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The Rumble in The Jungle was a historic boxing event that took place on October 30, 1974, in the 20th of May Stadium in Kinshasa, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo). It pitted then world Heavyweight champion George Foreman against former world champion and that time challenger Muhammad Ali, who was looking to become the second fighter ever, after Floyd Patterson, to recover the world's Heavyweight crown.
The event was Don King's first venture as a professional boxing promoter. He managed to get both Ali and Foreman to sign separate contracts saying they would fight for him if he could get 5 million dollars to be their prize. However, King didn't have the money. So he began looking for an outside country to sponsor the event, and Zaire's president Mobutu, looking to give both himself and his country a better reputation and to get Zaire into the eyes of the world, asked for the fight to be held there.
Ali was a heavy underdog going into the fight. In 1967 he had been suspended from the sport of boxing for three and a half years following his refusal to obey the draft and enter the Army. Although he fought well when coming back, there was no doubt that he was slower, and that layoff had dulled some of his skills. When he was beaten by Joe Frazier in what was dubbed The Fight of the Century, and later lost to a then-unknown ex-Marine named Ken Norton, many people began to believe that Ali was just another ex-champion who was fighting too long for his own good.
By comparison, Foreman seemed an unstoppable prodigy of strength. He destroyed opponent after opponent, usually in less than three rounds. And the two men who had scored victories over Ali, Frazier and Norton, had both been annhiliated by Foreman. Frazier had been knocked down seven times in a second round knockout, and Norton was knocked silly in a similar loss. With Foreman younger, stronger, and seemingly invincible, George was listed as a 7 or 8 to 1 favorite by most bookies and oddsmakers. There was a genuine fear that Ali would be badly hurt or even killed in the ring, and even good friends and boxing aficionados like Howard Cosell openly predicted that Ali would lose, probably badly.
Foreman and Ali spent much of the summer of 1974 training in Zaire, and getting their bodies used to the weather in the tropical African country. Ali also spent his time there endearing himself to Zaire's citizens. Ali was known worldwide and embraced by the people as soon as he came to Africa, but when he spent much of his time there walking and talking and joking with the people, or jogging with them on long runs into the country during which he would be followed by droves of people, he became absolutely beloved. Because of that, many of them could be heard during the fight saying the phrase Ali bumaye!, which translates to English as Ali kill him!.
The fight was originally set to happen in September, but Foreman was injured and cut during training, pushing the fight back off to October. Ali used that time to further psyche himself up, until he came to view himself as almost being on a crusade. In numerous interviews done at the time Ali would talk about all the good he believed he could do if he had the status of being heavyweight champion again, whether it be reaching out to poor blacks in America or Africa, or using his position to spread the word of God. This may have strengthened his already considerable will and determination.
With Hollywood stars and world boxing champions such as Ken Norton and Joe Frazier present, the fight started at 5 am Kinshasa time, to accommodate American viewers. Bob Sheridan was the commentator, with David Frost occasionally interviewing Jim Brown and Joe Frazier at ringside. Brown, who had predicted Ali would be knocked out, was increasingly wowed by Ali's performance, calling him "unreal". Frazier seemed to reluctantly admit the same more towards round eight, though he put Foreman ahead through most of the early rounds. Towards the end of the fight, Frazier remarked to Frost, "George is fightin' foolish."
The Rumble
Ali started the first round in an unexpected way: he attacked Foreman. The only thing that had been discussed by fans and experts about the fight was how long Ali could stay away from Foreman, if with his quick hands and footwork he could last until Foreman was tired and then chip away at him. So, Ali, being Ali, started the first round by running right over to Foreman's corner and throwing the first punches. Throughout that first round Ali would hit Foreman with a number of powerful, flush punches, especially straight right hands. However, while this tactic certainly surprised Foreman, it failed to hurt him. Many writers and commentators would describe Foreman's behavior during the bout as "insane with rage", and it's hard to argue with that description. And before the end of that first round, Foreman had managed to catch up to Ali and hit him with Foreman's trademark wild, powerful punches, driving Ali into retreat.
As a result of that first round, (and perhaps also the overwhelming heat and humidity in the arena), Ali must have decided to change tactics. He would not be able to run around George for 15 rounds, and he would not be successful attacking the younger, bigger, stronger man head-on. There was, however, a third choice.
Ali had told his trainer, Angelo Dundee, and his fans, that he had a secret plan for Foreman. So almost right away in the second round, Ali started laying on the ropes and letting Foreman punch him with everything Foreman had (a strategy known as rope-a-dope). The reaction to this was pure dismay. Dundee asked Ali in his corner if he wanted to commit suicide. Frost joked that he did not quite understand a fighting style that involves staying still and letting your opponent punch you. However, there was a method to Ali's madness. First, the ropes of the ring were set very loosely, and Ali used that to lean back so far that his head was often out of range for Foreman, or even if George tried to hit Ali's head, Ali had enough time and distance between the two to avoid it.
If Foreman tried to hit him to the body, Ali used his superb defensive skills and fast hands to block and smother Foreman's blows. Sometimes Ali would block Foreman's blows in mid-air with his outstretched arms, other times we would catch the blows on his elbow, or forearms, or even shoulders. As a result Foreman spent all his energy throwing punches, (in oven-like heat), that either didn't land or were blocked in a way that would do little damage to Ali. If in the worst case Ali couldn't dodge or block a blow, he flowed with it, whether by turning his head to the side or moving his body in the same direction the punch is going, which caused it to hit at a less damaging angle or lose its force altogether.
Then Ali would grab ahold of George, whisper to him and taunt him about how weak his blows were, about how George wasn't throwing hard enough punches, which would only serve to infuriate Foreman more, make him work even harder and throw wilder and stronger blows, while Ali calmly sat back, except to sometimes shoot straight punches to the face and occasional jabs at Foreman, increasingly puffing up Foreman's face and dazing him. Ali also held Foreman's head many times, in a bid to control the tempo of the fight (and this was also a tactic to weaken the muscles of the neck by pulling the head down, thereby making his opponent's head more likely to snap back and cause greater damage and a KO), which would just cause Foreman to come forward and throw harder all over again.
Eventually, Foreman went on autopilot, tiring, and, it seemed, simply trying to punch Ali down bit by bit. As Foreman's face became increasingly damaged by the occasional hard and fast jabs and crosses that Ali threw, and his legs grew weaker and weaker, it seemed clear that it would only be a matter of time until Foreman's body gave out. Increasingly it became a race of whether George could get to Ali and hurt him badly before his own stamina evaporated.
Ali continued to do damage while picking his spots, however, and although he threw few punches in each round, he made them count. Foreman was staggered with a combo to start the fourth round, and then again, (twice), at the end of the fifth, after it appeared that Foreman had dominated that round. After that point Foreman looked completely exhausted and although he kept throwing punches, they began to look weaker and weaker. Foreman seemed hardpressed just to try to stay on his feet and keep up with the ever retreating Ali, who always seemed to be just out of range of the heavy blows that Foreman chased him with.
Finally in the eigth round, when Foreman had no energy left, Ali landed the final combo, a left hook that brought Foreman's head up into position so Ali could smash him with a rock-hard right straight to the face. Foreman staggered, then twirled across half the ring before landing on his back almost in the center. Remarkably, and as a testament to Foreman's toughness and determination, Foreman actually still seemed semi-coherent and able to continue. However, when Foreman got up it was too late, and the ref had already completed the ten count. (There was some confusion about this at the time, because the television announcer counting along with the ref was a count behind the real count. Thus, when Foreman rose just after the count of ten, it seemed to the television watching audience that he had gotten up at nine). Foreman later claimed to be looking over at his corner, waiting for their signal to tell him when to get up. If that is the case, then they were slow to signal him, for Foreman failed to beat the count.
Reactions
Foreman later claimed that Ali's trainers had loosened up the ropes to benefit Ali, but he apologized for those comments and has admitted to saying them without any base and in a moment where he was feeling bad because he lost the fight. Having said this, in Norman Mailer's account of the match (described in the book The Fight), he describes quite explicitly that a member of Ali's camp had loosened the ropes in full view of the audience. This is disputed by several sources, who say that Angelo Dundee took a knife and cut the ropes to make them shorter and less loose. Many people feel that Ali would have won either way, since even in the corners Foreman could not take advantage of Ali, and Ali obviously could not bend the turnbuckles.
In Zaire the people were overjoyed by Ali's victory. Despite the fact that the fight ended in the very early hours of the morning, and that the monsoon began almost immediatedly after the bout, crowds of people lined the road afterwards just to watch Ali's return from the stadium to his hotel. A similar level of adulation would continue to be showered upon Ali until he left the country.
Despite their famous religious differences, (with Ali being a devout Muslim and Foreman becoming a born again Christian several years after their bout, and eventually a preacher), Ali and Foreman have become good friends in the years after the fight. They also appear together in the Champions Forever series of video documentaries and games, and both are enshrined in the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
When Ali walked to the stage at the Oscars to be part of the group receiving the Oscar for When We Were Kings, a documentary of the fight in Zaire, he had trouble doing so because of the effects of Parkinson's disease. A sincere George Foreman helped him up the steps to receive the Oscar.
Cultural influence
The fight has had great cultural influence. The events before and during this bout are depicted in the Academy Award winning documentary, When We Were Kings. The biographical movie Ali (2002) depicts this fight as the film's climax. In addition Norman Mailer wrote a book (The Fight) describing the events, and placing them within the context of his views of black American culture.
In addition, the cultural events surrounding the fight, such as its musical acts (BB King, and James Brown amongst others) also were important to black politics, and African American identity. Ali repeatedly pointed out his "blackness" and black roots, and won the love of the African people for it, even though a confused Foreman pointed out that his own skin tone was in fact darker.
Johnny Wakelin wrote a song about this match called "In Zaire".
The Fugees wrote a song about the event with A Tribe Called Quest and Forte appropriately titled "Rumble in the Jungle".
In 2002, the fight was ranked 7th in Channel 4's 100 Greatest Sporting Moments.
External links
1974 in sports | Boxing fights | Memorable moments in sports
"The Rumble in the Jungle"