The Rumble in the Jungle

Don King arranged this fight with the music businessman Jerry Masucci, who took his famed musicians, the Fania All Stars, to play at the venue. King managed to get Ali and Foreman to sign separate contracts saying they would fight for him if he could get a $5 million purse. Such amount of money, quite enormous for those days, was purported to prevent other top boxing promoters from attempts to arrange a Foreman vs. Ali match under their own auspices, so no one else would try to take King's signatories. However, as King did not have the money, and was not welcomed to stage an event of such a profile in the United States, he began seeking an outside country to stage and sponsor the event. Fred Wyman, an American advisor to Zaire's dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, persuaded Mobutu that the publicity such a high-profile event would generate would help his regime, and Mobutu agreed for the fight to be held in his country. Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi came as a primary financial sponsor of the event, providing the purse money for the athletes and covering other major expenses.[13]

King had pulled together a consortium that included Risnelia Investment from Panama; the Hemdale Film Corporation, a British company founded by film producer John Daly and the actor David Hemmings; Video Techniques Incorporated of New York; and Don King Productions. Although King is most closely associated with the fight, Hemdale and Video Techniques Inc., with whom King was a director, were the bout's official co-promoters. The fight was broadcast on closed-circuit television in theaters in the United States and on over-the-air television throughout the world. The play-by-play commentary was done by "Colonel" Bob Sheridan. Color commentary was done by Jim Brown, David Frost, and Joe Frazier.[14][15]

In 1967, then-champion Ali was stripped of his title and suspended from boxing for 3½ years for his refusal to comply with the draft and enter the U.S. Army. In 1970, he first regained a boxing license and promptly fought comeback fights against Jerry Quarry and Oscar Bonavena in an attempt to regain the heavyweight championship from the then-undefeated Joe Frazier. In a bout dubbed the Fight of the Century, Frazier won a unanimous decision, leaving Ali fighting other contenders for years in an attempt at a new title shot.

Meanwhile, the heavily muscled Foreman had quickly risen from a gold-medal victory at the 1968 Olympics to the top ranks of professional heavyweights. Greatly feared for his punching power, size, and sheer physical dominance, Foreman was nonetheless underestimated by Frazier and his promoters, and knocked the champion down six times in two rounds before the bout was stopped. He further solidified his hold over the heavyweight division by demolishing the only man besides Frazier at the time to defeat Ali, Ken Norton, in two rounds. At 25, the younger and stronger Foreman seemed an overwhelming favorite against the well-worn 32-year-old Ali.[16]

Foreman and Ali spent much of the middle of 1974 training in Zaire, getting acclimated to its tropical African climate. The fight was originally set to happen on September 25 (September 24 in the United States due to the difference in time zones). However, eight days prior to then, Foreman was cut above his right eye by an accidental elbow thrown by his sparring partner Bill McMurray in a sparring session. This required Foreman to receive 11 stitches, with the date of the fight pushed back to October 30.[17]

A three-night-long music festival to hype the fight, Zaire 74, took place as scheduled, September 22–24, including performances by James Brown, Celia Cruz and the Fania All-Stars, B.B. King, Miriam Makeba, The Spinners, Bill Withers, The Crusaders, and Manu Dibango, as documented in the 2008 film Soul Power.[18] The championship was scheduled for 4 am local time to appear on live closed-circuit television in the Eastern Time Zone of the US at 10 pm.[19] Zack Clayton was selected as referee for the fight.

The undercard was broadcast live for the American viewers from Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The original undercard, consisting of three bouts, was scheduled for September 24, it featured several Cus D'Amato fighters with notable amateur accomplishments:[20]

• Middleweight: Dornell Wigfall of Brockton, Massachusetts, vs. Roland Cousins of New York City (scheduled for 6 rounds)
• Middleweight: Joey Hadley of Catskill, New York, vs. Cove Green of Bridgeport, Connecticut (scheduled for 4 rounds)
• Light heavyweight: Bobby Stewart of Amsterdam, New York, vs. Charley Scott of New York City (scheduled for 6 rounds)

However, it was cancelled after the fight was rescheduled due to the Foreman's cut.

The rescheduled undercard took place on October 29:[21]

• Featherweight: Terry Rondeau of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, former New England featherweight champion, was introduced in the ring before the Osborne vs. Romano fight.
• Junior middleweight (for the New England Junior middleweight title): Paul Osborne of Lowell, Massachusetts, won by a fourth-round technical knockout over Al Romano of North Adams, Massachusetts.
• Middleweight: Joey Hadley (160 lbs) of Catskill, New York, won by a first-round technical knockout (scheduled for four) over Gene Olten (164) of Springfield, Massachusetts.
• Light heavyweight: Bobby Stewart (174 lbs) of Amsterdam, New York, won by unanimous decision (sixth) over Ken Jones (168) of Somers, Connecticut.

Foreman trying to punch Ali

Ali was famed for his speed and technical skills, while Foreman's raw power was his greatest strength. Defying convention, Ali began by attacking Foreman with disorienting right-hand leads. This was notable as it seemed that close-range fighting would inevitably favor Foreman and leave too great a chance that Ali would be stunned by Foreman's powerful haymakers. Ali made use of the right-hand lead punch (striking with the right hand without setting up the left) in a further effort to disorient Foreman. However, while this aggressive tactic may have surprised Foreman and allowed Ali to punch him several times in the head, it failed to significantly hurt him. Before the end of the first round, Foreman began to catch up to Ali, landing punches of his own. Foreman had been trained to cut off the ring and prevent escape. Ali realized that he would tire if Foreman could keep making one step to Ali's two, so he changed tactics.

Ali had told his trainer, Angelo Dundee, and his fans that he had a secret plan for Foreman. As the second round commenced, Ali began to lean on the ropes and cover up, letting Foreman punch him on the arms and body (a strategy Ali later dubbed the rope-a-dope). As a result, Foreman spent his energy throwing punches (without earning points) that either did not hit Ali or were deflected in a way that made Foreman hitting Ali's head difficult, while sapping Foreman's strength due to the large number of punches he threw. This loss of energy was key to Ali's rope-a-dope tactic.

Meanwhile, Ali took every opportunity to shoot straight punches to Foreman's face (which was soon visibly puffy). When the two fighters were locked in clinches, Ali consistently out-wrestled Foreman, using tactics such as leaning on Foreman to make Foreman support Ali's weight, and holding down Foreman's head by pushing on his neck. He constantly taunted Foreman in these clinches, telling him to throw more punches, and an enraged Foreman responded by doing just that.

After several rounds of this, Foreman began to tire. His face became increasingly damaged by hard, fast jabs and crosses by Ali. The effects were visible as Foreman was staggered by an Ali combination at the start of the fourth round, and again several times near the end of the fifth, after Foreman had seemed to dominate that round. Although Foreman kept throwing punches and coming forward, after the fifth round, he looked increasingly worn out. Ali continued to taunt him by saying, "They told me you could punch, George!" and "They told me you could punch as hard as Joe Louis." According to Foreman: "I thought he was just one more knockout victim until, about the seventh round, I hit him hard to the jaw and he held me and whispered in my ear: 'That all you got, George?' I realized that this ain't what I thought it was."[22]

Foreman falling to the canvas after a hard right straight to the face

As the fight drew into the eighth round, Foreman's punching and defense became ineffective as the strain of throwing so many wild shots took its toll. Ali pounced as Foreman tried to pin Ali on the ropes, landing several right hooks over Foreman's jab, followed by a five-punch combination, culminating in a left hook that brought Foreman's head up into position and a hard right straight to the face that caused Foreman to stumble to the canvas. The rise count was eight seconds as scheduled. The referee Zack Clayton signaled the end of the fight as Foreman was rising, which is considered valid. At the stoppage, Ali led on all three scorecards by 68–66, 70–67, and 69–66.

The fight showed that Ali was capable of taking a punch and highlighted his tactical genius, changing his fighting style by adopting the rope-a-dope, instead of his former style that emphasized movement to counter his opponent. The film of the Zaire fight shows Foreman striking Ali with hundreds of thunderous blows, many blocked, but many others getting through. Foreman mostly struck to the sides and kidney region, but also landed some vicious shots to the head, seemingly with no effect.[7]

Despite repeatedly calling Ali out, Foreman was unable to secure a rematch with the champion before Foreman abruptly decided to retire after a loss to Jimmy Young in 1977. Ali did not hurry to set up a rematch, making title defenses against unheralded opponents such as Jean Pierre Coopman and Richard Dunn. However, he repeatedly stated that his rematch with Foreman was one of the major fights he wanted to get to before retiring.

Foreman and Ali became friends after the fight. Ali had trouble walking to the stage at the 1996 Oscars to be part of the group receiving the Oscar for When We Were Kings (1996), a documentary of the fight in Zaire, due to his Parkinson's syndrome. Foreman helped him up the steps to receive the Oscar.[23]

Over the years, Foreman revised his opinions on Ali and on The Rumble in the Jungle, on several accounts. In 2012, The Daily Telegraph reported Foreman's declaration: "We fought in 1974, that was a long time ago. After 1981, we became the best of friends. By 1984, we loved each other. I am not closer to anyone else in this life than I am to Muhammad Ali."[24] Foreman also stated: "Then, in 1981, a reporter came to my ranch and asked me: 'What happened in Africa, George?' I had to look him in the eye and say, "I lost. He beat me." Before that I had nothing but revenge and hate on my mind, but from then on it was clear. I'll never be able to win that match, so I had to let it go."[22] Foreman eventually concluded, in 2003: "[Ali is] the greatest man I've ever known. Not greatest boxer, that's too small for him. He had a gift. He's not pretty, he's beautiful. Everything America should be, Muhammad Ali is."[25]

The fight was broadcast live pay-per-view on closed-circuit television, also known as theatre television, to venues across the world. The fight had a record estimated 50 million viewers on closed-circuit television worldwide,[5] grossing an estimated $100 million (inflation-adjusted $520 million) in revenue.[11][12]

In the United States, the fight had an estimated 3 million closed-circuit viewers in 400 venues, with tickets sold at $20 (inflation-adjusted $100), grossing $60 million (inflation-adjusted $310 million) in the United States. The promoters and fighters received over half of the US closed-circuit revenue, generating an income of at least $30 million for the promoters and fighters; Ali and Foreman were paid $5 million each.[26]

In total, including closed-circuit and free television, the fight was watched by a record estimated television audience of 1 billion viewers worldwide,[8][9] about a quarter of the world's 4 billion population in 1974.[27] It was the world's most-watched live television broadcast at the time.[10] This included a large television audience in the United Kingdom,[28] where the fight was watched by 26 million viewers on BBC One,[29] nearly half of the UK's 56 million population in 1974.[30]

The Rumble in the Jungle is one of Ali's most famous fights, ranking alongside 1971's Fight of the Century between the unbeaten former champion Ali and the unbeaten then-heavyweight champion Joe Frazier, and the pair's final match, the Thrilla in Manila in 1975.[31] The Rumble in the Jungle remains a large cultural influence.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Foreman v Ali, 30 October 1974.

• Entire fight with interview on YouTube
• Los Angeles Times article