Ex-Heavyweight Boxing Champion Sued For Alleged Rape In The 70s

A pair of lawsuits were filed by two women claiming that they were raped when they were teens by former heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman in the 1970s.

The lawsuits were filed on Wednesday in the Los Angeles Superior Court. The two women say that their fathers worked for Foreman at the time. They allege that they were assaulted in California years after they first met the 73-year-old pug and now they are seeking a $25 million remuneration, the Hollywood Reporter reported.

Foreman denied the allegations and claim that the two women have been trying to extort money from him and his family over the past six months.

“They are falsely claiming that I sexually abused them over 45 years ago in the 1970s. I adamantly and categorically deny these allegations. The pride I take in my reputation means as much to me as my sports accomplishments, and I will not be intimidated by baseless threats and lies. I am, and always will be, guided by my faith and trust in God. I will work with my lawyers to fully and truthfully expose my accusers’ scheme and defend myself in court. I don’t pick fights, but I don’t run away from them either,” the former IBF heavyweight champion claimed.

The lawsuit was brought under an amendment passed in 2020 to California’s statute of limitations for certain sex crimes, giving victims of childhood sexual assault more time to sue. The amended law allows plaintiffs to sue within five years of discovering an injury caused by the assault.

The two women claim that they suffered physical and mental pain and suffering. Foreman allegedly told one of the women that she could never tell anyone of their relationship.

“You don’t want your dad to lose his job, do you?” Foreman allegedly said at the time.

Foreman had a colorful boxing career, all starting when he won the gold medal at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. He would go on to beat Joe Frazier for the world heavyweight title in 1973 and then lost it the next year to Muhammad Ali in the classic Rumble in the Jungle bout in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the New York Times reported.