Category: Boxing / UFC / MMA

At the 1968 Olympics, Foreman’s flag-waving was seen as deference if not betrayal. But the reaction to it reveals the limited ways we allow Black athletes to express themselves

When a teenager from Texas named George Foreman waved a tiny American flag in the boxing ring after winning Olympic gold in 1968, he had little awareness of the political minefield beneath his size 15 feet. The moment, captured by television cameras for an audience of millions during one of the most volatile periods in American history, was instantly contrasted with another image from two days earlier at the same Mexico City Games: Tommie Smith and John Carlos, heads bowed and black-gloved fists raised in salute during the US national anthem, a silent act of protest that would become one of the defining visuals of the 20th century. Their message was unmistakable: a rebuke of the country that had sent them to compete while continuing to deny civil rights to people who looked like them. Their action was seen as defiant resistance, Foreman’s as deference to the very systems of oppression they were protesting.

Foreman’s flag-waving, unremarkable in almost any other context, became a lightning rod. For many, especially those aligned with the rising tide of Black Power, the gesture felt tone-deaf at best, an outright betrayal at worst. How could a young Black man, representing a country still brutalizing his own people, celebrate it so enthusiastically? But that reading, while emotionally understandable amid the fevered upheaval of 1968, misses something deeper – about Foreman, about patriotism, and about the burden of symbolic politics laid on the shoulders of Black athletes.

By forming a new governing body, World Boxing, the Dutchman prevented the sport being banished by the IOC

“It feels like such a sweet week and of course I’m very happy and proud,” Boris van der Vorst says as, in his role as the president and one of the founders of World Boxing, he takes a rare break to reflect on a mighty achievement. Just over two years ago, boxing had been struck off the initial programme for the Los Angeles Games in 2028 and it was about to be banished entirely from the Olympic movement. It was then that Van der Vorst set about establishing a new regulatory body to replace the discredited International Boxing Association.

His work, despite intense pressure, was vindicated when Thomas Bach, the outgoing International Olympic Committee president, announced on Monday that his executive board had recommended boxing’s inclusion in the LA Olympics. The key stipulation was in place, because the IOC recognised World Boxing as the sport’s new regulatory body, and on Thursday Bach’s recommendation was accepted. Boxing was welcomed back into the Olympic fold.

Former heavyweight champion was always more complex and interesting than his contrasting personae suggested

Boxing seems a smaller and darker world now. George Foreman has gone and, with his death, he takes a little more of the ­fading light and lost glory of the ring with him. My own life in ­boxing, which stretches across 55 years, can be divided into stages and all of them carry markers Foreman left in the dirt and dust of the fight game.

From the malevolent force he ­personified when he became ­heavyweight champion of the world to the lovable old grandad ­making hundreds of millions as the face of a food grill business, Foreman could be easily ­caricatured. But he was always more complex and interesting than his contrasting personae suggested.

• Ex-cop outpoints Aussie Nicolson for featherweight title
• Brown served as officer in Washington DC and Florida

Former police officer Tiara Brown became WBC world featherweight champion by beating Skye Nicolson in a split-decision victory on Saturday.

The 36-year-old Brown took Nicolson’s belt when judges scored the bout 97-93 and 96-94 in her favor, with one judge scoring it 96-94 for Nicolson.

A multiple boxing world heavyweight champion who became a pastor, television celebrity and successful entrepreneur

Redemption was a long time coming for George Foreman, and when it finally arrived he grabbed it with both fists.

For years Foreman, who reigned as world heavyweight champion during his division’s greatest era, was forced to act as an antidote to the more popular successes of his main rivals, Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier.

The American boxing champion, who twice held the world heavyweight championship, has died aged 76. He leaves behind a towering legacy

• Legendary boxer George Foreman dies aged 76

• Governing body wants rules ready for Brazil tournament
• Investigation sparked by row at Paris Olympics

World Boxing has reached “an advanced stage” of its investigation into the gender eligibility row that blighted the sport at the Olympic Games last year, and expects to announce its findings in a matter of “weeks rather than months”.

Boris van der Vorst, the president of boxing’s governing body that was given a green light on Monday to run the Olympic competition at Los Angeles 2028, said: “There’s no specific timeline, but I expect it within two or three weeks. We want to have it before our next competition in Brazil.” Van der Vorst said all recommendations would need approval by him and the WB board.

• President Bach backs sport’s inclusion for 2028 in LA
• Status had been in doubt with governing body suspended

Boxing’s fragile Olympic status is on the verge of being secured after years of uncertainty. On Monday the International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach said that his executive board had recommended that boxing should be included in the 2028 Games to be held in Los Angeles. It appears to be a formality that the IOC membership will ratify the decision in the coming days as Bach and his colleagues confirmed last month that that they now recognise World Boxing as the sport’s new international federation.

“After the provisional recognition of World Boxing in February we were in the position to take this decision,” Bach said at a press conference. “I’m very confident the [IOC] session will approve it, so that all boxers then have certainty that they can participate in the Olympic Games in LA2028 if their national federation is recognised by World Boxing.”