After Muhammad Ali lost to Joe Frazier on March 8, 1971 at Madison Square Garden, he began a 3 and 1/2 year quest to regain the heavyweight title. His journey culminated when he signed to fight ‘Big’ George Foreman in Zaire, South Africa on September 25, 1974. When George suffered a cut over his right eye in training, the bout was rescheduled for October 30th. Ali and Foreman remained in South Africa, and continued to train for the bout dubbed ‘The Rumble in the Jungle’ by promoter Don King. Both men were going to be paid $5 million each for the historic bout, and the whole world waited for it to happen.
I personally was in ninth grade at the time, and not a huge boxing fan. You couldn’t help but be aware of it though, since the constant press kept it in the news. The only way to see it was on closed-circuit at different arenas around the U>S. and the world, while I would settle on newspaper clippings the next day.
When I read the news that Ali had knocked Foreman down and out in the 8th round, I was shocked. Everyone expected the brutish Foreman to clobber and hurt Ali, but just the opposite happened. Ali laid on the ropes while George foolishly punched himself out, and was worn exhausted by the middle rounds. Ali landed plenty of sharp combinations the whole night, and used his now famous ‘Rope-a-Dope’ strategy to embarrass Foreman. In the 8th, Muhammad spun off the ropes and landed a sharp right hand that put George on the canvas, and unable to beat the count. Ali had shocked the world, and become the 2-Time Heavyweight Champion of the World.
I do remember writing a book report about the fight, and getting an A+ from my English teacher. The victory put Ali back on top of the boxing world again, and is definitely one of the top fights in boxing history. Having seen it so many times on videotape that I can’t remember, the bout is one that transcends time, and is a moment in boxing history that is frozen forever.
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