It is hard to explain just how iconic the ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ is. If there was a room of statues representing the greatest fights, it would be there in the centre, along with the two seminal bouts between Ali and Frazier.
It was a fight that encapsulated everything boxing was, and still is. The sublime and the downright grime.
It was staged in Zaire on 30 October 1974, funded by the brutal dictatorship in control there at the time.
Ali, a massive underdog, had cast himself as the charismatic good guy and Foreman the brutish villain. It would be staged at 04:00 local time so some 50 million people could tune in across the world.
A suspected 26 million people watched in the UK, out of a population of 56 million.
Foreman was expected to crush Ali. Instead Ali produced a classic performance, soaking up pressure for seven rounds. Debuting his ‘rope-a-dope’ style on the ropes, he slowly drained Foreman of his powers.
In the eighth round, Ali pounced. He dropped Foreman, who was not allowed to beat the count by the referee, thus bringing to a close one of the biggest upsets in world championship boxing.
After his first loss in 41 fights, Foreman took two years out of the ring.
“From pride to pity, that was devastating,” Foreman said of the loss.
Foreman complained the ropes had been loosened, that his trainer had even drugged him. He campaigned for a rematch but never got it. But once Ali called time on his career, he and Foreman became close friends.
Foreman famously helped a Parkinson-afflicted Ali climb the steps to receive an Oscar for the When We Were Kings documentary in 1996, which told the story of their showdown 22 years previously.
“Foreman was part of that holy trinity of heavyweight boxers, with Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier,” boxing promoter Frank Warren said.
“The great fights they had between them were special times for boxing and world sport.
“They’re events that have gone down not just in boxing, but significant moments in the world of sport.”
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