The film took Gast 22 years to edit and finance,[2] but it was finally released to strong reviews[3] and won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature of 1996.

[4] Norman Mailer, George Plimpton, Spike Lee, Malik Bowens, and Thomas Hauser were interviewed for the film in the 1990s.

During the buildup to the fight, Ali is shown trash-talking Foreman and talking about his beliefs regarding Africans and African-Americans in more private settings.

Ali knocked out Foreman in the eighth round, regaining the championship taken from him seven years earlier for his refusal to be drafted into the United States Army during the Vietnam War.

[7] It was nominated for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding News, Talk or Information - Special in 1998, but lost to Dinner with Oprah: A Lifetime Exclusive - Toni Morrison.