Many mourned George Foreman Friday, but not everyone got to meet him.
New Jersey actor Khris Davis not only spent time with Foreman, he also played him in the 2023 biopic film “Big George Foreman: The Miraculous Story of the Once and Future Heavyweight Champion of the World.”
Davis, who grew up in Camden, remembered “Big George Foreman” late Friday night after the family of the two-time heavyweight champion, Olympic gold medalist, entrepreneur, pitchman and minster shared news of his death at 76.
The actor posted a video on Instagram from when Foreman met with him in a boxing gym in preparation for his role in the biopic, directed by George Tillman Jr. (See our 2023 interview with Khris Davis and George Tillman Jr.)
In the clip, Foreman instructs Davis to throw a folding chair at a punching bag. Then he demonstrates himself, emphasizing the importance of being “reckless” in the ring and not holding back.
“That’s the way I punched it,” Foreman explains in the video.
Being reckless, he says, is the “difference between a puncher and a boxer.”
“Dear MR. FOREMAN!” Davis said in the post. “The Father! The Preacher! The 2X Heavyweight Champion! Arguably THE most LEGENDARY, hardest hitting fighter in Boxing history! What an honor it is to have shared space with you sir!”
“I remember being so nervous meeting you,” he said. “When I finally stood in front of you and shook your hand (Which was enormous!). It immediately occurred to me that I was standing in the presence of someone who has done something great! Someone who has been etched in the pages of our collective history!”
Davis, who played Foreman at various ages in the movie, from the 1960s to the 1990s, underwent a dramatic physical transformation for the role.
“A fat suit was an option,” he told NJ Advance Media before the release of the film. “A bald cap was an option. A wig for a ‘fro was an option. But I wanted to commit and dedicate to telling this story and I wanted to give everything that I had.”
Khris Davis as an older George Foreman in the movie with Forest Whitaker. Alan Markfield
Davis put on 50 pounds in five weeks to play an older Foreman in the movie, which filmed in 2021.
He also learned how to box and mirror Foreman’s fighting style in famous moments like his 1973 fight against Joe Frazier, where he first won the heavyweight title, and his 1974 loss to Muhammad Ali in the “Rumble in the Jungle,” in the former Zaire (Democratic Republic of Congo). Forest Whitaker played Foreman’s trainer in the biopic.
In Davis’ Instagram post, he recalled being intimidated by the boxing icon.
“I had never seen anyone like you before!” he said. “Not to mention that even in your 70’s you were still an absolute unit of a man! Lol… I recall being so enamored and star struck by you that I couldn’t speak. I just wanted to listen to you talk, on and on and on and on. Finally I said to myself, ‘Khris! Snap out of it! He’s just talking! You have to ask him questions!’ I have no idea what I asked, yet you graciously guided me through our first conversation.”
Then he talked about that day in the gym with Foreman, and all the time he spent with the champ.
“This video is a moment, among many others, that stood out to me after we met,” Davis said. “This is a moment I carried with me. This is a moment that felt soooooo tense I wasn’t sure how to react to you lol. I never forgot all that we talked about in that gym. The gems you gave me about you!
“Taking those rides around Houston. Meeting your beautiful family. Discovering all the little things we had in common. Seeing your horses, and watching you preach! Mr. Foreman, it has been and it will always be one of my greatest privileges to have had the opportunity to do my absolute best at honoring your story. To be Big George Foreman! I have never taken that gift for granted! Thank you for sharing a small part of your life with me and with everyone else whose lives you’ve touched.”
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Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at [email protected] and followed at @AmyKup on Twitter/X, @amykup.bsky.social on Bluesky and @kupamy on Instagram and Threads.
