On October 30, 1974 in Kinshasa, Mohamed Ali and George Foreman faced each other in Kinshasa for the title of world heavyweight champion. A dream poster, for a crazy scenario. But beyond the geopolitical and social context, this “fight of the century” was first and foremost a sporting masterpiece between two champions, and above all a technical and mental demonstration on the part of Mohamed Ali.
Those who saw it, re-watched it or discovered it years later are unanimous: the Ali-Foreman fight is THE pinnacle of boxing. “ The apotheosis ! There is not a fight that dethroned him », Estimates ex-French boxer Brahim Asloum, Olympic champion (2000) and world champion (2007). “ We have two boxers with two totally different styles, presents Asloum. Ali is twirling in the ring, moves wonderfully, has a real eye with very clean technique. And facing him, there is a devastating Foreman, with extraordinary physical strength, and who has destroyed more or less all his opponents.. »
In 1974, when the fight took place, Mohamed Ali was 32 years old and had already been world champion three times, the first in 1964, the last in 1967. For his part, George Foreman was a two-time reigning world champion after a first crown snatched in January 1973 by “destroying” Joe Frazier, sent to the mat six times. Until then undefeated, “Smoking Joe” had himself inflicted his first defeat on Mohamed Ali two years earlier, in the first or defunct “fight of the century”.
Spikes and replicas
For this fight in Kinshasa, organized by the sulphurous promoter Don King in partnership with Zairian President Mobutu Sese Seko, the young Foreman is therefore the ultra-favorite against the “old” Ali. Howard William Cosell, famous American journalist and boxing specialist, has no doubt about the outcome of the fight. In the documentary When We Were Kingshe delivers his analysis in the form of a sentence for the former world champion. “ It’s time to say goodbye to Muhammad Ali, because frankly, I doubt he can beat Foreman. He may work miracles, but against Foreman who is so young, so powerful, so courageous…who dispatches his opponents one after the other in less than three rounds, I can hardly believe it. After this fight, Ali will hang up his gloves. »
A few weeks before the “Rumble In The Jungle”, the official name given to the fight by Don King, Mohamed Ali, in his legendary style, provokes his opponent and sends him barbs every time he on the occasion: “ I don’t like him… He talks too much (sic)he asserts. I am the speed demon. I am the bullfighter, he is the bull. He’s scared to death. He will meet his model, his master, his idol. »
More discreet, George Foreman proves that he can also be impactful with punchlines. During a press conference, he was asked what he planned to do with his fighting income, because Ali was thinking of building a hospital with his winnings. He replies: “ He already sees himself at the hospital…”
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Psychological warfare
In training, Mohamed Ali shows his level of form. He repeats his scales, refines his strategy. For him, he will have to avoid and/or know how to absorb his opponent’s devastating blows. He knows how to turn himself into a soap bar when facing his adversaries. “ How will he approach me? I’m going to dance and dance and dance. He’ll look stupid chasing me. And when he is completely lost in the turmoil, blinded by my footwork, I throw him a direct shot. »
George Foreman prepares to “lock the ring”, a strategy consisting of trapping the opponent in the ropes or in a corner. He prepares with fast, light and agile boxers. The images of the marks he leaves on his punching bag are frightening and end up convincing most observers that Ali has no chance.
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Initially scheduled for September 25, the fight was postponed to October 30 after Foreman’s eyebrow was injured by a sparring partner. The two boxers are forced to stay six more weeks in Zaire. Ali takes it well: “ Disappointments are common in sport. Rain can prevent a match. My dream is on hold for six weeks. »
The native of Louisville took the opportunity to get closer to the Congolese and make them allies. During the forced wait, the famous slogan “ Ali, boma ye! » (“ Ali, kill him! “) takes shape as the American jogs through the streets of Kinshasa. “ He (Ali) said that he was at home, that he was Congolese », recalls Valéry Kayumba, former technical director of the Congolese Boxing Federation. “ At eight years old, when I saw Mohamed Ali in the Congo, I said to my friends: ”I would be like that gentleman”. From this how, I went to sign up for boxing », testifies the one who will compete in the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 1984.
THE ” nightmare “…
And October 30 arrives… At the 20 Mai stadium (since renamed Tata Raphaël stadium), the two boxers finally face each other. Ali is in white shorts, Foreman in red. Experience versus youth, the strategist versus brute force. As expected, Ali “dances” around Foreman, from left to right, swinging his rights whenever the opportunity presents itself. He seems elusive for his opponent who sometimes manages to trap him in the ropes.
During the third and fourth rounds, Ali was severely beaten, but he continued to “poke” Foreman, constantly provoking him, pushing him to hit harder, again and again: ” You disappoint me my George. You have to put a little effort into it. I don’t feel anything. »
However, the “ nightmare » that Ali feared was coming. “ He was facing an opponent whom he could not dominate, whom he did not frighten, who was looking for a knockout and who hit harder than him. A fiercely determined man », analyzes the American writer, screenwriter and director Norman Mailer, interviewed in the documentary When We Were Kings.
Foreman puts Ali back on the ropes, who is no longer dancing. He takes it, resists while his opponent bombards him. The blows rained down and many observers thought that the fight was ending.
But towards the end of the fifth round, Foreman showed the first signs of fatigue. A right from Ali hits the mark, the colossus falters. His punches become less powerful in the sixth round.
When resuming the fight in the seventh round, Mohamed Ali turned to the crowd and said “ Ali boma ye ! », taken up in chorus by 100,000 supporters representing incredible strength for the former world champion. “ When I hear the brothers shout that, I’ll be pumped “, he announced.
And he finds a second wind during the eighth round. Thirty seconds from the end of this round, Mohamed Ali places a straight-hook sequence that Foreman cannot avoid. “Big George” staggers and sprawls across the ring. Amazing ! The reigning champion is counted: 1, 2,3,4,5,6… He gets up on one knee…8, 9… Too late! Muhammad Ali beat George Foreman, the man who had never lost in 40 fights, including 37 knockouts
“ The scenario is crazy, confides Brahim Asloum. Ali who resists everything to avoid falling and who turns the situation around. It’s the perfect scenario for a big boxing match. It’s Rocky in real life. »
After this defeat, George Foreman suffered depression for two years. “It’s like Ali killed me. I arrived with two world championship titles, I left with nothing “, he confided in 2016 in a testimony after the death of Mohamed Ali, whom he considered “ a phenomenon “.
Twenty years after the Kinshasa duel, George Foreman achieved the immense feat of winning the world champion title at the age of 45 by knocking out Michael Moorer.
Mohamed Ali, for his part, will fight 22 fights after the “Rumble In TheJungle”, but none will taste like the one which propelled him definitively towards eternity and which still remains “THE fight of the century”.
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