Tag: Don King

The 50th anniversary of this is coming up in 16 days. I thought I would go ahead and post it today. It brings back a lot of memories with my dad. We will get back to music and movies tomorrow. If you ever wondered where the phrase “rope-a-dope” got famous…this is it. This is one of the most iconic events of the 20th Century.

I was 7 years old when this took place but I remember my dad was super excited for this fight. I also remember him griping how it wasn’t on television. It was on closed-circuit TV in theaters back on October 30, 1974, in America. It was later played on television here a week later I believe on Wild World of Sports. I watched it with my dad and he was happy that Ali won so I was as well.

It was George Foreman against Muhammid Ali. Ali, written off by most, faced the seemingly unbeatable Foreman, who was younger, stronger, and terrifying. Foreman had thoroughly beaten Joe Frazier and Ken Norton…the two men who had given Ali serious trouble.

The event took place in Kinshasa, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) Africa, a choice by promoter Don King. King promised both fighters $5 million each (a staggering amount for the time) and found a host in Zaire’s dictator, Mobutu Sese Seko, who saw this as an opportunity to showcase his country to the world.

From the moment Ali landed in Zaire, it was clear… Ali was the people’s champion. He embraced the locals, chanting “Ali, bomaye!” (“Ali, kill him!”). Ali knew the power of spectacle, and he hyped the fight into a clash of good vs. evil—himself, the people’s hero, against the seemingly cold and invincible Foreman. Ali knew all about spectacles and how to create them. No one could hype an event like Ali could. Below this is what happened in the fight.

Foreman, by contrast, kept to himself. He was intense and silent, bringing his deadly reputation but lacking Ali’s charisma and showmanship. As Ali paraded through the streets of Kinshasa, the crowd adored him, feeding his ego and energizing his mission. Foreman? He just looked like a man on a mission to destroy Ali. Foreman threw a hell of a punch. If you got caught flat-footed with him…one punch is all it would take. Ali wasn’t the Cassius Clay a few years before…he was a little older and a little slower (still faster than Foreman)…but smarter.

Before writing this I sat down and watched the entire eight rounds. Ali was 32 years old but Foreman was 25 and the current Heavy Weight Champion of the World. You could still feel the electricity in the air now when you watch it. Ali came out swinging but in the second round Ali would lean against the ropes a cover…all the while Foreman would punch and punch…and punch. He got some hits in Ali’s side but Foreman could not land THAT punch. As this was going on…Ali’s mouth was running as usual…telling Foreman to punch him and punch again. He kept antagonizing him Foreman and it made him do exactly what Ali wanted… use up his energy.

I won’t go through every round but basically, Ali got Foreman to punch and use his energy up on useless punches. Ali knew that Foreman hadn’t gone over 4 rounds since 1971 plus George is a huge guy. By the 8th round, you could tell George was spent. He still was throwing punches but he wasn’t as focused and it cost him. Ali connected on 6 straight punches and the 7th punch knocked Foreman down and Ali was once again…the World’s Heavy Weight Champion. Ali said the famous phrase “rope-a-dope” as the way he beat Foreman…laying on the ropes while Foreman punched himself to a loss.

The local crowd was with Ali because of his hype and the professionals mostly picked Foreman in an easy win over the older Ali. George never got the rematch with Ali and that is a shame. In 1977 Foreman became a Christian Minister and retired and a much nicer guy. On November 5, 1994, at the age of 45 years old George Foreman beat Michael Moorer for the Heavy Weight Champion of the World. He was behind in point until George unloaded that lethal punch and that was it. Moorer was down and he lost the championship. I know it well because our band was playing in a sports bar and I got to announce it to the crowd there.

There is so much more to talk about with this fight but the post has gone on much longer than I had wanted. Hope you enjoyed it! The two ended up being National Treasures and some of that started with this fight.

One commenter named Beth brought up the documentary When We Were Kings about this….it’s worth a watch!

THE ENTIRE FIGHT

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