Interview Dated March 2005

Freeda George Foreman

Most of us can only imagine what it's like to the the son or daughter of a legend. But for Freeda George Foreman, that is reality at its most basic. Tall, pretty and with her father's good-naturedness, she seems an unlikely person to enter what some would consider to be the cuthroat world of professional boxing promotion. On Friday March 18th, her first card, Houston vs. Arkansas, featuring Houston's "3rd Ward" Billy Willis as the main event, will take place at the Wyndham Greenspoint Hotel in Houston. I caught up with her after her first well-attended press conference last week at a sportsbar in the Galleria Mall.

HBS - So you just endured your first media barrage. How was that?

FGF - Scary. Scary. I think it's all scares in boxing. I wouldn't trade for what Jose's (Gutierrez) about to do March 18th.

HBS - Why did you decide to get into promoting?

FGF - Well, I've looked at it for awhile. I've done a couple of amateur fights. I know it's nothing compared to professional fights. But I love boxing and you know looking at all the different angles I think promoting is probably one of the best angles you canjump into when it comes to boxing.

HBS - What's it like to be George Foreman's daughter?

FGF - You know I really didn't know I was George Foreman's daughter until I was grown up. H'es George. He's father. He's the preacher. That was it.

HBS - In setting up professional boxing matches things have a tendency to fall apart at the last minute. Have you prepared for that?

FGF - It's funny as you said that, the very first thing I did when I started investigating promoters, promotional events, boxing, is I asked, "What goes wrong? Why do these events crash at the last minute?" When I found out what those little impefections were I cured myself so I would not run into those particular problems.

HBS - What have you learned that those are that you're preparing for?

FGF - Well, you never do more than you're prepared for. I think that really sums it up. You always have a backup plan and always have quality fighters on your show.

HBS - You did some professional boxing? Tell us about that.

FGF - Well I'd rather talk about promoting (laughs). I did some professional boxing for awhile but, you know....

HBS - How many fights did you have and when was it?

FGF - You know what, that's why I stopped boxing because I can't remember. (laughs)

HBS - Did you get knocked out?

FGF - No. I just didn't want to remember my last fight.

HBS - How did you come up with this particular card of fighters.

FGF - Well I've been working with Reginald McGowen, a matchmaker out of Tyler Texas. I met with McGowen one afternoon and since then he and I have had a thousand conversations over the phone. I described to him what I was looking for in a particular fighter and I sent him over a list of about a hundred fighters here between Houston and Dallas and out of those we narrowed it down to about eight and we have Houston vs. Arkansas now.

HBS - You apparently have some corporate sponsors through your father helping you with this but as you may or may not be aware it costs some money to put one of these things on and a couple of cards just in the past year here in Houston, the promoters lost money. How do you reconcile that in your mind that you're going to try to make money at this?

FGF - Well I think the biggest thing is to turn the image of boxing around. There's a lot of beauty in boxing. Like Juan Diaz going to college, working on a degree and a successful guy working his way up. I can name about a dozen other fighters just as he. If there was a lot more people promoting fighters with class and style that are out there I dont' think we'd have a hard time getting sponsorship. I think we'd get more sponsorship and promoters wouldn't have trouble raising money.

HBS - What's your father up to these days?

FGF - Keeping in shape, making money, doing his grills, selling clothes. I think the key question probably is what is he not doing but you know that's George. He can't sit still.

HBS - You call your father by his first name. You don't call him "Dad".

FGF - George. George, that's George (laughs).

HBS - You've always called him George?

FGF - I called him "Daddy" probably up until about, I don't know, I've been calling him George for as long as I can remember now.

HBS - There was this word that he was going to get back into pro fighting two years ago.

FGF - He's in shape to do it.

HBS - You think he's ready to do it?

FGF - He's in shape to do it.

HBS - Have you heard anything about whether he has anything planned? First he was going to fight the president of Rice University in a charity exhibition match. Then it seems like everybody wants a piece of your dad of course for the payday. Larry Holmes has come out and said something and then there's this guy Lee Canalito over here who says "I want George!" Everybody wants to fight your dad. What have you heard about whether there's any chance that anything might actually happen?

FGF - I'll say this. I know a lot of people probably want a piece of him. But I hope they're prepared. You never know when he's going to say "Alright, come on, let's go". George is in shape. He's probably in the best shape of his life.