Best of Boxing (Episode 3)

I was watching When We Were Kings last night; and if you haven't seen it, it's a must-peep. The film won an Academy Award for best documentary in 1996, but it's an in-depth look at my favorite fight ever: Ali vs. Forman's "Rumble in the Jungle" in Zaire (1974).

The fight was incredible, but it was so much more than a boxing match. Every important sports journalist in the world was there, from Hunter S. Thompson to George Plimpton to Norman Mailer. Mailer's memoir of his experience in Zaire, The Fight, is fantastic and available at your local library (the Dewey decimal is 796.83 MAILER if you want to check it out). Don King--this was his first go-around as a boxing promoter--got both Ali and Forman to sign conditional contracts stating that they would fight each other if both of them were guaranteed $5 million each. King got President Mobutu of Zaire to put up the skrilla, and King even signed B.B. King, The Spinners, and James Brown (RIP) to come and have a concert before the fight. Here's some footage of James and the JB's from When We Were Kings:

The build-up to the fight had been enormous. Forman had gained the Heavyweight Title by basically killing Joe Frazier. And I mean killing. Like, knocked him down 6 times in two rounds. And I don't know how he got up from the 2nd knockdown. It's almost sad to watch, but worth seeing just to see how much heart and pride Frazier had. He wouldn't quit. Either the ref was going to have to stop the fight, or Joe would keep going until he got knocked unconscious. Reminds me of the end of the Thrilla in Manila, but that's a story for another time. Peep:

Ali had been stripped of his title in 1967 for famously refusing to enter into the Army after being drafted during the Vietnam War. He was quoted as saying "I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong. Ain't no Viet Cong ever called me N*****." In 1971, the Supreme Court reversed his conviction for draft dodging, and Ali was given back his licence to box but not his Heavyweight Championship that had been wrongfully taken from him. He would get his chance to re-gain the title in Zaire, but he would have to beat Foreman, who had destroyed everyone he had faced. Foreman was an unstoppable force. He was younger than Ali, stronger than Ali, and had knocked out his previous 11 opponents in 4 rounds or less. That fact may have contributed to Ali's plan for the fight, as Muhammad suspected George of not having the stamina to go the full 15 rounds.

Ali had been telling anyone that would listen that he intended to dance once he was in the ring with Foreman, but that was not actually his plan. Early in the first round, Ali started throwing right hand leads. This is almost never done in boxing, and here's Norman Mailer to explain why:

Now that Foreman was going crazy after being insulted with right hand leads from Ali, Muhammad realized he could get George to punch himself out. That's when Ali went into the now famous "rope-a-dope". It really was a fantastic thing to watch. Ali would lay against the ropes for almost the whole round absorbing punishment with his arms only to spring off the ropes for the last ten seconds of the round with a flurry that would score and steal the round in most cases. From the 2nd to the 7th round, Ali lay against those ropes and let Foreman get tired.

Then came the 8th round. Ali had Foreman where he wanted him. George was tired. He was breathing through his mouth (a tell-tale sign of fatigue in a fighter) and was pawing with his punches. Ali lay against the ropes for almost the whole round, and then it happened:

The impossible became possible. Foreman had been beaten. Ali had been redeemed and was Heavyweight Champion again. The Establishment had been proven wrong. Ali's refusal to fight an unjust war was affirmed. The true Champion had the belt again, and Ali proved himself a true hero worthy of admiration and respect from everyone.