411 Boxing Special: Rumble in the Jungle – 35 Years Later

Posted by Michael Payne on 10.30.2009

A look back at the Rumble in the Jungle as we celebrate the 35-year anniversary of Ali's monumental upset win over the then unbeaten heavyweight champ George Foreman.


Upset in the making

35 Years ago today in Kinshasa, Zaire Muhammad Ali took on the monster George Foreman in an attempt to win back the heavyweight title of the world. The ‘Rumble in the Jungle' as it will always be known, will live forever in boxing history. Here I look back at the events in Zaire and ponder why it remains one of the best heavyweight title fights of all time.

Ali addressed the press many times before the fight, telling them that he would dance, that he would prove them all wrong and he uttered the now famous words "If you thought the world was surprised when Nixon resigned, wait until I kick Foreman's behind." This was because almost everyone believed he would fail. How could he beat the enormous Foreman, who was younger and much stronger than him? Foreman was 40- 0 at the time, and had a 93% stoppage rate. More significantly he had done far better than Ali recently against two opponents they had both faced. Foreman blew Ken Norton away inside two rounds in his last fight, dropping Ken three times. Ali had fought him twice the previous year. In there first fight Norton won on points, breaking Ali's Jaw in the process. Ali rectified things in the return bout but could only manage to win by spit decision. Then there was also Joe Frazier. Foreman stopped him as well in two rounds putting him down an amazing six times in the fight. Ali had fought him in his last fight but again went the distance. Ali had also faced Joe three years earlier and had lost that encounter. Everyone simply could not see how Ali could pull it off against a man who was dominating his opponents in such a way. Yes Ali had done it before when he beat Sonny Liston to become the heavyweight champion of the world, but then he had youth on his side, he was blindingly quick and although he was still quick by heavyweight standards he didn't carry the same pace he did and this time the ferocious Foreman had the youth advantage.

Unfortunately I don't have the advantage of seeing this fight live or even being alive at the time, so why am I able (like many fight fans my age) to tell you what happened before, during and after the fight? There are several reasons.

1. Its Muhammad Ali
2. What happened in the fight as well as the result.
3. The build up was very unique, especially at the time.

The fight was held in Africa, Zaire to be more specific. This in its self was unique. Don King had got the promotional rights to the fight and had promised both men $5,000,000. He didn't have it and President Mobutu the president of Zaire offered the money to stage the fight because he viewed it as a good way to get publicity for his county. When the fighters arrived in Africa, Ali was loved and seen as one of them, Foreman to them represented America. All was favored for many reasons. Ali promoted himself better, stating that Africa was home, that Africans were his people. The people of Africa also looked at his refusal to join the war in Vietnam as a plus point. As for Foreman, well they knew very little about and he said very little while he was there.

During training Foreman did what everyone expected him to do, he worked on cutting off the ring. He had smaller quicker guys in there with him so he could anticipate what Ali would do and he was doing a decent job, which further added fuel to the fire that Ali had little or no chance. Ali in training was allowing his sparing partners to punch away at him, working on taking punishment. This was all well and good but none of them were as dangerous as Big George.

If the fight wasn't a big enough event in its self they also had a three night music festival called Zaire 74 with legendary artists such as James Brown & B.B. King performing. Everything was in place for this to be a really big night for boxing and boxing fans were not left disappointed.

In the first round Ali adopted a tactic nobody had envisaged. He went straight for Foreman. There wasn't any dancing he had spent so long telling people about, instead he was the aggressor. Ali hit Foreman with 12 right hand leads in the first round. This was very arrogant of Ali but also very clever. Foreman's sparring partners would not have been so rude as to take shots at him like that so it was the one thing Foreman had not trained for, but there was still a big problem for Ali. Yes he came out fighting and hit him with some good shots, but they had no effect on Foreman. If Ali kept this up he would burn himself out. Also with Foreman's training to cut the ring off working well and Ali not being as quick as he once was, he could not rely on dancing to gain the win either.

Between the first and second round Ali got the fans hyped up and they started to chant "Ali Bumaye" over and over again, which translates into "Ali kill him". It was time for a new plan and Ali had just the thing.

So from round two onwards Ali did something else nobody expected. He let Foreman beat away at him as he adopted what is now known as the Rope-a-Dope. He spent the next 3 to 4 rounds leaning way back on the ropes allowing Foreman to hit him with everything he had. You will never get to see this sort of thing in this way in a heavyweight fight again because these days the referee would have stepped in thinking Ali was taking to much punishment and not fighting back. All this time all Ali would do would be to occasionally flick out the jab or lean on Foreman, causing him to take both of there weight, sapping George's energy.

Then Foreman began to tire from his relentless assault on Ali. Ali took his chance and started unloading with fast combinations. Foreman tried to counter but he had nothing left and Ali could just fire shots at will. All the time Ali was taunting Foreman. By round eight, Foreman was done. Ali connected with a left then hit him with a hard right. Foreman fell across the ring and to the canvass. The undefeatable had once again been defeated by Muhammad Ali.

Foreman went on to suffer from depression for around two years before making his comeback. One of his biggest achievements in the ring since then has been becoming the oldest heavyweight champion in history, when at 45 years old he knocked out Michael Moorer in 1994. Foreman himself is rated up there amongst the best heavyweights of all time, showing just what an achievement it was for Ali in Zaire. I find it a shame that a lot of younger people I speak to only know him as the man who makes grills. I was talking boxing in the pub last week and someone actually said to me "I didn't even know he boxed, I thought he just made grilling machines." Well I say anyone who didn't know Big George the fighter is missing out because he was one hell of a fighter.

Ali went on to cement his position as the greatest of all time and become the most recognizable man on the planet. But the fight and what went on after had a longer lasting effect on Ali, one that will stay with him for the rest of his life. He had now found that in his later years as a fighter he could still be dominant without the blistering speed. He adopted the Rope-a-Dope more and took more punishment. He still had success after the Foreman fight with this style but the number of punches he has taken has had a massive effect on the Parkinson's disease he now suffers with. But I doubt Muhammad would change anything looking back. This fight was up there with any in making him the man he has become. That is an exciting, talent and special individual both inside and outside the ring.

I mentioned before that you would struggle to get another fight like ‘The Rumble in the Jungle' these days because of stricter rules, which is a good thing for boxers. But there is another reason why you will not get another and that is because you won't get another Muhammad Ali. Ali was completely unique. He had speed you don't see in heavyweights. Although he was by no means the hardest hitting heavyweight around, with the speed with which he could throw punches they became very dangerous weapons. He had charisma you will not find in any fighter before or after him. It's all these things that add up to him being what he has always told us he is, The Greatest!