Johnny Carson, the former host of NBC television’s long-running Tonight Show, invited me to be on his program while I was making my return to boxing. Johnny said, “George, they say that all the guys you are fighting are soft touches. Now tell me the truth. Is this guy you’re about to fight any good?”

Nearly all boxers talk tough and brag about how they’re going to kill the other guy. I said what no one was expecting:

“I hope not!” I said with a big grin.

Johnny and the studio audience cracked up. I was just being honest and telling the truth, which made it even funnier, I guess. After all, what boxer wants to fight someone who will beat him up?

(George Foreman, God In My Corner, Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2007, p. 163)