The one prominent photo that George Foreman keeps in his office at home in Texas shows him knocked to the canvas by Muhammad Ali in their famed “Rumble in the Jungle†fight in Zaire in 1974.
The photo, Foreman says, is a testament to overconfidence, the danger of not remaining humble and, finally, to the greatness of Foreman’s delayed but strong friendship with Ali.
“It was the performance of a lifetime … I wish I had been able to tell him that right after it happened,†Foreman said.
The now-lovable Foreman was a different man then.
Muscular, massive, unbeaten and ornery, Foreman, like Ali, was paid $5 million by promoter Don King and his backers for the bout, which was delayed for more than a month until Oct. 30, 1974, after Foreman’s sparring partner, Bill McMurray, cut Foreman near the right eye.
“Guy stuck his elbow up in me and I couldn’t do anything,†Foreman said of the cut. “I was in the best shape of my life, at any time ... never before or since. Muhammad couldn’t have stood up to me. But I couldn’t run for 10 days to let the scar heal. Couldn’t spar for 20 days. All I could do was hit the bag and run. All of the rhythm I had was gone.â€
Foreman was clearly viewed as the bad guy in Africa, countrymen roaring in unison, “Ali, boma ye!†(Ali, kill him), before and during a bout that drew 60,000 and was fought at 4 a.m. local time to satisfy U.S. television programming.
“[The chants] didn’t bother me,†Foreman said. “He was such a great entertainer, no one could compete with him, not at all. The guy was the greatest show on Earth.
“And I figured I’d knock him out in three rounds.â€
Yet, Foreman’s dominance fostered immense overconfidence, both internally and among his training staff, led by head trainer Dick Sadler and former heavyweight title challenger Archie Moore.
“All of us had one gigantic ego, all because I had mopped the floor with everyone,†Foreman said. “The stronger I’d get, the weaker they’d all get.â€
Foreman would read an entire newspaper during breaks while preparing for Ali — “even the horoscopes,†he said — but he’d avoid any stories in which Ali was quoted.
“Never studied one film, never dissected anything,†Foreman said. “He was such a good-looking guy, I’m like, ‘I can beat him.’ Never decided what his strength or weakness was.
1/20
World heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali poses at the Royal Artillery Gymnasium in London while training for a 1966 fight against British champion Henry Cooper. Ali, who compiled a 56-5 professional record, is considered one of the greatest boxers of all-time. (Trevor Humphries / Getty Images)
2/20
Muhammad Ali, second from right, stands on the medal podium at the Olympic Games in Rome after winning the light-heavyweight gold medal. Zbigniew Pietrzykowski of Poland, the man he beat in the final, is on his left. (IOC / Allsport)
3/20
Boxer Muhammad Ali is seen with his trainer, Angelo Dundee, at City Parks Gym in New York on Feb. 8, 1962. (Dan Grossi / Associated Press)
4/20
Heavyweight champion Sonny Liston, left, and Muhammad Ali exchange punches during their first fight in Miami on Feb. 25, 1964. Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, defeated Liston by technical knockout in the seventh round to claim the title. (Hulton Deutsch / Allsport)
5/20
Heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali stands over fallen challenger Sonny Liston, shouting after knocking him down with a short, hard right to the jaw during their bout in Lewiston, Maine, on May 25, 1965. (John Rooney / Associated Press)
6/20
Muhammad Ali trains in London in 1966. (Wesley / Getty Images)
7/20
Muhammad Ali, left, smiles as he plays notes on a piano while sitting next to recording artist Etta James on Sept. 22, 1974. (Horst Faas / Associated Press)
8/20
While in Zaire preparing for his upcoming bout against George Foreman, Muhammad Ali declares in the Lingala language, “ako bo mai ye,†which translates as “I will kill him†while appearing before a crowd of fans on Sept. 12, 1974. (Horst Faas / Associated Press)
9/20
Mobutu Sese Seko, center, president of Zaire, raises the arms of George Foreman, left, and Muhammad Ali during a rally in Kinshasa on Sept. 22, 1974, to promote their upcoming heavyweight title bout. (Horst Faas/ Associated Press)
10/20
Muhammad Ali, right, punches George Foreman in the head during their heavyweight title bout in Zaire on Oct. 30, 1974. (Ed Kolenovsky / Associated Press)
11/20
Muhammad Ali addressing the crowd before his heavyweight title victory over Leon Spinks in New Orleans in 1978. (Keystone / Getty Images)
12/20
Boxing legend Muhammad Ali, right, clowns around with Oscar De La Hoya while appearing together in New York on Dec. 2, 1997. (Doug Kanter / Associated Press)
13/20
Muhammad Ali watches as the flame climbs up to the Olympic torch while taking part in the opening ceremonies of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. (Doug Mills / Associated Press)
14/20
Muhammad Ali acknowledges the cheers of the crowd during halftime of the gold-medal basketball game between the United States and Yugoslavia at the Atlanta Olympic Games on Aug. 3, 1996. (Paul Morse / Los Angeles Times)
15/20
Former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali throws playful punch toward a photographer while sitting on a bus in front of Locke High School in December 1996. (Ken Lubas / Los Angeles Times)
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Muhammad Ali, left, and George Foreman arrive at the Vanity Fair Oscar party in Los Angeles on March 24, 1997. (E.J. Flynn / Associated Press)
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Boxing great Muhammad Ali, left, and heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield pose for the camera while attending the ESPY Awards in New York on Feb. 10, 1997. (Timothy A. Clary / AFP / Getty Images)
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Muhammad Ali, right, and his daughter, boxer Laila Ali, pose for a picture during a celebrity roast for charity in Los Angeles on Nov. 16, 2000. (Kevork Djansezian / Associated Press)
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President Bill Clinton presents boxing great Muhammad Ali with a Presidential Citizens Medal during a ceremony at the White House on Jan. 8, 2001. (Ron Edmonds / Associated Press)
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Muhammad Ali stands with his wife, Lonnie, while waving to friends attending his 70th birthday celebration at the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, Ky., on Jan. 14, 2012. (Mark Humphrey / Associated Press)
“Afterward, I read the Playboy he was in and then every interview he did and I realized, ‘This guy, he was talking about how I couldn’t go 15 rounds ... .’ In one interview, he said, ‘Nobody can fight for 15 rounds. I’m going to fight for a few rounds, then coast a little bit, then fight a couple more rounds.’ If I had just read a couple of those things, I would’ve beaten him.â€
Foreman laments he “played right into Ali’s hands†by believing the challenger was actually afraid of him as the fight neared.
“Muhammad was a master. He’d act as frightened as could be. I’d put a hand near his face and he’d act scared,†Foreman said. “Look, all those amateur boxing matches he had, Sonny Liston ... no way he was afraid of me.â€
On fight night, Ali implemented the “surprise†tactic he’d discussed before the fight, the famed “rope-a-dope,†in which he backed to the ropes and blocked or absorbed a slew of Foreman’s heaviest punches, letting the champion exhaust himself.
“Usually, you finish a guy after hurting him. I just wanted to finish him,†Foreman said. “All I was getting from my corner was ‘Kill him, kill him, kill him!’ It was like a rap song.
“After three rounds, I had hurt him a few times and he looked at me and I realized, ‘This is a different fight ... this guy ... somebody lied.’ I hit him in the side real hard. He just covered up and went back to the ropes. After the third round, the bell rings, he says, ‘I made it!’
“I saw his face and realized this is not the fight I planned. This guy can take a punch and can hit back.â€
In the eighth round, Ali again took himself to a corner and weathered some fatigued Foreman rights before moving off and unloading a flurry of punches, including a left that stunned Foreman and a crushing right to the head that caused the massive man to crash to the canvas.
“He never hurt me. Never. I was hitting on him, he squeezed and turned around and hit me with a combination, a one-two punch. I braced myself to stop the fall and hit the floor. It was a good shot,†Foreman said.
“That right hand was the fastest punch I’ve ever been hit with. Never been hit so fast. It was like he was a lightweight. I didn’t even see it coming. I waited, my corner told me to hold it, I jumped up, the fight was over.â€
Foreman said that afterward he “fired ’em all. ... They should’ve been smart enough to say, ‘Pace yourself George, don’t try to win every round.’ â€
Foreman held on to the resentment for years, even taking to fighting five journeymen on one night with Ali and Howard Cosell watching ringside less than a year later, as if that would prove the endurance that Ali exposed.
1/61
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(Peter Brenner / Handout) 2/61
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(John Rooney / Associated Press) 3/61
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(Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times) 9/61
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(Joel Saget / AFP / Getty Images) 12/61
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(AFP / Getty Images) 15/61
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(AFP / Getty Images) 17/61
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(AFP / Getty Images) 19/61
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(Jennifer S. Altman / For the Times) 20/61
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(Larry Ellis / Getty Images) 21/61
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(Christine Cotter / Los Angeles Times) 22/61
O’Brian helped tame the Wild West as the star of TV’s “The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp†and was the founder of a long-running youth leadership development organization. “Wyatt Earp†became a top 10-rated series and made O’Brian a household name. He was 91. Full obituary
(Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times) 23/61
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(AFP / Getty Images) 25/61
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(Wilfredo Lee / Associated Press) 26/61
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(Thibault Camus / Associated Press) 27/61
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(Kevin Wolf / Associated Press) 28/61
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(Scott Chernis / Associated Press) 29/61
The British actor, who was 3-foot-8, gave life to the “Star Wars†droid R2-D2, one of the most beloved characters in the space-opera franchise and among the most iconic robots in pop culture history. He was 81. Full obituary
(Reed Saxon / Associated Press) 30/61
For many in L.A., Folsom was the face of the Parent Teacher Student Assn., better known as the PTSA or PTA. He served as the official and unofficial watchdog over the Los Angeles Unified School District and wrote about his experiences in his blog. He was 69. Full obituary
(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) 31/61
Fountain combined the Swing Era sensibility of jazz clarinetist Benny Goodman with the down-home, freewheeling style characteristic of traditional New Orleans jazz to become a national star in the 1950s as a featured soloist on the “The Lawrence Welk Show.†He was 86. Full obituary
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 32/61
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(Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times) 33/61
Nixon, a Hollywood voice double, can be heard in place of the leading actresses in such classic movie musicals as “West Side Story,†“The King and I†and “My Fair Lady.†She was 86. Full obituary
(Rob Kim / AFP/Getty Images) 34/61
The department store heir’s widow was a socialite and philanthropist who hobnobbed with the world’s elite, epitomized high fashion and was best friends with former first lady Nancy Reagan. She was 93. Full obituary
(Evan Agostini / Associated Press) 35/61
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(Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times) 36/61
The Nazi concentration camp survivor won the Nobel in 1986 for his message “of peace, atonement and human dignity.†“Night,†his account of his year in death camps, is regarded as one of the most powerful achievements in Holocaust literature. He was 87. Full obituary
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One of the greatest basketball coaches of any gender or generation, Summitt spent 38 years as coach of the University of Tennessee women’s basketball team before dementia forced her early retirement. She was 64. Full obituary
(Wade Payne / Associated Press) 38/61
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(Mark Lennihan / Associated Press) 39/61
Aguirre was best known for his portrayal of the towering “Profesor Jirafales,†the likable and often disrespected giraffe teacher on the 1970s-era hit show “El Chavo del Ocho.†The screwball comedy helped usher in an era of edgier comedy in Mexico and elsewhere. Aguirre was 82. Full obituary
(AFP / Getty Images) 40/61
The three-time heavyweight boxing champion’s brilliance in the ring and bravado outside it made his face one of the most recognizable in the world. He was 74. Full obituary
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Like Walter Cronkite and Edward R. Murrow, the CBS newsman became part of a group of journalists who set the tone for storytelling on television. He was on “60 Minutes†for 46 years, holding the longest tenure on prime-time television of anyone in history. He was 84. Full obituary
(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 42/61
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Best known for her role as Marie Barone on “Everybody Loves Raymond,†Roberts won four Emmys for her work on that show and one for her work on “St. Elsewhere.†She was 90. Full obituary
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(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 45/61
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(Martin Meissner / Associated Press) 47/61
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(Kevork Djansezian / Associated Press) 48/61
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(Christina House / For The Times) 49/61
Garry Shandling’s comedic career spanned decades, but he is best known for his role as Larry Sanders, the host of a fictional talk show. His sitcom pushed the boundaries of TV, influencing shows such as “The Office†and “Modern Family.†He was 66. Full obituary.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 50/61
Ken Howard was president of SAG-AFTRA and an actor known for his role on TV’s ‘The White Shadow.’ He championed the merger of Hollywood’s two largest actors unions, which had a history of sparring. He was 71. Full obituary
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 51/61
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(Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times) 52/61
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(Warner Bros. / Getty Images) 53/61
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(Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times) 54/61
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(Marty Lederhandler / Associated Press) 55/61
Pro-BMX biker Dave Mirra was one of the most decorated athletes in X Games history. He held the record for the most medals in history with 24. He was 41. Full obituary
(Ed Reinke / Associated Press) 56/61
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(Kathy Willens / Associated Press) 57/61
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(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 58/61
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(Christophe Ena / Associated Press) 59/61
The Academy Award winner was revered as one of the most influential cinematographers in film history for his work on classics including “Close Encounters of the Third Kind†and “The Deer Hunter.†He was 85. Full obituary
(Tamas Kovacs / EPA) 60/61
Gordon helped revolutionize surfing with the creation of the foam surfboard. His polyurethane boards were lighter and easier to ride, making surfing accessible -- which helped popularize the sport globally. He was in his 70s. Full obituary
(Charlie Neuman / San Diego Union-Tribune/ZUMA Press) 61/61
The attorney and almond farmer was known for his battle to stop the $68-billion California bullet train project from slicing up his almond orchards -- part of a deeply emotional land war that has drawn in hundreds of farming families from Merced to Bakersfield. He was 92. Full obituary
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) In an interview in 1978 with Times sports columnist Allan Malamud, Foreman was asked what really happened in Zaire. There were persistent rumors Foreman had been drugged.
“I got beat,†Foreman answered. “As soon as I said that, I found peace. I realized all those years I wasted — those were the best years ... the two of us could’ve been friends that whole time instead of me being so angry.
“So I keep that photo as a reminder. I love the guy. I just wished I had said what I should have then ... .â€
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