Muhammad Ali and George Foreman locked horns in one of boxing’s most memorable contests over 50-years-ago.
Billed as ‘The Rumble In The Jungle’, it was the third defence of ‘Big’ George’s world heavyweight championship which he had won 1-year prior with that outstanding victory over Joe Frazier in Jamaica.
Foreman went into his battle with Ali as the heavy favourite, with many pundits and fans giving ‘The Greatest’ next to no chance against arguably the biggest puncher in the sport’s history.
After being on the receiving end of some huge shots from ‘Big’ George in the earlier rounds, Ali had turned the tide and secured a sensational stoppage victory in the eighth round to capture the world heavyweight championship once again and hand Foreman the first defeat of his career.
Three years on from their iconic meeting in Kinshasa, Foreman had suffered another shock defeat against Jimmy Young, leading to the former heavyweight champion to call time on his tenure and embark on a career as a preacher, although it was revealed that Ali had made contact with ‘Big’ George shortly after he retired to try and convince him to come out of retirement.
In an interview with Jim Lampley, Foreman spoke of a conversation he had with ‘The Greatest’, who tried in everything in his power to force him into facing Ken Norton’
“He called me and complimented me for about twenty-minutes then he said, ‘ George, would you do me a favour? I said, ‘Certainly.’
“He said, ‘Please come back and beat Ken Norton and fight him for me. I can’t beat him. George, you can, he’s afraid of you. I’ll let you use my training camp and everything but please come back and beat him for me.”
Foreman declined Ali’s request, going on to have a 10-year break from the sport before returning in 1987. ‘Big’ George eventually captured the world heavyweight championship once again when he beat Michael Moorer in 1994 to become the oldest heavyweight champion in history.
