TEA, S.D. (KELO) — The KELOLAND boxing community is mourning the death of George Foreman.
The two-time heavyweight boxing champion and Olympic gold medalist died Friday at the age of 76.
Foreman had a big impact on a South Dakota Sports Hall-of-Famer.
Jerry James was once the top-ranked amateur middleweight boxer in the United States.
“I was a combination of a brawler and a boxer,” James said.
Today, this self-proclaimed ‘brawler’ coaches a new generation of boxers at 605 Boxing and MMA in Tea.
“I tell my boxers the same thing, if you can’t fight tired, you can’t win fights. Because you’re going to get tired out,” James said.
James has a heavy heart following the death of his boxing role model Foreman.
“I know at one time he had some health issues but he overcame those, so I was very surprised,” James said.
Foreman became the oldest boxer to ever win the heavyweight crown at 45. That age-defying achievement inspired James to follow Foreman’s lead by stepping out of retirement and stepping back into the ring.
“I got back into boxing at 56 and I won the masters division twice in Florida and then I went to Australia and I won the masters boxing tournament there, at 56,” James said.
Working out at the gym helps with the grieving process among boxers who are dealing with the blow from the death of Foreman.
“I would say it gets people’s minds off it because a lot of people grew up watching their highlight reels, watching their fights. This was their motivation. And when some like that passes, it’s just fresh on their mind, I gotta go blow off some steam,” 605 Boxing & MMA trainer Mike Otamendi said.
James never met Foreman in person. But he says he admired Foreman’s humility; calling him a gentle giant who’s now gone down for the count.
James was inducted into the South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame in 2017.
He was also one of the first African American officers hired by the Sioux Falls Police Department back in 1984.
