"George's journey from the streets of Fifth Ward to boxing and business success was an inspiration," Houston Mayor John Whitmire said in a statement.
"He never forgot where he came from ... Houston will forever be proud to call George Foreman one of our own."
The Job Corps, part of President Lyndon B. Johnson's "Great Society" reforms, "rescued me from the gutter," Foreman later wrote.
Through the program, 16-year-old Foreman moved out of Texas and was encouraged to channel his rage and growing bulk into boxing.
At age 19 and in his 25th amateur fight, Foreman captured the heavyweight boxing gold medal at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. Turning pro, he won 37 straight matches on his way to face reigning champion Joe Frazier in Kingston, Jamaica, winning by technical knockout in round two.
Foreman defended the belt twice more before meeting Ali in Kinshasa, Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in one of the most celebrated boxing matches in history.
Ali had been stripped of his crown seven years prior for refusing to be drafted into the Vietnam War and came into the match a heavy underdog against the bigger, younger champion.