Posterity has Muhammad Ali remembered for many memorable boxing matches. But none stands out from his astonishing body of work as much as his Fight No. 47. Never before has a pugilist left more of a mark on culture than The Greatest on this occasion. And never again.
What other struggle would a novelist like Norman Mailer have written about in a major factual novel translated into countless languages?The Fight) can write? And what other sporting event could trigger a similar flood of documentaries and feature films, illustrated books and pop songs to this day?
Exactly 50 years ago, “Rumble in the Jungle”, Ali’s duel against the undefeated, took place George Foreman. And anyone who wonders why this fight became one of the most memorable events in sports history will of course find more than one reason.
First of all, there is Muhammad Ali himself. An athlete of the century, not only a boxer, but also an activist. Just as he provoked his opponents in the ring for a long time because he trash-talked and danced around them and simply let his hands hang on his body instead of using them for cover, he also provoked part of his native USA. Ali converted to Islam, refused military service, publicly railed against the Vietnam War, was sentenced to prison, remained free on bail, was stripped of his world title, was not allowed to box for three years, and had to fight back.
But triumphs have a greater impact the less likely they appear to their audience. Who, apart from a handful of insiders, would have believed that the 32-year-old challenger Ali, in his 15th year as a professional, would be able to defeat a champion who was seven years his junior and had such penetrating power? And who else thought a knockout was possible? After all, it was Foreman who was able to end 34 of 37 successful fights this way, on average in just under three rounds. While Ali, defeated by Joe Frazier in 1971, had to go the full distance in his last five duels – even against mediocre opponents.
The setting of the summit was also unique. Never before had a title fight in the so-called “class of all classes” been held on African soil. When something became so important, so lucrative, it usually took place in New York, Las Vegas or another capital of the Western world. This time, however, the reporters and photographers had to go to the capital of the Republic of Zaire, as the country on the Congo, which was once subjugated by the Belgian royal family, was called since 1971. That was the will of the autocratic President Mobutu Sese Seko, who cost ten million dollars for the event. That’s how much the reigning and former world champions each demanded – and achieved – half of it at fight exchanges.
It is doubtful whether this was actually “a gift” from the head of state to the 28 million citizens who supposedly had equal rights, as posters on the main streets claimed. Ultimately, the money that the regent put up as a guarantee came from one of those accounts in Switzerland where some of the proceeds from the trade in cobalt, copper and other mineral resources were supposed to disappear.
However, another public slogan had its justification. She described the duel between the two Olympic champions as “a fight between two blacks, organized in a black state and seen by the whole world.” A lighthouse project, as one would say today, that would focus on the young Congo nation liberated from the Belgian colonizers.
Never before had so many people on all continents been able to watch a boxing match. According to reliable estimates, a billion people will watch via satellite broadcast on October 30th as Ali and Foreman emerge from opposite corners to duke it out in the ring of a reasonably modernized football stadium, the Stade du 20 Mai, at 3 a.m. local time. That corresponds to around a quarter of the world’s population at the time – and far exceeds all previous, similarly explosive duels such as Dempsey vs. Tunney, Louis vs. Schmeling, Marciano vs. Walcott or Liston vs. Patterson. But also all other broadcasts from the world of sports.
Posterity has Muhammad Ali remembered for many memorable boxing matches. But none stands out from his astonishing body of work as much as his Fight No. 47. Never before has a pugilist left more of a mark on culture than The Greatest on this occasion. And never again.
What other struggle would a novelist like Norman Mailer have written about in a major factual novel translated into countless languages?The Fight) can write? And what other sporting event could trigger a similar flood of documentaries and feature films, illustrated books and pop songs to this day?
