TSS EXCLUSIVE: Get Ready For George Foreman Promotions!

Big George Foreman has conquered the ring, the pulpit, and now he’s looking to do the same in the promotional sphere. The ex champ is hooking up with old sage Bob Arum, and they will be co-promoting a fight card in Austin, Texas on April 27.

Foreman told TSS he is soaking up as much knowledge as possible from Arum, who has been doing this since 1966, and Arum’s crew of seasoned vets, including matchmaker Bruce Trampler.

“I haven’t signed anyone to my stable yet, but I want to create opportunities for guys based on their abilities, period,” he told me. “(The late matchmaker) Teddy Brenner, he was a master of plain matchmaking. We will put on the best show we can, and let the chips fly. Bob has some of that in him, but I’d like to have that inside of me. It’s the only way boxing is going to survive.”

Son George III, nicknamed “Monk,” has been climbing the heavyweight ranks, and has a 16-0 record. “But he’s cooled on boxing, and I’ve fallen in love with the promotional side,” Big George said. “I’m riding successfuly on Arum’s coattails!”

Monk, a Rice grad, is considering whether to stick with fighting, so he won’t headline or appear, for now, on a Foreman card. “Big Wheel,” aka George IV, is involved, on the hype side; he’s studied journalism at Texas Southern, and George Jr. has been heavy into the ground work. “I’m a hand shaker and greeter,” Big George told me.

Arum, reached by phone Monday, said that the sons are basically taking the lead. “They are lovely young men, very bright, they’ll be big assets,” the vet promoter said. “We’re planning to do promotions every couple months in Texas.” A June date is also being planned, he said. “We’ll work with them, let them learn the ropes, and then they’ll fly,” he said.

Ray Beltran is the headliner on the April 27 card, which will run on UniMas.

Specifics will be offered on Tuesday, at a press conference in Austin, with Big George and Arum.