George Foreman^†

Two rounds to knock out Joe Frazier in 1973, and Foreman owned the heavyweight division. He came to Kinshasa in 1974 as a 4-1 favorite with a devastating knockout record, and spent eight rounds throwing everything at Muhammad Ali leaning on the ropes. Ali knocked him out in the eighth. The defeat should have buried him. Instead, the Rumble in the Jungle burned his name into sports history. Losing to Ali was the best thing that ever happened to his brand.

The boxing record stands on its own: 76 wins, 68 knockouts, and a comeback that ended with him knocking out undefeated Michael Moorer at 45 to reclaim the heavyweight title in 1994, a record that still stands. But the grill is what made him rich. Salton Inc. paid $137.5 million for the rights to his name in 1999, and total grill earnings reportedly reached around $200 million. Most boxers lose their money. He made more from a kitchen appliance than most fighters earn in a lifetime.

Every one of his five sons is named George Edward Foreman. Not a joke. He explained it as a philosophy: share the name, share the fate. They go by Monk, Big Wheel, Red, Little Joey, and George Jr. to tell them apart. The fiercer story is the personality flip. The scowling destroyer who terrified heavyweights in the 1970s became a jovial, self-deprecating pitchman who seemed to genuinely enjoy the bit. That shift traced back to 1977, a near-death experience after a loss to Jimmy Young that led him to Christianity and a church he founded in Houston.

His family released a statement calling him 'a devout preacher, a devoted husband, a loving father.' His brother Roy told the New York Times the cause of death wasn't yet clear. Mike Tyson and other boxing figures posted public tributes. He had remained an active pastor at his Houston church until near the end, still combining scripture with boxing stories from the pulpit.