the character as a boy, and that's when I really cried,
because you you know, you grow up, you start a
years passed by, you think about income tax, you thinking
about this, but in reality, I was a little kid
without hope.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
It didn't even exist. Can you imagine living without I
hope it's going to be better? It was nothing, and
they recaptured that moment in my life.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
Huh.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
I loved the movie from the beginning to the end.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
I bet it was special. So it's not so. Boxing
is not something you always wanted to do.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
You fell into it and Doc sort of ended up
encouraging you to it.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
Am I correct, that's true. I didn't want to be
a boxer. I went down to the gym so I
could become a better street fighter. And it was Doc
who told me, man, if you start fighting the street,
you can make something of your life. You can be
an Olympic gold medalist. And I was thinking, what's the
Olympics and we still And that's where hope came alive
(03:21):
in me.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Got it.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
So when you got in the gym, is that when
you realize you had heavy hands? Or was that you
just figured that out on the street.
Speaker 4 (03:28):
No, I was scared.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
I was originally I wanted to be a baseball player,
and I was good at baseball, but I was always
afraid they were going to hit me with that ball
the pitcher and I panicked. So when I got in
the ring, I started thinking, I bet hurry up and
get these guys. They're gonna hit me like that baseball, right,
And I became a knockout artist behind fear.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Is that what it was, Okay?
Speaker 4 (03:50):
Was fearful. Fearful.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
That's a great motivator.
Speaker 4 (03:52):
Right there.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
You've won a gold medal, championship belts. Is there a particular.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Moment in the ring that you're proud of st of George?
Speaker 3 (04:02):
Oh, the most wonderful moment in my life of a
nineteen year old boy winning that gold medal.
Speaker 4 (04:08):
I never had a dream to come true.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
And there were standing on that platform listening to the
national anthem in the background. I keep thinking now that
I may wake up and it's a dream. What a
wonderful moment in my life. Nothing has come close to
that in sports.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
That's awesome. Yeah, that's that's a beautiful think. And never
take that away either. I know you got a big family, Georgia.
Got to meet your lovely daughter a little while ago.
How many grandkids you got now?
Speaker 4 (04:33):
Fifteen grandkids?
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Fifteen that's awesome, great and three great grands Oh wow,
look at that. You still spending your time down in.
Speaker 4 (04:41):
Houston and they're all around me all the time.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
That is awesome. That's awesome. That's the best right there.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
I got to tell you, as a side note, Georgie,
aside from being a fan of yours, as a fighter
and a preacher and a person, I used to live
off the forming grill in my twenties, Like I made
everything from grilled cheese, steaks you could cook.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
It was the greatest thing ever.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
And I know you're gonna touch on it in the
movie because it's in the trailer, but it really was
a good product.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
I just wanted to tell you.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
That what a success. And I didn't see that coming.
I'm not gonna lie to you. I didn't see that coming.
Over one hundred and twenty million of those things. So wow,
before I start selling other things.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
That is awesome.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
That is awesome, What an awesome American dream in such
a great movie. Can't wait to check it out. Big
George Foreman debuts in theaters on Friday. George, thanks so
much for hanging out. I hope I get to see
you in person soon. All right, all the best and
God bless you too, God bless Raw
Speaker 1 (05:39):
Loud with Mario Lopez
This is on with Mario Lopez.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
It's up you all with Mario Lopez joining me now
on zoom. The former two time heavyweight champion of the World.
My man, Big George Foreman, Welcome to the schell sir,
how are you.
Speaker 3 (00:12):
I'm happy to be with you, feeling good about seeing
your face man making me happy.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Oh, thank you very much. You make me happy. We
were just talking before we got on air.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Not only a huge fan of you as a fighter,
but as a person to everything you've gone through. And
you know I'm a huge fight fan. I was sparring
this morning. I was on point today, so I felt good.
It was nice and I dang it, I should have
wore my Foreman shirt. I got my Roots of Fight
Foreman shirt. I should have done that for next time
so we could talk fights all day. But coming out
this Friday, I'm excited about Big George Foreman, the miraculous
(00:41):
story of the once in future heavyweight champion of the World.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
It's about time this story is told.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
I think it's completely fascinating and people are really gonna
enjoy it.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Is it weird to watch another man play on screen that.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Chris Davis, who was the George Foreman of that movie. Yes,
she became George Foreman, and I enjoyed it. If someone
had to do it good as a true actor.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Nice, nice, so good. So if he's got your stamp
of approval, and that's all that matters is that you
know the thing about boxing movies sometimes the fighting could
really bother guys that are that know the sport and
and and and love boxing.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
How how was the the fights in the ring for you?
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Did it?
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Did it come across to your liking?
Speaker 4 (01:27):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (01:28):
It was just good with me because it wasn't like
I'm in love with boxing. I loved working out in
the spar.
Speaker 4 (01:33):
And like you do.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
But that boxing, it was like, please glamorize that part
of it. Yeah, well those were hard days for me.
So the boxing scenes were man.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Good, I love it.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Forrest Whittaker, great actor, plays your your mentor Doc brought us?
Did he give that character the gravitas there?
Speaker 3 (01:52):
And that touched my heart so much because if a
star had to be in a movie, it was Doc
Brother's character who never gave up on me.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
He wanted me to be a boxer. It wasn't me.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
I didn't want boxing, but he stayed on my back
and became the best thing.
Speaker 4 (02:08):
That happened to me being a boxer.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
So does the movie start from like when you were
born in Houston and all the way to almost present day?
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Does it cover all of that? George?
Speaker 3 (02:21):
Yeah, it's such a touching part because I saw me
the character as a boy, and that's when I really cried,
because you you know, you grow up, you start a
years passed by, you think about income tax, you thinking
about this, but in reality, I was a little kid
without hope.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
It didn't even exist. Can you imagine living without I
hope it's going to be better? It was nothing, and
they recaptured that moment in my life.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
Huh.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
I loved the movie from the beginning to the end.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
I bet it was special. So it's not so. Boxing
is not something you always wanted to do.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
You fell into it and Doc sort of ended up
encouraging you to it.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
Am I correct, that's true. I didn't want to be
a boxer. I went down to the gym so I
could become a better street fighter. And it was Doc
who told me, man, if you start fighting the street,
you can make something of your life. You can be
an Olympic gold medalist. And I was thinking, what's the
Olympics and we still And that's where hope came alive
(03:21):
in me.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Got it.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
So when you got in the gym, is that when
you realize you had heavy hands? Or was that you
just figured that out on the street.
Speaker 4 (03:28):
No, I was scared.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
I was originally I wanted to be a baseball player,
and I was good at baseball, but I was always
afraid they were going to hit me with that ball
the pitcher and I panicked. So when I got in
the ring, I started thinking, I bet hurry up and
get these guys. They're gonna hit me like that baseball, right,
And I became a knockout artist behind fear.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Is that what it was, Okay?
Speaker 4 (03:50):
Was fearful. Fearful.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
That's a great motivator.
Speaker 4 (03:52):
Right there.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
You've won a gold medal, championship belts. Is there a particular.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Moment in the ring that you're proud of st of George?
Speaker 3 (04:02):
Oh, the most wonderful moment in my life of a
nineteen year old boy winning that gold medal.
Speaker 4 (04:08):
I never had a dream to come true.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
And there were standing on that platform listening to the
national anthem in the background. I keep thinking now that
I may wake up and it's a dream. What a
wonderful moment in my life. Nothing has come close to
that in sports.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
That's awesome. Yeah, that's that's a beautiful think. And never
take that away either. I know you got a big family, Georgia.
Got to meet your lovely daughter a little while ago.
How many grandkids you got now?
Speaker 4 (04:33):
Fifteen grandkids?
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Fifteen that's awesome, great and three great grands Oh wow,
look at that. You still spending your time down in.
Speaker 4 (04:41):
Houston and they're all around me all the time.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
That is awesome. That's awesome. That's the best right there.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
I got to tell you, as a side note, Georgie,
aside from being a fan of yours, as a fighter
and a preacher and a person, I used to live
off the forming grill in my twenties, Like I made
everything from grilled cheese, steaks you could cook.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
It was the greatest thing ever.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
And I know you're gonna touch on it in the
movie because it's in the trailer, but it really was
a good product.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
I just wanted to tell you.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
That what a success. And I didn't see that coming.
I'm not gonna lie to you. I didn't see that coming.
Over one hundred and twenty million of those things. So wow,
before I start selling other things.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
That is awesome.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
That is awesome, What an awesome American dream in such
a great movie. Can't wait to check it out. Big
George Foreman debuts in theaters on Friday. George, thanks so
much for hanging out. I hope I get to see
you in person soon. All right, all the best and
God bless you too, God bless Raw
Speaker 1 (05:39):
Loud with Mario Lopez
Host
Mario Lopez
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