George Foreman vs. Muhammad Ali, billed as The Rumble in the Jungle, was a heavyweight championship boxing match on October 30, 1974, at the 20th of May Stadium (now Stade Tata Raphaël) in Kinshasa, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo), between undefeated and undisputed heavyweight champion George Foreman and Muhammad Ali.

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.

[11] Don King arranged the fight with music businessman Jerry Masucci, who took his record label's showcase group, the Fania All-Stars, to play at the venue.

Such an amount of money, quite enormous for those days, was purported to prevent other top boxing promoters from attempts to arrange a Foreman vs. Ali match.

In a TV interview, King stated that Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi was involved in making the payment for the purse money for the athletes and other major expenses, although the precise process was not made clear.

[13][14] In 1967, then-champion Ali was stripped of his title and suspended from boxing for 3+1⁄2 years for his refusal to comply with the draft and enter the U.S. Army.

[citation needed] Meanwhile, the heavily muscled Foreman had quickly risen from a gold-medal victory at the 1968 Olympics to the top ranks of the heavyweight division.

Greatly feared for his punching power, size, and sheer physical dominance, Foreman was nonetheless underestimated by Frazier and his promoters, and knocked the champion down six times in two rounds before the bout was stopped.

He further solidified his hold over the heavyweight division by demolishing the only man besides Frazier at the time to defeat Ali, Ken Norton, in two rounds.

[16] A three-night-long music festival to hype the fight, Zaire 74, took place as scheduled, September 22–24, including performances by James Brown, Celia Cruz and the Fania All-Stars, B.B.

King, Miriam Makeba, The Spinners, Bill Withers, The Crusaders, and Manu Dibango, as documented in the 2008 film Soul Power.

The original undercard, consisting of three bouts, was scheduled for September 24, it featured several Cus D'Amato fighters with notable amateur accomplishments:[19] However, it was cancelled after the fight was rescheduled due to Foreman's cut.

The rescheduled undercard took place on October 29:[20] Ali was famed for his speed and technical skills, while Foreman's raw power was his greatest strength.

Ali made use of the right-hand lead punch (striking with the right hand without setting up the left) in a further effort to disorient Foreman.

However, while this aggressive tactic may have surprised Foreman and allowed Ali to punch him several times in the head, it failed to significantly hurt him.

According to Foreman: "I thought he was just one more knockout victim until, about the seventh round, I hit him hard to the jaw and he held me and whispered in my ear: 'That all you got, George?'

"[21] As the fight drew into the eighth round, Foreman's punching and defense became ineffective as the strain of throwing so many wild shots took its toll.

Ali did not hurry to set up a rematch, making title defenses against unheralded opponents such as Jean Pierre Coopman and Richard Dunn.

[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.

In the eyes of the people of Zaire, Ali was like a representation of the struggles of their country, which only 12 years ago had gained independence after Belgian colonial rule followed by long-lasting turmoil.

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.

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.