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George Foreman joins Panther Racing ownership

There are rabbit punches. And, sick as it is, another type of punch named after a small, four-legged equine creature.

But now here comes something the whole family can enjoy — the “Panther Punch.” Former boxing champion George Foreman and his sons will become new co-owners of two-time IndyCar Series champion Panther Racing. It will be Foreman’s first foray back into pro sports since his retirement from boxing in 1997.

Team owner John Barnes called the addition of Foreman and his children a “tremendous boost” to Panther.

“To add a true professional and sports legend like George Foreman to our ownership group is a tremendous boost to our team. George brings with him experience from decades in professional sports and the business savvy to help our team’s sponsorship efforts. His passion for cultivating successful business opportunities is as strong as his career in the boxing ring. The Panther Racing franchise just got a lot stronger.”

In turn, the former heavyweight champion said he was looking forward to the challenge:

“From our first meeting, I’ve been impressed with John Barnes and the entire Panther Racing organization. This is a very hard-working team that we admire.”

Team driver Vitor Meira simply said “Wow” when he found out who was joining his team and then mused about how Foreman and Panther have become major figures in their respective worlds:

“There are many common threads between Panther and George Foreman. Both of us our champions, both of us are committed to working hard in sports and in business, and now we are going to accomplish great things together.”

We’ll see if Meira, Kosuke Matsuura and John Andretti can make the new guy proud this Sunday.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 22nd, 2007 at 2:17 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.