“We shot and did everything specifically to match the fight.
We knew we were going to fight and hit real boxers.
That Khris is Khris Davis.
Khris Davis as George Foreman and Sullivan Jones as Muhammad Ali in ‘Big George Foreman’.Alan Markfield/Sony Pictures
Davis admits he wondered if he could or even should take on the role.
Start post-production work on what had already been filmed to give Davis more time.
Below, Davis explains that plan and what it took to physically transform into George Foreman.
Khris Davis as George Foreman in ‘Big George Foreman’.
“My conditioning was low because I couldn’t go to the gym.
It was wintertime in New York.
So I really couldn’t start exercising until seven weeks out.”
Khris Davis as George Foreman in ‘Big George Foreman’.
So that required some recovery.
I was counting the weeks to the last day I could possibly sit around the house.”
We started off that way, getting the heavybag work in.
Khris Davis training for ‘Big George Foreman’.
Speed bag, jump rope, things like that."
Then he was off to New Orleans to start sparring with some of the real boxers.
But not long after arriving, Hurricane Ida made landfall in Aug. 2021.
Khris Davis training for ‘Big George Foreman’.
“It tore the roof off the production office, rained on everything.
So we had to start from scratch,” Davis says.
“That put us another three-and-a-half months behind.”
But it gave Davis three-and-a-half months more to train.
Real strong body, was lookingrealnice."
the Rumble in the Jungle, it was time for Davis to prepare his body for older George Foreman.
“One of the producers calls me and he says, ‘What’s your weight?’
I said, ‘Man, it’s been two days.
What do you expect me to weigh in two days?,’ Davis recalls.
But I was never gonna make that weight by using that program at all.”
So Davis increased his intake to a staggering 7,000-calorie per day.
And I couldn’t believe it."
It ended up not being necessary.
“I gained 50 pounds in five weeks,” Davis recalls, proudly.
“I went from 225 to 275 in five weeks.
The heaviest I got was 282.”
And he didn’t do it the way one might expect, chugging milkshakes and devouring cake and donuts.
I really relied on legumes and root vegetables a lot.
Obviously rice was up there.
And I drank a lot of very dense protein shakes."
So I would be sitting there like a chipmunk cheeks full of food."
Big George Foremanis in theaters now.
Want more movie news?
