Rumble in the Jungle

October 30, 1974

Muhammad Ali wins by a knockout against the overwhelming favorite George Foreman in Zaire for the heavyweight boxing championship. The fight was watched by a record estimated television audience of 1 billion viewers worldwide, becoming the world’s most-watched live television broadcast at the time and the fight grossed an estimated $100 million in revenue. It was during this fight that Ali introduced his “rope-a-dope” tactic, where Ali would back up against the ropes and use his arms to block Foreman’s punches. Ali’s trainer would later say it was called “rope-a-dope” because he was a dope to use it.
The government of Zaire staged the event and its president personally paid Ali and Foreman $5 million each just for showing up. He wanted to draw attention to Zaire’s beauty and natural resources. Ali had been stripped of his title in 1967 after he was convicted of draft-evasion, citing his religious beliefs and opposition to the Vietnam War. This victory made Ali only the second dethroned heavyweight champ in history to regain his belt.