As “Rumble in the Jungle” the fight Muhammad Ali against George Foreman goes down in history. The battle of Kinshasa was also a political issue.
The day in Kinshasa had not yet dawned, but the thermometer already showed over 30 degrees heat, plus 90 percent humidity.
The 100,000 at ringside chanted “Ali, boma ye” (Ali, kill him) – and Muhammad Ali punched and punched and punched. And sure enough, George Foreman, that seemingly invincible, arrogant, smug champion of all classes first began to falter – and then he fell.
Ali let Foreman live, but he killed the myth of the unbeatable champion in round 8 and made himself immortal for good.
“Rumble in the Jungle” as sensational fight
Just before the end of the eighth round in that fight on October 30, 1974, which went down in history as the “Rumble in the Jungle,” Foreman, who had been unbeaten in 40 fights up to that point, crashed into the then 32-year-old Ali.
Ali stood tall and wide over his rival, whom referee Zach Clayton counted out without much haste. Then the winner pranced seemingly weightlessly into his corner and let himself be celebrated for what was probably the greatest boxing sensation ever.
After all, the “Rumble in the Jungle” was so much more than just a fistfight. Ali against Foreman, in the middle of Africa, promoter Don King had guaranteed both boxers the then unreal fee of five million US dollars each, financed by Mobutu Sese Seko, the dictator of what was then Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo).
It is also because of these special circumstances that the struggle has been remembered as a century-long event of immense cultural significance, immortalized in songs (Johnny Wakelin – “In Zaire,” The Fugees – “Rumble in the Jungle”) and films such as the 1997 Oscar-winning documentary “When we were Kings. “
Muhammad Ali was an underdog against George Foreman
While Foreman had gone into the fight undefeated, Ali was no longer flawless after losing the “Fight of the Century” against Joe Frazier in 1971 – whom “Big George” had then dethroned two years later – and in 1973 there was another defeat against Ken Norton, Ali’s zenith seemed to have passed. Although Ali won the first revenge fight against Frazier, many observers expected the final disenchantment against Foreman.
The tension ahead of the hotly anticipated showdown was heightened by a five-week postponement after Foreman suffered a deep cut to his eye in training. The gong then sounded at three a.m. local time on October 30, 1974, prime time on October 29 in the U.S.
Ali hisses at Foreman: “Are you out of your mind? “
What happened next in the ring was something no one expected, least of all Foreman. Foreman was pounding away at Ali, but Ali dropped way back into the ropes, which his legendary trainer Angelo Dundee had made much softer than usual.
Ali’s head was almost always out of Foreman’s reach, and he cushioned the blows to his body with his forearms.
“Rope a dope” was the name of this rope dance – as effective as young Ali’s famous “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.”
“Is that all you got, George, is that all you got?” hissed Ali. By the sixth round, Foreman was getting tired, he’d totally spent himself – and Ali was still bouncing back and forth on the ring ropes, “Knock yourself out, doll. You’re no champion!”
And then, with 22 seconds left in the eighth round, Ali struck. He came off the ropes with a couple of quick rights, he followed up with two precise left-right combinations and hit Foreman’s head a total of nine times. As if in slow motion, the indestructible man went down, unable to get up under his own power.
Foreman broke in defeat
Ali was champion again, remained so for years, among others the similarly legendary “Thrilla in Manila” against Frazier would follow in 1975, before Leon Spinks finally ended the era of Ali, who died in 2016, in 1978.
Foreman, on the other hand, never recovered from the defeat to Ali, and in 1977 he quit after suffering another bitter defeat to Jimmy Young.
Only in 1994, after several comebacks, followed the so late as surprising return to the world champion throne against Michael Moorer, which was then diminished by the scandal fight against Axel Schulz.
