George Foreman was the last man standing from boxing's heavyweight golden era

"Athletes are artists whose artistry dies with their youth. For fighters, it tends to be worse, as the youth is literally beaten out of them.

- Marc H. Morial

But, George Foreman--erstwhile bully, seller of grill gadgets and mufflers -- did the greatest thing any athlete can do. He beat time." -- Mark Kriegel

When former world heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali tried to intimidate reigning champ George Foreman at the start of their famous "Rumble in the Jungle" in 1974, Foreman almost fell down laughing.

"Someone must have told him, 'Tell him this to psych him out,'" Foreman said years later. "He opened his eyes just a little bit and said, 'You were just a kid in high school when I fought Sonny Liston. You don't deserve to be here.'"

Foreman had never spent a day in high school.

When Liston lost the title to Ali in 1964, Foreman was a 15-year-old dropout living in poverty, headed for a life of crime. While Ali was making a stand against racism, eventually losing his title and his boxing license in 1967 for refusing the draft, "politics didn’t even exist" for Foreman.