The Rumble In The Jungle

 

Public opinion was, at 32 years of age, Ali was well past his prime. He was well beaten by Joe Frazier just 3 years prior. But Ali persevered and eventually regained a semblance of his old form. Even still Foreman was in his prime, an absolute powerhouse. There were genuine concerns that Ali would suffer serious injuries if he lost.

In Zaire, the location of the bout, a distinct narrative started to build. Ali had submerged himself in the culture and the people, painting himself as the hometown hero and Foreman and the intruder.

Ali: "I will feel as though he is the stranger coming to our home, to fight me in our country."

After plenty of delays due to a cut Foreman received from a sparring session, fight night finally came.

It was the third round of the bout in the heavyweight championship against the mountain of a man George Foreman. Foreman, moving every bit as robotically as a true machine, stalked Ali with cold eyes. Much the same way Ali had laughingly jeered he would in one of the endless pre-fight press conferences. Now in the ring with the champion, it wasn't very funny anymore. 

With no sign of mercy or the slightest compassion, Foreman pursued Ali around the 20 foot ring, launching thundering punches from off-angles, surgical hooks and power shits that crashed into Ali. Blows that seemed too heavy for any human to withstand.

This was the rush that defeated the great Joe Frazier, Ali's first conqueror. It created the most iconic call in boxing history. Howard Cosell, stunned by what he saw, shouted over and over again. "Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier."

But Ali was no ordinary man. On a mission that he himself believed to be from God, Ali weathered the storm and bent back onto the loose ring ropes to avoid the worst of Foreman's blows, clenching his teeth and enduring those he couldn't avoid.

"What I remember most about the fight was, I went out and hit Muhammad with the hardest shot to the body I ever delivered to any opponent," Foreman later admitted in Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times. "Anybody else in the world would have crumbled. Muhammad cringed; I could see it hurt. And then he looked at me. He had that look in his eyes, like he was saying 'I'm not going to let you hurt me.'"

Soon came the 8th round, and by then Foreman had nothing left in the tank. Through it all Ali had never stopped talking saying "George, you disappoint me. You don’t hit as hard as I thought you would" Foreman was wild with rage, and eventually, he punched himself out

Ali sensed his chance. It came as Foreman tried to corner Ali on the ropes again, Ali suddenly sprung off the ropes and retaliated with a series of right hooks.

Then, there was the now-infamous left hook that stunned Foreman. He stumbled, and then crashed down onto the canvass. Ali had won and he was the champion once more.