THE RINGMASTER
ON October 30 1974, Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, two of the most powerful boxers in the history of the sport, squared up for the Rumble in the Jungle bout in the city of Kinshasa, in the country now called the Democratic Republic of Congo.
At the time, Foreman was considered one of the hardest punchers in the sport, having already knocked out Joe Frazier and Ken Norton — both of whom had given Ali four tough battles and won two of them.
Ali was 32 years old at the time , and had been banned from the sport for three years during his prime and stripped of his boxing title due to his refusal to be drafted to Vietnam.
His years out of the game had meant he had lost the speed and reflexes he had shown in his twenties, and few involved in the sport gave the former champion a chance of winning the contest.
Ali during the fight devised a method which would later become known as the Rope-A-Dope, where he retreated to the ropes and let Foreman strike him at will while covering up, deflecting and counterpunching.
Midway through the fight, a frustrated Foreman had worn himself out in the Kinshasa heat, throwing punches that didn’t land squarely or were blocked by Ali.
Ali countered more frequently and in the eighth round, used a combination of right crosses to floor an exhausted Foreman to regain the title by knockout.
Few thought he could do this, but Muhammad Ali was special, according to many boxing fans.
“This was one of those moments that demonstrated why Muhammad Ali was a game changer, and of course he went on to become a great legend.” RUMBLE IN THE JUNGLE: Muhammad Ali knocks out George Foreman in the eighth round of their world title bout in 1974 Oct 26 1970: