This October 30, 1974, file photo, shows Mohamed Ali (left) and George Foreman during their heavyweight bout known as ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ in Kinshasa. (AFP)
The Tata Raphael stadium looks as though it has lost a few rounds against Mohamed Ali in the 40 years since it staged the greatest boxing fight in history.
The terraces, which were packed with 100,000 people for ‘The Rumble In The Jungle’, are falling apart. Water leaks into the gyms where Ali and George Foreman trained for the fight.
But Kinshasa, capital of one of the poorest countries in the world, remains proud of having staged one of the most important sporting events of the 20th century on October 30, 1974.
Then the world was scared that Ali—aged 32 and fighting his way back to the top after his ban for refusing to fight in the US Army—would suffer a humiliating beating by the fearsomely powerful George Foreman, the defending world champion.
Ali soaked up the pressure for seven rounds, taunting his opponent all the time, and then knocked him out in the eighth with a lightning right hook. Ali became a legend.
Now each day, dozens of men, women and children still train in the stadium. After work and school they practice hooks and simulate fights, often without gloves and when they are still hungry.
Stadium security chief Abdelaziz Saliboko Serry took up boxing after watching Ali and Foreman.
“I was a good boxer but my father forced me to give up and study. I would still like to box, but I’m over 50 now so I can’t. I could have made a name like Mohamed Ali,” he said.
Ali won the fight and also the hearts of the people of DR Congo, which was then known as Zaire.
“Ali was one of us. We considered him a Zairean who was living in America. Foreman did not like contact with black people. He did not like this population and that was a factor in his defeat,” added Serry.
Guy Lioki, now 50 and a referee in amateur boxing tournaments, twice came across Foreman—who had already aggravated the local population by arriving on his plane accompanied by two German Shepherd dogs which evoked memories of the brutal rule of their former colonial masters Belgium—before the fight when a child.
“Foreman was too moody, even if he was black like us. He stayed with the important people and was really interested in the women,” he said.
Judex Tshibanda remembers Ali coming to box with the local children.
“We tried to hit him. I got him once in the stomach,” said the 52-year-old who became a boxer himself and now trains young fighters.
Ali completely won the occasion. Even his pre-bout quote deriding Foreman, “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee—his hands can’t hit what his eyes can’t see,” has gone down in sporting folklore.
Foreman was totally out of place while Ali, a divisive figure in the United States even though he became a symbol of the fight against segregation in his homeland, felt entirely at home.
DICTATOR’S GIFT
Mobutu Sese Seko was the other key figure. He agreed to part finance the bout organised by American promoter Don King. It was priceless global propaganda for the country’s dictator.
The bout should have taken place in September, but had to be put back when Foreman injured a hand in training.
While the stadium was packed to the rafters for the fight, Mobutu watched a special live television broadcast in his palace. The bout started at 4am local time so that US television channels could show it live.
“Ali boma ye” (Kill him Ali), the crowd chanted. The slogan inspired Ali, even though his efforts to repeat the phrase with his thick American accent caused hilarity among Zaireans.
“It was an extraordinary knockout,” recalled Felix Mputu, 71, who had refereed some of the amateur fights that preceded the Ali-Foreman duel. Mputu believes Foreman lost because he was too physical. “He hit too hard!”
“That is not what boxing should be, there has to be the spectacle. Mohamed Ali is a stylist, a technician,” said Mputu of the boxing legend, now 72, who has been brought to his knees by Parkinson’s disease.
Fate twists the Rumble legacies of Ali, Foreman
In a reversal of roles, the outspoken Mohamed Ali won the “Rumble In The Jungle” 40 years ago but has become a stricken, silent icon, while brooding slugger George Foreman has turned into an outgoing tycoon.
Parkinson’s disease ended the snappy banter that was Ali’s trademark. The man who once said “when you are as great as I am it is hard to be humble” no longer speaks in public and is rarely seen.
Foreman was an awkward, unloved figure when he lost his title on October 30, 1974. But he has evolved into a slick businessman selling barbecues and grills, and speaking out as a champion for the 50-and-over set.
It has been a cruel fate for Ali, who had the world title taken away in 1967 for refusing to fight in the Vietnam War.
He took his political battle to the US Supreme Court which in 1971 upheld his conscientious objector status, setting the stage for the Foreman showdown.
Ali turned into a global symbol of greatness beyond sport, his fight for civil rights and social justice creating a legacy that saw him light the torch at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Even Foreman—who took 20 years to regain the crown—cannot deny the Ali force.
ALI TRANSCENDS BOXING
“Mohamed Ali has always been bigger than boxing,” Foreman said in an essay on his website.
“I say Ali was the greatest man because there has never been a man so young and so good at what he did, give up so much,” he added. “I say boxing is too small for Mohamed Ali. He changes the very world. No other boxer could do that.”
In 1990, Ali went to Iraq to negotiate the release of 14 US hostages from Saddam Hussein. In 2005, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest US civilian honour.
Also in 2005, the $60 million Mohamed Ali Center opened in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, as a museum tribute to his career and a base for his charity efforts, including humanitarian awards given out most recently in September.
Ali, now 72, has had to combat regular reports that he is critically ill, including this month.
“His speaking style is lower in tone and as the day goes on, he doesn’t speak as well as he does in the morning,” family spokesman Bob Gunnell told the Louisville Courier-Journal. “But Mohamed is a strong person for his age and for the disease he has.”
FOREMAN AGAIN CHAMP
Foreman, 65, retired from boxing in 1977, became an ordained minister and opened a youth centre.
A decade later, he returned to the ring at a time when Mike Tyson was the feared heavyweight fighter. Foreman took Evander Holyfield the distance before losing a 12-round decision in 1991.
But in 1994, Foreman knocked out Michael Moorer to win the heavyweight crown aged 45, still the oldest champion in heavyweight boxing.
Foreman was stripped of the titles for not fighting mandatory foes but his point had been made.
He cited a healthy diet as a reason for his success, attracting the attention of a fat-reducing grill maker. One hefty endorsement deal later, Foreman signed a deal that is estimated to have brought him $200 million.
Foreman backed a line of large-sized men’s clothing and most recently has been a spokesman for an inventor’s group seeking people with ideas while making appearances around his home in Houston.
Foreman told the Daily Telegraph he left Kinshasa “trying to find answers”.
“There had to be more to life than just ‘one, two, three, you’re out’. And I started looking for answers and that fight started me on my journey of looking for big answers. And because of that fight I found great answers too.”