The Rumble in the Jungle

The Rumble in The Jungle was an historic boxing event that took place on October 30, 1974, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, then known as Zaire. It pitted then world Heavyweight champion George Foreman against former world champion and that time challenger Muhammad Ali, who was looking to become the second fighter ever, after Floyd Patterson, to recover the world's Heavyweight crown.

Related Topics:
Boxing - October 30 - 1974 - Democratic Republic of the Congo - Zaire - George Foreman - Muhammad Ali - Floyd Patterson

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The event was Don King's first venture as a professional boxing promoter. He looked for an outside country to stage this large event, and Zaire was in need of a positive image in the eyes of the world, so Zaire's president Mobutu asked for the fight to be held there.

Related Topics:
Don King - Mobutu

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Foreman and Ali spent much of the summer of 1974 training in Zaire, and getting their bodies used to the weather in the tropical African country. Ali also spent his time there endearing himself to Zaire's citizens. Because of that, many of them could be heard during the fight saying the phrase Ali bomaye!, which translates to English as Ali kill him!.

Related Topics:
African - English

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The fight was originally set to happen in September, but Foreman got injured during training, pushing the fight back off to October.

Related Topics:
September - October

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With Hollywood stars and world boxing champions such as Ken Norton and Joe Frazier present, the fight started at 5 am Kinshasa time, to accommodate United States viewers. Bob Sheridan was the commentator, with David Frost occasionally interviewing Jim Brown and Joe Frazier at ringside. Brown, who had predicted Ali would be knocked out, is increasingly wowed by Ali's performance, calling him "unreal". Frazier seems to reluctantly admit the same more towards round eight, though he puts Foreman ahead through most of the early rounds. Towards the end of the fight, Frazier remarks to Frost, "George is fightin' stupid."

Related Topics:
Hollywood - Ken Norton - Joe Frazier - Kinshasa - United States - Bob Sheridan - David Frost - Jim Brown

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Ali had told his trainer, Angelo Dundee, and his fans, that he had a secret plan for Foreman. Ali started laying on the ropes and letting Foreman punch him with everything Foreman had. Dundee asked Ali in his corner if he wanted to commit suicide. Frost jokes that he does not quite understand a fighting style that involves staying still and letting your opponent punch you. Ali had introduced, that way, his Rope-a-Dope fighting style, where he just stood on the ropes and allowed his opponents to punch him, getting them tired while Ali hoped that he would be in sufficient condition after that ordeal to exploit his opponent's weakness.

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