RUMBLE ROCKED THE WORLD
MUHAMMAD ALI 1942-2016 THE EPIC FIGHTS THAT BUILT A LEGEND FROM MIAMI TO MANILA
When Ali fought, the world stopped.
His series of world championship bouts transfixed fans around the globe and are among the biggest sporting spectacles ever staged.
His iconic heavyweight battles dominated the 1960s and 1970s with the fascination stretching far beyond boxing, beyond all sport.
From first taking the world title from fearsome Sonny Liston in one of sport’s biggest upsets in Miami in February 1964 to the epic Rumble in the Jungle in 1975 when he retook it against George Foreman in Zaire, Ali straddled the globe.
When he took on Joe Frazier in Madison Square Garden in March 1971 Frank Sinatra took pictures for Life Magazine.
That bout had been billed as the Fight of the Century but was Ali’s first professional loss.
He had only returned to the ring the year before after spending three years out of the sport fol lowing his conviction for draft dodging.
Ali would retake the world title in October 1974 in one of the most famous fights in the history of boxing – The Rumble in The Jungle.
The clash with Foreman in Zaire didn’t start until 4.30am in the UK but fans piled i nt o 4 5 0 cinemas across across the country.
Millions tuned in to the radio for commentary.
Ali took on 25-year-old Foreman in the 20th of May Stadium in Kinshasa.
Foreman, unbeaten in 40 fights, was the overwhelming favourite going into the title bout.
Foreman had made easy work of Frazier inside just two rounds. He’d also destroyed Ken Norton, who’d broken Ali’s jaw the previous year in his second professional loss.
Experts considered 6ft 3ins Ali, then aged 32, a spent force but he had the whole of Zaire on his side.
Ali initially offered little by way of attack and invited Foreman to land bone-crunching punches.
The champ exhausted himself before Ali pounced in the eighth round and pulled off a stunning knock-out victory, winning the WBC and WBA heavyweight titles in front of 60,000 delirious spectators.
Foreman struggled to come to terms with the shock defeat and later admitted it left him depressed.
Augustin Lisoya, who was in the crowd, said: “It was total madness.
“When Muhammad Ali sent George Foreman to the floor, there was an outbreak of joy from the people of Kinshasa and from all of the Congolese people.”
Ali and Foreman would eventually become friends and yesterday he said: “Part of me is gone. Muhammad Ali was one of the greatest human beings I have met.”
Ali was the first man to be crowned world heavyweight champion three times. He went toe-to-toe with the best the fight game had to offer and gave fans the most memorable moments in the sport’s history.
Born Cassius Marcellus Clay, he racked up an amateur boxing record of 100 wins in 108 fights.
The supremely confident and hugely talented young fighter was tipped to go far.
Amazingly, he almost pulled out of the Rome Olympics in 1960 because he was scared of flying.
But he overcame his fear and won gold when he beat Pole Zbigniew Pietrzykowski in the final.
The victory was the launch pad for
Part of me is gone. Ali was one of the greatest human beings I have met
a 61-fight professional career that saw Ali become The Greatest.
His epic battles with Frazier and Foreman captivated the world.
That first clash with Frazier on March 8, 1971 saw Ali lose on points after Frazier floored him in the last round.
The fight sparked a bitter rivalry between the men who would twice more meet in the ring.
Ali’s third and final clash with Frazier was the Thrilla in Manila.
Widely regarded as one of the most brutal fights ever witnessed it took place in Quezon City on October 1, 1975.
The pair had met twice before with each claiming one victory.
Both men refused to buckle under the devastat ing punishment they meted out over 14 bloody rounds in the sweltering heat. Ali described the fight as “the closest thing to dying”. Frazier said: “I hit him with punches that would have brought down the walls of a city.”
After the 14th round Frazier’s trainer Eddie Futch threw the towel in after the f ighter’s eye became so badly swollen he couldn’t see.
Ali’s trainer Angelo Dundee was reportedly seconds away from doing the same. Ali got up from his stool when he was declared the winner then collapsed.
The fight was promoted by Don King, who said yesterday: “Ali will never die.
“He was a fighter for the people and to become a champion of the people he demonstrated the type of champion he was.”
The Thrilla in Manila was Ali’s fourth defence of his titles and he would retain them through another six fights before losing in a shock defeat to Leon Spinks in Las Vegas in February 1978.
But The Greatest wasn’t done yet and in September of that year he would take the world title a third time in a rematch with Spinks at the Superdome in New Orleans.
The next year Ali announced his retirement from the sport but in 1980 he tried to take the title a fourth time.
He fought Larry Holmes on October 2 in Las Vegas. Dundee stopped the fight in the eleventh round.
He would only fight one more time, in December 1981, when he lost against Trevor Berbick in Nassau in the Bahamas.
I’m Christopher Columbus. I believe I’ll win. I’ve never been in there with him but I believe the world is round and they all believe the world is flat. Maybe I’ll fall off the world at the horizon but I believe the world is round – Muhammad Ali, still then Cassius Clay, in 1964 before fighting – and unbelievably beating – the fearsome Sonny Liston to become world champion