Rumble in the jungle

The fight was the first for Don King as a boxing promoter and was completely organized by him. It was King who proposed a duel in Africa , having agreed with Fred Wyman, an American adviser to the Zaire dictator Mobutu , who persuaded him to have a duel in the capital of Zaire ^[3] . Herbert Muhammad, Ali’s manager and King’s business partner, agreed with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to allocate $ 12 million to the fight to secure a $ 5 million fee for each boxer (King outlined such a prohibitive amount at the time for other promoters to stop trying “Take away” Ali and Foreman from him). In the United States, no one was going to pay millions of fees to “two blacks” and attach so much importance to the duel itself, which the US authorities regarded as an ordinary event, the next title duel of two black athletes (Don King believed that if one of the rivals was white, then the situation with a duel in the USA would be completely different). ^[four]

The infrastructure was built in Kinshasse and all the necessary equipment for broadcasting on television and radio was purchased and set up. When all the details were settled, it became clear that for the first time in boxing history, a duel for the world heavyweight champion title will take place on the African continent.

Before the battle, Mohammed Ali announced that this battle was a struggle for a “big black business”. Foreman only objected that he was “blacker” than Ali twice. Due to the difficult tropical climate, boxers arrived in Zaire in advance and spent the whole summer of 1974 there . Both were very actively preparing for the duel. Foreman preferred to train at a hotel in the city of Kinshasa - the capital of Zaire, where the fight was to take place. Ali preferred to communicate more with ordinary people, he jogged with children, and also conducted many open training sessions. People from the environment of Mohammed said that he was surrounded by fans and was charged with energy from them. Despite the great support of the local population, few people in the world believed that Ali was able to cope with the young champion. At that time, Foreman had 40 wins and 0 losses with 37 fights completed by him ahead of schedule. He easily knocked out Ken Norton and Joe Frazier, the boxers who defeated Ali in the most difficult fights (moreover, Norton broke Ali’s jaw, and Fraser sent Ali to knockdown). George was called one of the greatest punchers ^{[comm. 1] of} all time, and the rates of bookmakers were 3 to 1 in his favor. Initially, the fight was supposed to take place on September 25, but due to the dissection received by Foreman in training, the fight had to be postponed until October 30 ^[5] .

In the last days before the fight, Ali intensified his psychological influence on Foreman, one of his quotes he said at that time went down in history: "I saw George Foreman box with a shadow, and the shadow won." Foreman remained calm, being absolutely sure of his victory. The day before the fight, both boxers attended a party hosted by President Mobutu. The next morning, Ali, along with his entourage, went on several buses to the May 20 Stadium, where 60,000 people, mostly rooting for him, were expected to fight. According to boxing traditions, Ali as the challenger was the first to enter the ring. From the locker room, the boxer walked down the corridor from the soldiers of the Zaire army, protecting him from the fans. A temporary roof was built above the ring, which was supposed to protect the boxers from the rain predicted by weather forecasters. After 10 minutes, the champion appeared, he went with the American flag, along with him was Archie Moore - the illustrious boxer, who had previously been knocked out by Mohammed in his career. While the referee reminded the boxers of the rules of the fight, Ali launched a psychological attack on Foreman: “You heard about me when you were a kid. You followed me when you were a little boy. Now you have met me - your teacher ” ^{[6] [7]} .

In conditions of high humidity and high temperature, both boxers began to pass quite physically from the first rounds. From the middle of the second round, Ali hangs on the ropes, and the judge’s numerous attempts to hold the ropes along with him were unsuccessful. At the same time, Mohammed carries out very powerful counterattacks, concentrating on the right cross in the head .

Ali chose tactics similar to his first fight against Fraser, the only difference was that he was in excellent physical shape. The referee did not always manage to keep the ropes taut due to the fact that the boxers hung on them with their entire mass. This gave Mohammed an advantage, as there was more additional space for defensive maneuvers. During the first half of the battle, he missed several powerful blows that could end the fight, according to Ali, from them he began hallucinations. But also, George’s many powerful punches passed by or casually, exhausting him. After the fifth round, Forman's corner asked to stop the fight and pull the ropes in the ring, but the referee ignored these requests. By this time, the champion looked tired, while Ali managed to shout in his ear: “Show your best blow!” In the seventh round, Mohammed began to dominate the battle, he inflicted a large number of accurate jabs . By the eighth round, George had lost his last strength, and Ali, right before the signal to end the round, made a combination of right-left-right, which shocked the young champion, he was on the ropes, after which Mohammed launched an accurate attack that sent Foreman to the floor of the ring. George managed to get to the score 9, but the referee decided to stop the fight. The whole stadium was on its feet, all that could be heard was the chant “Ali, kill him!” (“Ali bomaye!”). After the fight, Mohammed announced that he was not going to end his career, after this fight he was assigned the nickname with which he awarded himself - the Greatest. Foreman was morally crushed, he came up with conspiracy theories, explaining his defeat (specially weakened ropes, the referee’s quick countdown and even poisoned water) ^{[8] [9]} .

I told you - to all my critics, I told you that I am the greatest champion in all history after I defeated Sonny Liston . I tell you today, I am still the greatest in history ... Never again say that I will lose. Never call me falling behind until I turn fifty ^[10] .

- Mohammed Ali

After the fight

After the fight with Foreman, Ali was at the peak of fame, he won the match, in which the champion was considered an absolute favorite. Mohammed received almost $ 5.5 million, more than Joe Louis , Rocky Marciano and Jack Dempsey earned in their entire career. But most importantly, he proved to everyone that he was written off early. US President Gerald Ford invited Ali to the White House a few weeks after his victory over Foreman. In the recent past, this was impossible to imagine, since Mohammed was in disgrace in power for his antiwar public speeches. Ford liked their conversation, after which he called Ali a man of principle. Sports publications began to present Mohammed with all kinds of awards ( The Ring magazine recognized Ali as the boxer of the year, Sports Illustrated - the athlete of the year) ^[11] .

• In 1997, the documentary “ When We were Kings ” dedicated to the events of this battle received the Academy Award for Best Documentary.
• Filmed in 2001, the biographical film "Ali" shows this battle as the culmination of the film.

Comments

Sources

• Edmonds, Anthony O. Muhammad Ali: a biography . - Greenwood: Greenwood biographies, 2006 .-- 125 p. - ISBN 0-313-33092-1 .
• Rummel, Jack. Muhammad Ali: Heavyweight Champion. - Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 2005 .-- 133 p. - ISBN 0-7910-8156-7 .

• Duel Article
• Echo from the jungle 40 years of the “great battle” Ali against Foreman