VIDEO: That’s all you got, Muhammad Ali taunted the dreaded puncher 49 years ago. Then he gave him a taste of his own medicine and sent him down!

On 30th of October 1974, one of the most famous fights in boxing history took place in Zaire, Africa. In the fight with the huge puncher George Foreman, few gave him the slightest chance, but Muhammad Ali shocked the world with an incredible performance, ending with a spectacular knockout.

A brash young man turned renowned boxer and spokesman for the colored people

A fight that once again showed his greatness. Few gave him a chance against the feared knockout artist. But with masterful tactics, he eliminated his opponent’s greatest weapons and gave him a taste of his own medicine.

The brash young man who won the heavyweight boxing title at just 22 years old became a renowned boxer and spokesman for the colored people. He seemed invincible, flying like a butterfly in the ring and stinging like a bee.

But after refusing to participate in the Vietnam War, his boxing license was revoked and Ali was left without boxing for three years. Then, upon his return to the ring, he was dealt another blow when Joe Frazier sent him to the floor for the first time in his career in the memorable Fight of the Century, taking his championship titles from him.

Ali did get back on a winning streak, but his ten-fight winning streak was stopped by Ken Norton, who even broke his jaw in the fight. Although Ali was able to defeat both Norton and Frazier in rematches, many experts have written him off.

Then came the fearsome slugger George Foreman

Especially when a new overwhelming force entered the scene. George Foreman was a huge puncher who mowed down one opponent after another. Out of his 40 fights, he won 37 early and only three of his victories went to the judges on points.

His scalp was also the scalp of Norton and Frazier, who were the only conquerors of the legendary Ali. Foreman knocked both of them down in the second round to win the heavyweight title and the fight with Frazier in particular made history. Until then undefeated and undisputed champion “Smokin’ Joe” went down six times in just two rounds after hard shots from Foreman before the referee stopped the one-sided fight.

It was no surprise that Muhammad Ali was the clear underdog in his fight with Foreman. The title bout was made by Don King, who, after failing to stage the event in the U.S., arranged the bout in Zaire, Africa (now the Democratic Republic of Congo).

Don King thus arranged a title fight in Zaire, Africa

The fight, subtitled “Rumble in the Jungle”, was one of the biggest and most anticipated fights in boxing history. A staggering 60,000 spectators watched the fight at the multi-purpose stadium in Kinshasa, not to mention the nearly one billion fans on TV screens.

But few expected what happened in the ring afterwards. Ali flew into the fight like old times, surprising his fearsome opponent with his speed and lightness on his feet. He set up Foreman brilliantly in the first round, and as he was taking a breath to land his proverbial punch, Ali expertly tied him up and never let him near his boxing at all.

Everyone present, led by Joe Frazier, didn’t understand what was going on. From the second round onwards Ali stayed in the ropes and let his opponent unload. He avoided most of the hard punches and came back with accurate counters himself.

Muhammad Ali’s famous rope-a-dope technique demolished the favored champion

When he continued like this in the later rounds, Ali’s tactics became obvious. The challenger wanted to tire out his opponent, plus he regularly provoked him with slaps and shouted taunting remarks at him. The enraged Foreman waved his arms around and sent the hardest punches.

Ali, however, dove into the ropes to cushion Foreman’s blows. By the end of the second round, his rope-a-dope tactics began to bear fruit. A visibly tired Foreman missed most of his punches, and Ali began to hit him hard from the retreat.

The intensity of Foreman’s punches diminished, while Ali hit his opponent with a hard combination early in the fourth round and in the fifth round that left considerable damage to his face. Still, Foreman continually pressured and pounded his opponent. But Ali was not only a master of the rattlesnake outside the ring.

“They told me you could punch, George,” Ali shouted at him during the match. “That’s all you got, George, ” Ali asked after Foreman’s hardest punches. He took away all his opponent’s confidence and showed that he was not just a boxer.

In the eighth round he finished what he had started in the second. He let Foreman pound on him, he completely forgot about any defence and the moment Ali landed a hard counter punch he smelled blood, went on the offensive and sent his opponent down with precise combinations.

Foreman, though, tried to get back to his feet at the end of the count. But by the time he stood up, the fight was over. Ali had not only regained his titles, but also the respect of the boxing world. Less than a year later, he would go on to become not only the winner of the memorable trilogy with Frazier with the Thrilla in Manila title, but also the uncrowned king of boxing history.

Source: Documentary – When we were kings, Wikipedia, Shortlist, Youtube