When Muhammad Ali lost to Joe Frazier on March 8, 1971, his mission was to recapture the heavyweight title he lost when he was stripped for refusing induction into the army in April of 1967. After 3 1/2 years in exile, he returned in October 1970, but lost to Joe Frazier five months later. That meant fighting often and everywhere until he could secure another shot at the heavyweight championship.
George Foreman became the new champ when he destroyed Joe Frazier in two rounds on January 22, 1973. After two successful title defenses, George agreed to meet Ali in the fall of 1974 in Zaire, South Africa. The original September 25 date was pushed back to October 30 after Foreman suffered a bad cut over his eye.
The fight was nicknamed “The Rumble in the Jungle”, with both Ali and Foreman to be paid $5 million each, an astounding figure for the time.
At the time, I was a freshman in high school and not a huge boxing fan. I was very aware of this one though, and read every Sports Illustrated and Sport magazine article I could about it. My father was not the type to take me to a closed-circuit fight, otherwise I would have loved to have gone to see it.
I’ve seen the bout so many times by now that I can’t remember. Ali fought a smart fight, stayed on the ropes and let George punch himself out. ‘The rope-a-dope’ was invented by Muhammad that night, and in the eighth round, he knocked an exhausted Foreman down to the canvas and out. Ali had shocked the world and became a two-time heavyweight champion of the world, and restored his name to the top of the boxing world. Until his retirement in 1978, he remained there and carried the sport on his back.
Growing up, Muhammad Ali was the face of boxing and it was great to watch a lot of his fights on free TV, an idea that died a long time ago. I’m glad I grew up in the era that I did, and lived through the golden years of boxing, which led to my passion for the sport. Both Ali and Foreman have both passed away, which is sad to learn about every time a legend leaves us behind.
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