A third woman has accused heavyweight great George Foreman of sexually abusing her as a child in the 1970s.
The Daily Mail reported Thursday that an anonymous 64-year-old woman filed a civil complaint, claiming that the famed heavyweight champion had raped her on his ranch in Livermore, California, in 1974, when she was 15 years old and he was 24.
That was the same year Foreman suffered one of the most infamous upsets in sports, when he was knocked out by Muhammad Ali in the eighth round of their “Rumble in the Jungle” heavyweight championship bout in Zaire.
According to the legal complaint, the woman is a distant relative by marriage to Foreman.
The existence of the lawsuit, which was filed in Alameda County, California, comes only days after the theatrical premier of a new biopic on Foreman’s life, Big George Foreman, featuring Khris Davis in the titular role.
Foreman, who has denied the new allegations, is not named in the complaint, showing up as only DOE 1, but is clearly identified as the person who defeated Joe Frazier in 1973 to become heavyweight champion of the world only to lose the title to Ali in 1974.
The plaintiff, who was born in 1958 and born in Houston, Texas, says she was introduced to Foreman through a mutual family member during a trip to Foreman’s Livermore ranch. “At some point,” the complaint alleges, “Plaintiff was left with DOE 1 unattended. During this time DOE 1 began to ask Plaintiff sexually explicit questions which Plaintiff replied that she had absolutely no experience of.”
After the plaintiff rebuffed Foreman’s advances, the complaint says he then engaged “in immoral and unwanted sexual acts against her, which included oral copulation.”
The plaintiff says she was motivated to file her complaint after two other anonymous 60-year-old women described similar incidents.
Last year, Gwen H. and Denise F. (both pseudonyms), filed separate suits against Foreman for sexual abuse in the 1970s. Denise accused Foreman of grooming her into having sex at 15, while Gwen said Foreman had raped her at 15 and 16.
A recent California law expanded the definition of childhood sexual abuse and allows survivors of such trauma to file civil lawsuits.
Foreman tried to get ahead of the accusations by issuing a statement before the lawsuits were filed.
According to the Daily Mail, Foreman is counter-suing one of the women in federal court.
Sean Nam is the author of the forthcoming book Murder on Federal Street: Tyrone Everett, the Black Mafia, and the Last Golden Age of Philadelphia Boxing.