King had pulled together a consortium that included Risnelia Investment from Panama; the Hemdale Film Corporation, a British company founded by film producer John Daly and the actor David Hemmings; Video Techniques Incorporated of New York; and Don King Productions. Although King is most closely associated with the fight, Hemdale and Video Techniques Inc., with whom King was a director, were the bout's official co-promoters. The fight was broadcast on closed-circuit television in theaters in the United States and on over-the-air television throughout the world. The play-by-play commentary was done by "Colonel" Bob Sheridan. Color commentary was done by Jim Brown, David Frost, and Joe Frazier. [13] [14] Build-up and delay due to injury [ edit ] Orchestre G.O. Malebo, a Zairean band of the 1970s, composed the song "Foreman Ali Welcome to Kinshasa" in honor of the event. [38] [39] It has been called "arguably the greatest sporting event of the 20th century" [2] and was a major upset, [3] with Ali coming in as a 4–1 underdog against the unbeaten, heavy-hitting Foreman. [4] The fight is famous for Ali's introduction of the rope-a-dope tactic. [5] Foreman was unable to connect with the people of Zaire the way Ali did. When arriving in Zaire, Foreman exited the plane walking his two German Shepherds, the same dogs used by the Belgians during the colonization, as described in the film When We Were Kings.

Get ready for excitement and laughs with this family game that takes jungle adventure to a whole new level. Vital Statistics: Population and Health Reference Tables". Office for National Statistics. 28 November 2016 . Retrieved 7 January 2017. Foreman Ali Welcome To Kinshasa - Orchestre G.O. Malebo Song - BBC Music". BBC . Retrieved 2019-02-03. Kang, Jay Caspian (2013-04-04). "The End and Don King". Grantland. ESPN . Retrieved 2013-04-04. McDougall, Christopher, ed. (2014). The Best American Sports Writing 2014. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p.149. ISBN 9780544147003.Sincere good wishes to Wills and Kate, but a 2bn TV audience? Garbage. Only the Olympics and the World Cup are truly global events, and half as big as that at best' | Sporting Intelligence" . Retrieved 2023-08-14. In a 2002 UK poll conducted by Channel 4, the British public voted the fight as number seven in the list of the 100 Greatest Sporting Moments. [34] Film [ edit ] Greatest Sporting Moments – Results". London: Channel 4. 2002. Archived from the original on 4 February 2002 . Retrieved 8 August 2019.

George Foreman: I didn't want to be 'the champion', I wanted to be 'the 'man who beat Muhammad Ali' ". The Daily Telegraph. January 14, 2012. Archived from the original on 2022-01-12 . Retrieved May 7, 2014.Ali had told his trainer, Angelo Dundee, and his fans that he had a secret plan for Foreman. As the second round commenced, Ali began to lean on the ropes and cover up, letting Foreman punch him on the arms and body (a strategy Ali later dubbed the rope-a-dope). As a result, Foreman spent his energy throwing punches (without earning points) that either did not hit Ali or were deflected in a way that made Foreman hitting Ali's head difficult, while sapping Foreman's strength due to the large number of punches he threw. This loss of energy was key to Ali's rope-a-dope tactic. [ citation needed] George Plimpton was part of the press corps, covering the fight for Sports Illustrated, and later featured it in detail in the book Shadow Box (1993). Hunter S. Thompson was sent to cover the event for Rolling Stone, though, according to TIME, Thompson "chose to float in his hotel pool, a bottle of hooch in hand, while the great fight took place, and he was unable to file anything." [36] Despite repeatedly calling Ali out, Foreman was unable to secure a rematch with the champion before Foreman abruptly decided to retire after a loss to Jimmy Young in 1977. Ali did not hurry to set up a rematch, making title defenses against unheralded opponents such as Jean Pierre Coopman and Richard Dunn. However, he repeatedly stated that his rematch with Foreman was one of the major fights he wanted to get to before retiring. [ citation needed] Foreman and Ali [ edit ]

Anderson, Dave (1973-09-12). "The greatest is now The Tiredest". The New York Times . Retrieved 2021-04-01. Ali (2001) is a biographical feature film that depicts The Rumble in the Jungle as the film's climax. Muhammad Ali discusses The Rumble in the Jungle in his autobiography The Greatest: My Own Story. [35]

a b "Most-Watched Live TV Broadcasts Of All Time: Where Will The Royal Wedding Rank?". Inquisitr. May 19, 2018. Archived from the original on May 20, 2018 . Retrieved May 20, 2018. Don King: Only in America (1997) is an HBO made-for-TV movie that depicts the buildup to the fight and the maneuvers that King had to perform to set it up, as well as numerous scenes that show the way Ali gained the favor of the people of Zaire.

Light heavyweight: Bobby Stewart (174 lbs) of Amsterdam, New York, won by unanimous decision (sixth) over Ken Jones (168) of Somers, Connecticut. Foreman and Ali became friends after the fight. Ali had trouble walking to the stage at the 1996 Oscars to be part of the group receiving the Oscar for When We Were Kings (1996), a documentary of the fight in Zaire, due to his Parkinson's syndrome. Foreman helped him up the steps to receive the Oscar. [22] Boys' Club audience sees two boxing champions fall by Bill Mahan, The Berkshire Eagle, October 30, 1974, p. 32. In addition, the events surrounding the fight, such as its musical acts ( B.B. King, the Fania All Stars, and James Brown, among others), added to its cultural impact. [33] The concert portion of the event would later be featured in the documentary Soul Power. Muhammad Ali: Skills, Brains and Guts (1975) This film produced by Big Fights Inc. was produced instantly after Ali beat Foreman to become once again heavyweight champion.Light heavyweight: Bobby Stewart of Amsterdam, New York, vs. Charley Scott of New York City (scheduled for 6 rounds) The robe worn by Muhammad Ali in this fight is part of the collections of National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution together with a pair of gloves he used in training for the fight. [37] Music [ edit ] In total, including closed-circuit and free television, the fight was reported to have been watched by a record estimated television audience of one billion viewers worldwide, [6] [28] about a quarter of the world's four billion population in 1974, [29] as the world's most-watched live television broadcast at the time. [8] However, caution should be exercised here, as the only officially confirmed event with a billion viewers before 2011 was the 2008 Summer Olympics, with most such claims otherwise being highly exaggerated. [30] Legacy [ edit ] The undercard was broadcast live for the American viewers from Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The original undercard, consisting of three bouts, was scheduled for September 24, it featured several Cus D'Amato fighters with notable amateur accomplishments: [19]