So George Foreman is finally going to hang up his gloves. Controversially outpointed by the dreadlocked Shannon Briggs - an also-ran he would have blitzed in his prime - in Atlantic City on Saturday night, the 48-year-old has recognised that even with his freakish strength and indomitable prizefighter's pride he can no longer hold back time.
There are few sports where the ageing process is so savagely exposed, yet unlike many another veteran at least he leaves it with dignity. He is not the greatest heavyweight who ever lived, but at his fearsome best, 25 years ago, he would have had a puncher's chance with any fighter who ever drew breath. His fearsome reputation was at its height when he annihilated Joe Frazier in two rounds of mayhem at Kingston, Jamaica, to take the world heavyweight title in January 1973.
That month Britain and Ireland joined the EEC, president Nixon ordered American planes to halt the bombing of Vietnam and Sweet's `Blockbuster' was Britain's number one pop record. Shannon Briggs was in nappies.
It was in the following year that Foreman ran into Muhammad Ali in Zaire, a night which changed Foreman's life. He had been a heavy favourite, but was knocked out in eight rounds by Ali in one of the 20th century's definitive sporting moments.
"I was on the canvas, I could see Ali and hear the referee counting," Foreman recalled. "People said I would kill him. I thought `Hell, this isn't supposed to be happening'."
The result relegated Big George to the ranks of the also-rans. He lost to Jimmy Young in 1977 and retired, dedicating himself to the church after claiming he had "seen the light" in his dressing-room after that fight.
Ten years later his second career began, this time to raise funds for his church and youth centre in Texas. Though initially treated as a joke, the wins racked up. Foreman, never sylph-like, was bigger than ever but slowly began to be taken seriously as his fitness improved.
And the surly, unsmiling bad-ass of his earlier incarnation was replaced by a smiling nice-guy who, under the shrewd guidance of promoter Bob Arum, laughed all the way to the bank.
A points defeat against Evander Holyfield in a 1991 world title challenge was no disgrace. Foreman was a multi-million-dollar earner once more. The endorsements rolled in, he was a TV commentator and he even starred in a TV sitcom. But his finest hour was his 10th-round knockout of Michael Moorer in 1994 to win the WBA and IBF titles, becoming the oldest champion of all time at 45.
In 28 years as a professional, having won Olympic gold in Mexico in 1968, he amassed a record of 76 wins, 68 by knockout, with only five defeats. He leaves with a smile and a memory of his words after beating Moorer: "It ain't no crime to be over 40. I've given everyone hope as they grow older. To the couch potatoes and the big-bellies, you don't have to be old if you don't want to be."
