On this day in 1974, Muhammad Ali, 32 at the time, took on a 25 year-old world champion in George Foreman, with many backing Ali’s experience to carry him over the line.
Each fighter was paid $5 million by the Zaire president to simply pitch up and throw a couple of punches in Zaire. The fight between Ali and Foreman donned the name, “Rumble in the Jungle” despite promoter Don King initially wanting to name it “From the Slave Ship to the Championship!”.
The president, Mobutu Sese Seko, caught wind of the name, and immediately ordered it be changed. The bout took place at 4.30am in Kinshasa, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) to line up with prime time in the US. So, 60 000 spectators gathered at the outdoor Stade du 20 Mai stadium at 4.30am, to witness a masterclass from Ali.
Chants of “Ali, bomaye” (“Ali, kill him”) echoed throughout the crowd, egging Foreman on in the process. Foreman, eager to get going, set out to knock Ali out in the early rounds, landing blow after blow, but Ali simply absorbed the blows and waited for Foreman to tire out.
By the fifth round Foreman began to tire, and Ali set out to punish Foreman. In the eighth, Ali landed a barrage of quick blows that seemed to set Foreman out of his element. The deciding blow/ s were a hard left and a chopping right that caused the youngster’s legs to give in, leading to Foreman falling to the floor.
He was counted out with two seconds remaining in the round, crowning Ali the heavyweight champion of the world for the second time, making him only the second man to regain his title after being dethroned. Ali insisted that the fight was about more than just the money. “I wanted to establish a relationship between American blacks and Africans,” he wrote later. “The fight was about racial problems, Vietnam. All of that.” He finally added: “The Rumble in the Jungle was a fight that made the whole country more conscious”.
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