Arguably the greatest sporting event of the 20th century turns 50. It is the 50 year anniversary of the event known as “Rumble in the Jungle,” the heavyweight championship superfight between champion George Foreman and challenger Muhammad Ali on October 30, 1974 in Kinshasa, Zaire. The event and fight certainly lived up to the billing.

The brutal, hard punching Foreman powered his way to the gold medal in the 1968 Olympics.  After he turned pro, he built his record up to 37-0 and the no. 1 ranked contender for Joe Frazier‘s undisputed heavyweight championship, set to take place on January 22, 1973. As a 3 to 1 underdog, it was on that night where Foreman shocked the world by overpowering Frazier to become the heavyweight champion of the world, flooring Frazier 6 times. The 6th knockdown was a brutal uppercut that lifted the 223-lb Frazier off the canvas, and the world was introduced to the greatest catch phrase of legendary commentator Howard Cosell: “Down Goes Frazier!”  Foreman would make two successful title defense against Jose Roman (KO 1) and Ken Norton (KO 2) before he was set to face Ali.

The outspoken and highly skilled Ali began his journey by winning the gold medal in the 1960 Olympics. Just 3 years after turning pro, he challenged Sonny Liston for the heavyweight championship of the world and shocked the world by giving Liston a beating to where Liston quit on the stool at the end of round 7. It was after this fight where he was introduced as the self-proclaimed “Greatest.”  After being stripped of the title in 1967 and “suspended” from the sport for 3 years for “political reasons”, Ali returned and challenged then champion Joe Fraxier for the title and fell short on his bid to regain the title. Nearly four years later, he challenged Frazier again for a chance to be the no. 1 contender for the title, and he got his revenge on Frazier, winning a 12-round unanimous decision. The win meant a shot at George Foreman’s heavyweight championship of the world, where he had a chance to regain the title.

Which leads up to the night of October 30, 1974, in Kinshasa, Zaire.

Foreman may have had the championship, but it was Ali who had the hearts of the crowd. He captured the county of Zaire with his charm and persona as he made himself available to the public. Ali, who always came up with some great catch phrases, had probably his greatest one in describing his preparation for the fight:

“I wrestled with alligators, I’ve tusseled with a whale. I done handcuffed lightning and put thunder in jail, you know I’m bad. Just last week, I murdered a rock, injured a stone and hospitalized a brick.  I’m so mean I made medicine sick!”  Ali concluded by saying “I’m so fast I can through a hurricane and not get wet.  When George Foreman meets me, he’ll pay his debt.” 

 It’s safe to say his confidence, despite being a 4 to 1 underdog, was super high.  He openly vowed to win this fight despite the “experts” picking Foreman to win.

This was the perfect “speed vs power” matchup. The speed and skills of Ali vs. the pure, raw power of George Foreman. However, early on, it was Ali who started out going at Foreman with right hand leads that surprised Foreman. As the fight wore on, and Foreman started to land punches of his own, it was Ali who would lay on the ropes and use the tight guard to cover up while Foreman was expanding energy, throwing and hitting Ali on the arms. This was the strategy later famously known as the “Rope a Dope,” where Foreman always says he was the dope in this tactic. While he was tiring Foreman out, Ali was landing right crosses and even out-muscling Foreman in clinches. 

As the rounds progressed, and Ali kept using the “Rope a Dope” tactic, Foreman started tiring and his face was starting to show the signs of the jabs and right crosses that Ali was landing in clinches. He was also constantly taunting Foreman, telling him to throw more punches, which Foreman did. Even though Foreman was coming forward and throwing punches, the power he was known for was no longer there as Ali started to take complete control of the fight.

When the eighth rough started, all the energy Foreman expanded by throwing so many wild, ineffective punches took its toll as he was frustrated both mentally and physically. As he tried to pin Ali on the ropes, Ali started landing punches over Foreman’s lazy jab as he was just rushing in. The end came when he landed two overhand rights, then a seven punch combination, ending in a perfect left-right combination, that put Foreman down on the canvas. As he is on the canvas, Foreman is staring at the count of referee Zack Clayton. He gets up at the count of 10, and just walks directly to his corner as Ali is throwing his hands up in celebration as he became the undisputed world heavyweight champion for the 2nd time in career, solidifying Ali’s place in boxing history as “The Greatest.”

Ali would go on to have many more great moments to solidify his place as “The Greatest,” notably his historic 3rd fight with Joe Frazier, known as the “Thrilla in Manila’” where he completed the epic, historic trilogy with a 14 round TKO win. He did lose the heavyweight title to Leon Spinks in February 1978, but regained it exactly 7 months later to become the first ever to win the legitimate heavyweight championship of the world three times in what turned out to be his last great performance in one of the all-time historic careers any athlete would ever have. He would relinquish the title, but would have two more attempts at glory, losing to Larry Holmes in 1980 and Trevor Berbick in 1981 in fights that had no business taking place due to his declining health. He would retire for good after the Berbick fight.

After the loss, George Foreman had a hard time finding peace within himself due to the loss. He questioned the legitimacy of the win, accusing Ali’s trainer Angelo Dundee of loosening the ropes, thus giving Ali the advantage with the “Rope-a-Dope tactic and accused Zack Clayton of giving him a quick count, even though replays continuously show throughout the years that the count was accurate. After the loss, he continued on with his career as he would try to seek a rematch with Ali, he fought Ron Lyle in 1976 in what turned out to be an all-time classic where both fighters hit the canvas twice each before Foreman got the KO win. Two fights later, he would lose to Jimmy Young in a fight he was beaten enough to where he retired from the sport for 10 years. He mounted a comeback in 1987, and after 24 consecutive wins, he got a title shot against undisputed heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield and lost a unanimous decision in a fight that he had his moments, despite losing 8-4 in rounds.  Three fights later, Foreman’s life and career came full circle on November 5, 1994 when he re-captured the heavyweight championship when by knocking out Michael Moorer, 20 years and 6 days after he lost the title to Muhammad Ali.

Both Ali and Foreman secured their places in boxing history before and after the fight.  However, on this historical night in Kinshasa, Zaire on October 30, 1974, they got together to put together a historical night that will never be forgotten by those who lived it then, and follow the sport now.

Happy 50-year anniversary, Rumble In the Jungle!!

Photo Credit; Marca.com, Sports Illustrated, Film Fixers Africa,