Fifty years ago, the legendary "Rumble in the Jungle" unfolded in Kinshasa, the capital of what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The historic encounter between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman for the world heavyweight boxing crown reshaped global perceptions of the African nation and continues to inspire young boxers today.
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00:00On October 30, 1974, a collision of circumstances led to a collision of legendary heavyweights
00:07in a boxing match that would go down in history.
00:10It pitted former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali against reigning champ George Foreman.
00:15Ali, past his 1960s prime, was seen as the underdog against the undefeated Foreman, a
00:21fearsome puncher who'd knocked out almost all of his opponents.
00:25Ali's acumen for publicity caught the world's imagination and centered it briefly on a country
00:30in Africa where the fight would take place.
00:34His force of personality ensured he would be the hero the African fans were rooting
00:37for.
00:38I said last night, I had a dream.
00:41When I got to Africa, I had one hell of a rumble.
00:44I had to beat thousands behind first, proclaiming to be the king in the jungle.
00:49For this fight, I've wrestled with alligators, I've tussled with a whale, I done handcuffed
00:54lightning and put thunder in jail.
00:57The fight was billed as the rumble in the jungle and took place in Kinshasa, capital
01:01of Zaire, today the Democratic Republic of Congo.
01:05The bout is remembered for Ali's now famous rope-a-dope strategy.
01:09The challenger leaned back on the ropes in the earlier rounds, absorbing Foreman's heavy
01:13blows and letting the champion wear himself out.
01:16By the eighth round, Foreman was drained and Ali came off the ropes to land the knockout
01:20blow.
01:21In winning, Ali regained the heavyweight title stripped from him seven years earlier, when
01:26he refused to be drafted into the U.S. military to fight in Vietnam.
01:30The rumble in the jungle was partially funded by Zaire's president, the dictator Mobutu
01:34Sese Seko.
01:36Hundreds of millions of people around the world watched the fight live, and the event
01:40put the African country on the world stage, inspiring a surge in popularity for boxing.
01:45It's a fight that lit up the Democratic Republic of Congo, a fight that allowed us
01:51to discover not only the Democratic Republic of Congo, but also its culture, a huge country
01:58in the heart of Africa that was once unknown, but after this fight, the Democratic Republic
02:05of Congo has become a legend.
02:07Now the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, is preparing to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the legendary
02:13fight.
02:14More than 20 boxers from across Africa are in the city ahead of the amateur championship
02:18this month.
02:19Many say the Ali Foreman fight inspired them.
02:45The fight shed a new light on a country that was best known for bouts of instability and
02:50conflict, one still facing significant social, political, and economic challenges today.
02:56We are very happy that Ali Foreman and his team have organized this event.
03:01We are very happy that we have the opportunity to defend our country.
03:12Half a century on from the rumble in the jungle, Congo's boxers are looking to the future,
03:17hoping they might be the next ones to fight in a boxing match that will be spoken of for
03:22decades to come.
03:24Fu Huaheng, Charlie Storer, and Bryn Thomas for Taiwan Plus.