50 years ago today, on October  30th 1974, reigning undisputed heavyweight champion George Foreman faced top contender Mohammad Ali at 20th of May Stadium in Kinshasa, Zaire(now Democratic Republic of Congo) The fight billed as The Rumble in the Jungle is considered by many to be  one of the greatest sporting events of the 20th Century. 

The fight was conceived by infamous, then relatively unknown, fight promoter Don King along with music mogul Jerry Masucci. King finagled, through more than a few dubious means, both Foreman and Ali to sign contracts stating that they would both receive a  $5 Million dollar purse for a fight. This was an enormous amount of money, which Don  King didn’t have,  for a boxing match at the time. The high purse promise was to ensure no other boxing promoters would attempt to arrange a match between the heavyweights. Don King was at the time a pariah in the North American and European sports world, and because he couldn’t yet secure the funds for the fight; he was unable to stage a fight in the United States. King began to look into other countries outside of traditional markets to stage and sponsor  the event. Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi expressed interest in hosting the fight, but, although Gaddafi would help finance the fight, negotiations fell through. An American ambassador  to Zaire’s dictator Mobutu Sese Seko convinced Mobutu that the publicly from a high-profile fight would help the image of his regime. Mobutu looking for legitimacy on the world stage agreed to host the fight. Don King would bring on the British film production company the Hemdale Film Company as co-promoters, along with  Risnelia Investment Company of Panama as financial backers. The fight was originally scheduled to take place on September 25th 1974.  From September 22-24, a  three day long music festival, dubbed Zaire 74, to hype the Foreman-Ali bout  was arranged by Jerry Masucci,  South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela, and  American record producer Stewart Levine. The concert included performances by superstars B.B. King, James Brown, Bill Withers, the Spinners, Manu Dibango, Miriam Makeba and a host of other African musicians.

Leading up to the  fight Mohammad Ali had lost to Joe Frazier in 1971’s Fight of the Century in a unanimous decision, he was regulated to fighting a handful of other heavyweights to regain a title shot. In 1973 Ali lost a split decision to Ken Norton, but would dispatch Norton later in the year in a rematch. Ali would  then beat Frazier in a rather lackluster fashion earlier 1974 in their rematch: Superfight II, making him the number one contender to the Heavyweight belt.  Mohammad Ali was still a titan in the sport of boxing, but by late ‘74 at the age of 32 he was considered washed up. Reigning champion George Foreman on the other hand, was at the top of his game. He rose to prominence in the sport after winning the Gold Medal the  1968 Mexico City Olympics. He was feared and respected in and out of the ring for his size and punching power. His physical dominance however was greatly underestimated by Joe Frazier, and in January 1973 during their title fight; Foreman thoroughly dominated then champion Frazier. Foreman knocked Frazier down 6 times before the referee stopped the fight in the 2nd Round to take the Heavyweight belt. Earlier in 1974,  he easily dispatched Ken Norton, at the time the only other fighter to defeat Ali  in 2 Rounds to retain his title. At 25 years old George Foreman was the heavily favorite in the upcoming fight against Ali.

Both fighters arrived in Zaire around May to acclimate to the central African  climate and the its people. Mohamed Ali, perceived world-wide as a symbol of Black Power,  was already a legend to the people of Africa. George Foreman, though in reality as much a crusader for civil rights as Ali,  was never able to fully connect with most Africans. Upon arrival at the airport in Zaire, Foreman had brought along his German Shepherd; a breed of dog that the Congolese attributed to the oppressive Belgian colonizers they had gained independence from only a decade prior. The Ali camp used this, and other faux pas, to sway the Congolese further to his support. A week before the scheduled Sept. 25th bout; Foreman was injured when his sparring partner  accidentally cut him above his right eye with an unintentional elbow. Foreman’s cut required 11 stitches and the fight was rescheduled for October 30th. With the fight being postponed, the organizers of the Zaire 74 music festival feared low attendance due to tourist and fight fans delaying traveling to Zaire. However the three day festival went on as scheduled from Sept. 22-24 with every day sold out, the stadium filled with mostly locals  for a pan-African celebration.

At 4 am local time, in order to cater to prime time in the USA, on October 30th 1974, as 60,00 fans cheered on in a sold out 20th-of-May Stadium and over a billion more throughout the world watched on TV(with play-by-play by ‘Colonel’ Bob Sheridan and color commentary from Jim Brown, David Frost, and Joe Frazier)  the fight finally began! Fighting out of the Blue Corner standing 6 ft. 3 inches and weighing in at 216 lbs  with a record of 44-2 with 31 knockouts stood the 32 years and 9 month old challenger Mohammad “The Greatest” Ali. In the Red Corner, at 6 ft. 4 inches weighing in at 220 lbs was the imposing frame of 25 year 9 month old undisputed heavyweight champion “Big” George Foreman; coming in undefeated with a record of 40-0 in which 37  were knockouts. Ali was known for his speed and technical skills; his ability to, in his own words, Float like a butterfly and sting like a bee. Foreman on the other hand was famed for his raw power; destroying opponents with his shear strength. Both boxers fought in the orthodox style. With the crowd, chanting ‘ALI BOMA YE!’ (Ali, kill him!), almost entirely on his side, Ali went after Foreman right from the opening bell. A risky move that opened the challenger up to the powerful haymaker punches of Foreman. The champion was at first disorientated by the aggressiveness of Ali, but towards the end of the First Round Foreman landed a few quality shots of his own.  Between the First and Second Rounds Ali knew he couldn’t keep up the aggressive pace he had displayed and changed his strategy. In the Second Round Ali began  a tactic that would become synonymous with the Rumble in the Jungle, and in turn his entire boxing career; The Rope-a-Dope. The rope-a-dope is a technique in which the boxer leans against the ropes of the boxing ring in a protective stance  in order to draw out their opponents’ punches and render them ineffective while also tiring out said opponent. The boxer then also  uses the springiness of the ropes to launch forward and put more power into their own strikes. The risky strategy began to pan out almost instantly for Ali, as Foreman spent most of his energy throwing ineffective punches, which would earn no points, that were deflected from Ali’s head or completely missed. This continued for the next couple of rounds, and Foreman began to visibly tire. As the fighters became locked in clinches, Ali would lean on Foreman to make Foreman support Ali’s weight further exhausting the champion. In the clinches Ali would constantly  taunt Foreman, telling him to throw more punches. An increasingly enraged Foreman obliged. Mohammad Ali would then use every opportunity he could to throw punches square into Foreman’s face. By the Fourth Round, the effects of Ali’s tactics and punches were obvious as Foreman was staggered early in the round by a combination of hard shots to the champion’s head. In the Fifth Round  Foreman came on strong and looked as if he could get back into the fight dominating most of the round. After a flurry of punches from a gassed Foreman at the end of the Fifth, however, Ali kept up the taunts. “They told me you could punch, George! They told me you could punch as hard as Joe Lewis!”, the challenger goaded. About midway through the Seventh Round Foreman hit Ali with a devastating punch to the jaw looking to knock out the challenger, but much to Foreman’s chagrin, Ali clinched up with the champion and whisper to him “Is that all you got George?”. In the Eighth Round Foreman was completely exhausted. His punches were completely fruitless , and his defense was almost nonexistent. The effects of throwing so many wild ineffective shots throughout the fight had taken its toll. Ali came right out after Foreman as the champion tried to pin Ali to the ropes. Ali landed a flurry of right hooks over Foreman’s attempt at a jab, then followed up with a five-punch combo, culminating in a left hook that brought up Foreman’s head. Ali threw a devastating hard right straight to the face of Foreman sending the heavyweight champion of the world stumbling  to the canvas. Referee Zack Clayton began to count out Foreman as he rose to one knee, but the referee, with only two seconds left in the Eight Round, stopped the fight before he could stand. The crowd went wild as Mohammad Ali stood victorious! At time of stoppage Ali had led all three judges scorecard 68-66, 70-67, and 69-66.

George Foreman immediately disputed the results of the fight, and made several allegations against Ali and his camp. Foreman first claimed that Ali’s trainer had deliberately loosened the rope of the ring to assist Ali’s rope-a-dope tactic. He also alleged that his water had been drugged and tasted like medicine, claiming the water given to him between rounds had made him dizzy and disoriented. He also called into question the integrity of the referee claiming the official had given him a quick count and stopped the fight too early. The rope loosening and drugging have never been reliably substantiated , and replays of the knockdown showed that Foreman was on the canvas  for well over 10 seconds. Foreman would repeatedly call out Mohammad Ali for a rematch with the new champion but another fight would never materialized. Ali was never in a hurry to set up a rematch with Foreman, choosing to fight his arch-nemesis Joe Frazier for the third time  in the epic Thrilla in Manila, then fighting against several other unheralded contenders. George Foreman would abruptly retire, the first time, in 1977 following a loss, and Ali would state that a rematch with Foreman was one of the fights he wanted to get before he himself retired in 1981. Foreman would make a comeback to the ring in the late 1980’s, and in 1994, twenty years later almost to the day and wearing the same trunks he wore in Zaire, the 45 year-old knocked out Michael Moorer to regain the heavyweight championship belt. 

George Foreman over the years would put aside his bitterness toward Mohammad Ali and the Rumble in the Jungle and the two fighters would become friends. In 1996 while receiving an Oscar for the documentary of the fight “When We Were Kings”   Ali, diagnosed with Parkinson’s syndrome, had trouble walking up the steps, Foreman was there to assist him to the stage. In 2012 Foreman told a reporter “We fought in 1974, that was a long time ago. After 1981, we became the best of friends. By 1984, we loved each other. I am not closer to anyone else in this life than I am to Muhammad Ali”