Hard to believe it was this long ago. 38 years ago today- 1974 Muhammad Ali upset World Heavyweight Champion George Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire. If a fighter ever got into someone’s head and won a bout that way it was Ali and the job he did on Foreman. Going into the fight Foreman was a heavy favorite. He was a big bad punching machine. He put away his opponents early. Anyone who saw him destroy Joe Frazier will never forget it. There were people who cared for Ali who were seriously worried that Foreman might KILL Ali in that fight. Ali was an aging former champion. Foreman was in his prime. The thing was Foreman was used to disposing of his opponents early. He rarely had to go deep into a fight. This is the famous Ali ‘rope a dope fight” What he did was basically let Foreman punch himself out. By the 8th round Foreman was finished and Ali knocked him out to regain the Heavyweight Championship.

The fight started at 4am in Zaire so that it could be on closed-circuit television in the United States. I was listening to the recap of each round on the radio. I was and still am a huge Ali fan. I think this was his finest hour as a fighter. Like he had done ten years before when beating Sonny Liston he shocked the world! He would have one more unforgetable fight in him, the “Thrilla In Manila” vs Joe Frazier.

The movie “When We Were Kings” dealt mainly with this fight vs Foreman. A great movie, highly recommended.