Muhammad Ali's stunning upset of Foreman began 50 years ago in hills of Pennsylvania
Deep in the heart of Africa 50 years ago, Muhammad Ali changed history, upsetting the seemingly invincible George Foreman to win back the heavyweight championship of the world
Deep in the heart of Africa 50 years ago, Muhammad Ali changed history, upsetting the seemingly invincible George Foreman to win back the heavyweight championship of the world that had been taken from him seven years earlier for his refusal to enter the draft during the Vietnam War.
It was a remarkable moment early on the morning of Oct. 30, 1974, in Kinshasa, Zaire, in a fight financed by the dictator of the country, who put up $10 million to be split between both fighters to bring the world to his doorstep. Norman Mailer, Budd Schulberg, Hunter Thompson and George Plimpton were among the elite press corps who were there to write what they feared would be Ali’s obituary.
The 6-foot-4, 220-pound Foreman had destroyed Joe Frazier — who defeated Ali in 15 rounds in the Fight of the Century in 1971 — in two rounds the year before to win the title and then put a brutal beating on Ken Norton, who had broken Ali’s jaw in a win in their first fight in March 1973. As had been the case with Frazier, Foreman needed just two rounds to knock out Norton.
Going into the Ali-Foreman fight, people close to the former champion feared for his life.
But Ali, using his now famous rope-a-dope strategy, stopped Foreman in eight rounds, regaining his championship and changing the conversation about him forever.
The preparation for taking on Foreman in Zaire began in this small Pennsylvania town about 20 miles north of Reading in a place on Sculps Hill Road that Ali called “Fighter’s Heaven” — the training camp Ali built and drew inspiration from.
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