Half a century ago, the Rumble in the Jungle was not just a fight between George Foreman and Muhammad Ali, but also a cultural event.
The African nation of Zaire was thrilled. Its president, Mobutu Sese Seko, had brokered a deal in 1974 that would allow the country to host what was potentially the biggest boxing match in history: Muhammad Ali, a legend seemingly in decline, versus George Foreman, the ferocious, rising heavyweight champion of the world.
Mr Mobutu, a brutal autocrat, saw an opportunity to present Zaire, now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo, to the world as a stable country of 22 million people on its way to becoming a developed power.
Then, early in the fight's promotion, Mr. Ali, who has turned bravado into an art form, issued a threat to journalists who doubted him. In Zaire, “we'll put you in a pot and boil you,” he said, according to Gene Kilroy, his business manager.
Mr Kilroy said they soon received a call from one of Mr Mobutu's aides.
“We're trying to develop tourism, not kill it,” Mr. Kilroy recalled an aide saying, disproving the common stereotype of cannibalism in Africa.
But Mr Ali's provocations helped turn the fight into a global spectacle that had implications far beyond boxing and changed the career and life of Mr Foreman, who died on Friday at age 76.
Mr. Ali won by a stunning eighth-round knockout, employing a rope-a-dope strategy, leaning on the ropes while Mr. Foreman wore himself down with random punches.
