"Big" George Foreman, one of the most influential and recognizable boxers of all time, died Friday, his family announced on his social media account. He was 76.

Foreman, who won an Olympic gold medal in 1968, was a two-time heavyweight champion and Hall of Fame boxer.

He is perhaps best known for the historic Rumble in the Jungle bout with Muhammad Ali in 1974 in Zaire, a fight Foreman lost in an upset via eighth-round knockout. It's arguably the most famous fight of all time, and the "When We Were Kings" film that chronicled the fight won an Oscar for best documentary feature.

Foreman made history yet again later in his career. He fought five more times after he lost the heavyweight championship to Ali at age 25, including a fifth-round TKO victory over Joe Frazier (whom he stopped in two rounds to first win the title) and a fifth-round knockout of Ron Lyle in a classic slugfest.

After that fifth fight at 28, Foreman shockingly announced his retirement and began a career as an ordained minister in his native Texas.

Foreman was retired for 10 years. He returned to boxing in 1987 at age 38 and mounted arguably the most impressive sports comeback ever.

At first, Foreman padded his record with easy wins. One of them was a second-round knockout of Gerry Cooney. But in 1991, Foreman proved this comeback was for real when he pushed the great Evander Holyfield to the brink in a classic heavyweight title fight at age 42. Though he was unsuccessful in his bid to become a two-time heavyweight champion, Foreman was undeterred.

Five fights later, after a loss to Tommy Morrison, Foreman accomplished the unthinkable.

Down on the scorecards in another title fight, Foreman landed a two-punch combination that laid Michael Moorer down for the count of 10 in 1994. At 45 years, 299 days old, Foreman was once again the heavyweight champion of the world, the oldest man to hold boxing's greatest prize (and also the oldest champion ever, a record that stood for 20 years).

"It happened," Jim Lampley called on the HBO broadcast. "It happened!"

Foreman went on to have a successful career alongside Lampley as an HBO boxing analyst. But his greatest success outside the ring was yet to come.

The same year that Foreman defeated Moorer, he launched his eponymous grill, which went on to sell more than 100 million units worldwide. In 1999, he sold the commercial rights to the George Foreman grill for $138 million.

Foreman's final fight came in November 1997, a majority decision loss to Shannon Briggs.

He held his role with HBO as a ringside analyst for 12 years, ending in 2004.

The Ring named Foreman the ninth-greatest puncher of all time and, in 2002, one of the 25 best boxers of the past 80 years.

In a statement, Top Rank called Foreman "one of the biggest punchers and personalities the sport has ever seen."

"George was a great friend to not only myself but to my entire family," Top Rank chairman Bob Arum said. "We've lost a family member and are absolutely devastated."

Lampley said Foreman's death was "a massive loss" and that he feels "blessed and privileged to have known him."

"Tonight, I am flooded with tears after learning of the death of my dear friend and broadcast partner George Foreman. I loved him," Lampley said in a statement. "He was a great fighter and a far, far greater human being. Every great thing that ever happened to him, and there were many extraordinary blessings, was richly deserved. My thoughts and prayers tonight are with his family and his friends and his congregation."

SYDNEY -- Former police officer Tiara Brown became WBC world featherweight champion by beating Skye Nicolson in a split-decision victory Saturday.

Brown, 36, took Nicolson's belt when judges scored the bout 97-93 and 96-94 in her favor, with one judge scoring it 96-94 for Nicolson.

Brown (19-0) dropped to the canvas in tears when she was announced as the winner. It was the first professional loss for Nicolson (12-1), an Australian.

Brown had been an officer both in the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., and more recently for the Fort Myers Police Department in her native Florida.

The Fort Myers PD had wished Brown good luck ahead of the 10-round bout, saying on Instagram that she "has always been a fighter -- both in and out of the ring."

Brown is a boxing coach with the Fort Myers police athletic league.

Speaking ringside to broadcaster DAZN, Brown gave a shoutout to God and her hometown of Fort Myers and said it's been "20-plus years of wanting this moment."

The new champion said she's not focused yet on her next bout.

"I like my options, my options are good, [but] right now I just want to go home and eat some cupcakes and some cookies and watch some cartoons," Brown said.

The 29-year-old Nicolson had won the title last April in a unanimous-decision victory over Denmark's Sarah Mahfoud in Las Vegas. She made two successful title defenses before facing Brown.

A frustrated Jai Opetaia will have to wait to unify his world boxing title belts, but he has pledged not to underestimate his next opponent in what the Australian has labelled a "stay busy" fight.

IBF and The Ring cruiserweight champion Opetaia (27-0) - Australia's current pound-for-pound No.1 - will face unbeaten Italian Claudio Squeo (17-0) on May 13 on the Gold Coast.

The voluntary defence, confirmed on Friday [AEDT], comes after Opetaia's camp had pushed for a blockbuster unification bout with star Mexican Gilberto "Zurdo'' Ramirez.

Ramirez holds the WBA and WBO straps and Opetaia has been desperate to fight for them, having been unable to secure any unification bouts since first winning his titles three years ago.

The Italian is ranked by the IBF at No.14 in the cruiserweight standings and does not feature in The Ring's top 10.

"It's bull----. The best should be fighting the best," Opetaia told DAZN after his Squeo bout was confirmed.

"I've got two belts, he (Ramirez) has got two belts, I want to push for this fight.

"It just doesn't make sense to me why it's not getting over the line... the only reason to me would be he's ducking.

"We're really pushing for these unification fights, but I can only do so much.

"This is another 'stay busy' fight which I'm not taking lightly.

"I'm chasing Zurdo. My eyes are locked on them (unification fights), now this guy's in the way and we've got to remove him."

Opetaia made a huge statement in his last defence, brutally knocking out New Zealand challenger David Nyika in the fourth round on the Gold Coast.

Jai Opetaia (left) stands by as the referee counts out David Nyika. Olympic bronze medallist Nyika had taken the fight on three weeks' notice after mandatory challenger Huseyin Cinkara withdrew with an ankle injury.

Opetaia, 29, shocked champion Mairis Briedis to first win the belts in 2022, despite finishing the fight with his jaw broken in two places.

He has fought just five times since, including a rematch with Briedis, injuries and negotiation breakdowns contributing to deny the Australian the big-time bouts he desires.

Promoter Eddie Hearn is optimistic they will secure that fight this year, with Ramirez likely to fulfil his mandatory WBA defence against Yuniel Dorticos first.

"But there are ways around it (fighting the mandatory opponent), and I just don't know if they want to roll the dice (against Opetaia)," he said of Ramirez's caution.

"We don't want to keep treading water, but it's down to the other fighters to want to get in the ring with him.

"We know the big fights are coming ... and the events on the Gold Coast are wild and we want to be back there."