LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The Muhammad Ali Center is remembering one of the most famous fights in the boxer's career.
On this day 50 years ago, Ali defeated undisputed champion George Foreman in the Rumble in the Jungle to reclaim his heavyweight title. The center in downtown Louisville has a digital exhibit that features the historic fight on its 50th anniversary.
The fierce heavyweight title bout unfolded through eight rounds between the underdog Ali and the seemingly invincible George Foreman at a soccer stadium in Zaire, now known as Congo.
“When Foreman was throwing punches, the audience was screaming,” Alfred Mamba, now a boxing referee, said to the Associated Press. “But Ali had surprised everyone with his hook technique. And how he was boxing on the ropes. And voila, this is how he won the fight.”
The crowd’s hysteria trailed the series of punches until Ali’s last blow. It also created a new generation of fighters and fans that became inspired to keep this country on the global boxing stage.
Ahead of the 50th anniversary of the Ali vs. Foreman fight, boxers and fans from across Africa have been in Kinshasa, the Congolese capital, for the just-concluded 21st African Amateur Boxing Championships that saw the Stade des Martyrs stadium and major roads lit up.
Landry Matete Kankonde, who represented Congo in the men’s heavyweight division, lost to Senegal’s Karamba Kebe but said he is still dreaming about becoming the next Ali, crediting the 1974 bout with putting Congo on the map.
The 1974 fight was one of boxing’s most memorable moments.
Mobutu Sese Seko, the Congolese dictator who was seeking to put the central African nation in the spotlight, had partnered with promoters to bring the contest to the country, putting up a $5 million purse for the fight.
Just before dawn on Oct. 30, 1974, with machine gun-carrying soldiers watching the crowd from ringside and a huge portrait of Mobuto towering over the Stade des Martyrs stadium, spectators from across the world watched the bout between the 32-year-old Ali – seeking a comeback after being stripped of the world title for refusing to be drafted for the Vietnam war – and the then-undefeated 25-year-old Foreman.
Many believed Ali didn’t stand a chance against Foreman, having been out of the ring for years after the sanction.
“People were praying before the fight that Ali doesn’t get killed,” Bill Caplan, who was Foreman’s public relations man in Zaire, has said.
“I think it was one of the top-10 upsets in boxing,” Ed Schuyler Jr., the longtime boxing writer for The Associated Press who was in Congo to cover the fight, has said of Ali’s victory.
The fight ended with Ali putting Foreman on the canvas in the eighth round, but that was only the beginning of a passion for the sport among many Congolese.
Born Cassius Clay Jr. in Louisville on Jan. 17, 1942, the three-time heavyweight champ died on June 3, 2016, at the age of 74 years old.
To learn more about the Muhammad Ali Center, click here.
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Copyright 2024 WDRB Media. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All Rights Reserved.
