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^ AN M E LOOK AT THE
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CHANGER THE WORLOfOOXIi
BY MARGENA A. CHRISTIAN

Academy Award-winning filmmaker Leon

Gast. These days Ali, 72, has been engaged
in a lengthy battle with his health after
being diagnosed with the neurodegenerative disorder Parkinson's disease in 1984.
Though now silent and unable to comment
for this story, Ali's profound thoughts
throughout the years are included within.

GOING TO THE
MOTHERLAND
HE YEAR WAS 1974. The world was reeling with disbelief, following the August 8
resignation of President Richard M. Nixon
due to his involvement in the Watergate
scandal. Then the following month, charismatic boxing great Muhammad Ali, who,
had been stripped of his world heavyweight
title in 1967 and suspended from boxing for
three and a half years for his refusal to be
inducted into the U.S. Army because of his
religious beliefs, sounded the alarm about
what he was planning: "If you think the
world was surprised when Nixon resigned,
wait 'til I kick Foreman's behind!" said the
baby-faced, "pretty" 32-year-old Ali, whose
repartee was as lightning fast and celebrated as his cuttingjabs.
Eagerly awaiting his return to the ring so
that he could reclaim his heavyweight title
belt, Ali was ready for a win by any means
necessary. The only person standing in his
way was the reigning champion: George
Foreman, a 35-year-old who had managed
to mow down every one of his previous
opponents was holding an unblemished
record of 40 wins, with 37 knockouts and,
like Ali, was an Olympic gold medalist. The
sparring ground for these two would be
Kinshasa, Zaire, signaling the first heavyweight title fight to take place in Africa and
telecast worldwide.
The epic battle between the "Louisville
Lip" and "Big George" would go down
in history as the "Rumble in the Jungle"
on October 30. It would demonstrate a
showdown of endurance, resilience and
how age ain't nothing but a number. But
most important, it would be the bout that
would heighten worldwide awareness of
race consciousness. In the end, age and
wisdom trinnped youth, with Ali backing up his talk and his walk, proving once
and for all why he was imequivocally the
G.O.A.T. (Greatest of All Time) in and out
of the ring.
This month, EBONY commemorates the
Rumble in the Jungle 40 years later with
accounts from the people who were there
and made it happen, including Foreman,
famed boxing promoter Don King and
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"This Foreman is a kid. No skill. No

speed," Ali told JET magazine a month
before the fight. "That's belittling to me,
my greatness. He's not fightin' Joe Frazier.
He's fightin' Muhammad Ali. I'm actually the greatest fighter of all time. I can
drown a drink of water. I can kill a dead
tree. Don't mess with Muhammad Ali."
The man talked a good game, but he
could also back it up. And thanks to a
bit of gentle persuasion, he was able to
encourage King to consider a new career
that would place them both in history. "I
was in the numbers business in Cleveland.
I had just come out of the penitentiaiy,"
explains the gregarious 82-year-old, noted
for waving a miniature American fiag and
his gray mane that stands up like a crown.
"I wasn't a boxing promoter. I was a people promoter. Always have been. Always
will be. Segregation was rampant. All the
top promoters were White and didn't want
to help me. I broke all records by paying
these guys $5 million-plus apiece. We did
the fight in Africa because nobody wanted
to work with me in America."
King, ever the people person, found a
backer in Zairean dictator Mobutu Sese
Seko and his government. The title match,
which took place at the Stade du 20 Mai
stadium, had a slogan attached that King
dreamed up. "From the slave ship to the
championship." But Ali, as clever and
quick with his rhymes as he was with his
fist and feet, came up with the better one,
"Rumble in the Jungle," says King. The
fight was originally set for September 25
and would kick off with a three-day live
music festival, 'Zaire 74. Performers such
as James Brown and B.B. King were headliners along with South African singer
Miriam Makeba.
Gast was hired to film the concert and
fight, brilliantly captured in his Oscarwinning documentary When We Were
Kings, which wasn't released until 1996.
King, who is passionate about his race, was
careful to make certain that his own were
included in all aspects of this historic feat.
"Don King was a marketing genius. He
probably still is," says Gast. "There was a
backlash. A lot of people thought a White

man wouldn't have the sensitivity to make

a film about Africa and African-Americans
going back. King came to me and said,
'How many people are you going to be
working with?' I said, 'I want to bring over
several crews with a total of 80 people.' He
said, 'Well, I want 40 Black people in that
crew.' I told him I didn't know 40 AfricanAmericans working in film. King said to
me, 'You'll find them.'"

'ALI,

BOMAYE'

Ali landed in Zaire to the sight and sound

of tens of thousands of people chanting
his name and "Ali, bomaye," which meant,
"Ali, kill him." Gast recalls, "People were
hanging on the walls. The tarmac was
filled. George was elusive and didn't have
nearly as many people when he arrived. He
was a different person then. He was difficult and sullen. He would get aggressive
at press conferences. He wasn't the person
you see today."
Foreman, 65, now an ordained minister
who has pastored the Church of the Lord
Jesus Christ in Houston for 35 years, is
now one of the most affable people you'd
ever want to meet. People love this guy
and his Lean Mean Fat-Reducing Grilling
Machines, which have made him millions.
"When you are young, all you care about
is fame and fortune," he explains. "Them
liking Ali and not liking me was like my
applause. I didn't care about the celebrity
aspect of it. I figured I was the best fighter
to step into the ring. I thought, 'He's never
going to see anything like this again.' I was
overconfident."
Sixty thousand people filled the outdoor venue to witness the fight, which was

^BEGAUSE NOBODY
010 WORK WITIfME^
I-DON KING
postponed for more than a month because
Foreman's eye was cut while sparring. More
than 50 million viewed it live via satellite.
And for those who weren't aware, Ali was
not just fighting against Foreman in that
ring but for so much more. He was hoping to regain his heavyweight crown in the
Motherland, because seven years earlier,
he stood on his own and suffered the consequences of fighting for his beliefs. He
hadn't lost the championship in the ring;
he had lost it in courtrooms. Ali's struggle
for "emancipation" won him a following as
one of the most revered sports figures in

CLOCKWISE FROM
TOP LEFT: James
Brown (ieft) takes a
moment during a press
conference to promote
the Zaire 74 concert,
iieid days before the
fight; Foreman has
his glove removed by
trainer Dick Sadier
after a workout; Ali
enjoys a sightseeing
tour as crowds cheer
him; fight promoter
Don King speaks at
a press conference
while Ali holds the
head of his cornerman
Drew Bundini Brown;
Foreman at a press
conference with his
German shepherd,
Daggo; the Louisville
Lip jumps rope as part
of his training.

CLOCKWISE FROM
TOP LEFT: Big George
prepares for the weigh in;
Foreman pounds Ali as
he leans on the ropes in
what is later termed the
"rope-a-dope"; the boxers
are ntrodiioed by Zairean
President Mobutu Sese
Seko; Ali watohes his
opponent hit the canvas;
director Leon Gast {far
right) and producer
David Sonenberg (far left)
oelebrate with All and
Foreman after winning a
Best Documentary
Oscar in 1997 for When
We Were Kings.

histoi'y, and this fight was his way of awakening the country's consciousness.
"Ali stood up for what's right for people.
Black and White alike," reveals King. "But
what he did was certainly most outlandish.
How dare he be this haughty, arrogant and
impertinent individual? But it was spiritual.
He was fighting for what he stood for. In
the prime of his career, he stood up [when
he didn't have to]. No one can truly say
how great he would have been because he
lost four years out of the prime of his life
and then [accomplished] these remarkable
feats of physical prowess and mental acclimation."
Most people thought Foreman would kill
Ali. King recalls Ali saying to him, "They're
all against me. I bet you are, too.' I said,
'Ali, you're the one that put me here. Relationships mean more than money. I've got
to be there for you. Whatever happens, I'm
there for you.'"
The month after the win, Ali granted JET
a cover story. He told the weekly publication, "What [critics] would have said about
me would have been terrible if I had lost.
Now that I am on top, I have to talk about
them. Some were asking, 'Can Allah save
Ali?' What do you mean can Allah save Ali?
Allah can save nations. They were putting
God on the spot. It would have been terrible
if I had got myself beat. So now that I've
had my little say physically, I can say what I
want to say."
Foreman recalls being at peace entering
that fight, though he admits to foolishly
having never studied any fOm of Ali's boxing techniques. His opponent, on the other
hand, was an eager student. "[Ali] woidd
watch me practice and always act scared
of me. He played that game like he was
afraid," Foreman says, chuckling. "That's
how I beat Joe Frazier. I was afraid. But
I lacked my biggest asset: fear. Getting
into that ring without fear was a recipe
for disaster. I was determined to knock
Ali out and keep my clean record. I didn't
have anything to fight for. As time went
on, I realized I couldn't knock him out. He
was fighting for too much. He made up his
mind. If he lost, too many people would
lose with him."

ROPE-A-DOPED
Although Alis defensive stance of leaning
against the ropes as Foreman pummeled
him throughout the match would later
become known as the "rope-a-dope," most
aren't aware that this technique and title
came about quite organically.
"It wasn't planned as everybody imagined it," explains Gast. "Before we left for
the fight, Ali got a call from Cus D'Amato,

a fight trainer who later worked with Mike I one of the most kind and most fair human
Tyson. Cus told Ali, 'George Foreman is a
beings I've known. The greatest punch was
bully. He's going to come after yoti. When
never thrown."
the bell rings, run across the ring and
hit him with a straight right hand.' He
FOR THE REOORD
did that in 12 seconds after the bell rang
On the occasion of this 40th anniversary.
in the first round. George was throwing
Foreman tells EBONY, he wants to set
combinations and landing them. Ali did
the record straight about his four-legged
not go down though George was throwing
friend, Daggo, the dog who accompanied
his best haymakers that knocked out other
him to Africa for the fight. Throughout the
fighters. Then, in the third round, Ali
years, it's been no secret that in addition
started going against the ropes and into
to his tough-guy persona. Foreman's
this defensive style with both his hands up,
bringing a German shepherd into a counleaning back."
try where they were used to terrorize
Ali told Newsweek in 1999, "I was going
natives by the colonizing Belgians did
to dance around him for 15 rounds. So in
little for his popularity.
the first round, I kept moving around him.
"I negotiated with the people of Africa
But after one round, I knew that I couldn't
to bring my dog with me. He was my best
keep the pace up ... I went to the ropes
friend at the time because nobody else
and let him throw the punches."
wanted to be my friend," Foreman says,
laughing. "But hearing the talk about the
dog controversy has been the most untrue
thing I've ever heard in my life. Some of
the reporters, especially international
ones, had come in from Europe and took
great offense to the German shepherd dog.
They started writing about the dog. The
people of Africa weren't afraid. You've got
-FOREMAN
hyenas and lions running around there
The actual name, says Foreman, came
and somebody's going to be afraid of a
about during a press conference when
dog? People loved my dog. He did tricks for
he alleged his water was tainted. Ali, in
them and everything."
true Louisville Lip form, let him know
Foreman also says that there was talk
what kind of medicine he got a dose of.
of him believing the ropes were loosened,
"Before every fight, my ritual was to
which enabled Ali to lean back throughout
drink a cold glass of water. The night of
the historic match and ultimately win.
the fight, my water tasted like something
That, too, is another untruth. "I didn't
was in it. I told everybody that somebuy that. The guy whupped me. Don't tell
body drugged me by putting medicine in
anybody, but he really got me," says Big
my water. I never got a urine specimen
George laughing.
to prove it. After the fight, a reporter
A fond memory for Foreman was the
asked Muhammad about me saying I
night in 1997 when Gast's film won an
was drugged in Africa. Muhammad said,
Oscar. Ali, who had a difficult time walk'Yeah. Rope-a-doped!' That's where the
ing up the stairs to the stage due to failing
term came from."
health, was assisted by Foreman. "The
Foreman remembers throwing punches
boxing match took place in '74 and ended
so hard, he thought Ali's body would shatin '74. It didn't linger," says Foreman. "I
ter. He admits to being shocked whenever
got a chance to be with him after all the
someone he was fighting was standing beboxing, pushing and shoving. I love that
yond the sixth romid, but now, the tables
guy. We're like brothers. That was one of
were turned. By the sixth round. Foreman
the highest points in my life. That was a
says he was "pooped" and realized he was
thrill for us to walk to the stage like that.
the one in trouble. "I didn't have anyThat moment, not the movie, was when I
thing left because I didn't reserve. Every
felt we were true kings."
punch I hit him with I thought would do
To honor that landmark day four deit. Sometimes when I think about how he
cades ago, how does Foreman, the father
made it through that, even I am proud of
of 10, grandfather of nine and great-grandhim," refiects Foreman. "If you look at
father of two, plan to celebrate? "I'll get a
that match, he knocked me down with a
couple of friends over, pull out the grills
one-two [punch]. For a minute, he had a
[Foreman grills, of course] and watch the
good shot to clean me out and finish me
match. I'm just not going to watch the last
off, but he didn't take it. I had done the
round. And then I'll call Muhammad on
same thing to everyone else. But that was
the phone." B

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