George Foreman was the undefeated, undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the World, 40-0, and heavily favored to defeat former champion Muhammad Ali, 44-2. Ali was talking his usual trash, but most people thought Ali would lose. Indeed, there were some who feared that Ali would be killed in the ring.
The referee was Zack Clayton, who had played in baseball's Negro Leagues, and for one of the great pre-NBA all-black teams, the New York Renaissance Five.
Ali fooled them all. People who say Ali just leaned against the ropes in his "rope-a-dope" strategy and let Foreman tire himself out with punches are fools. I've seen the tape of the fight: Ali got in a lot of punches, enough to win every round except for the 2nd and the 6th.
Foreman would later tell an interviewer that, at the end of the 6th, Ali yelled at him, "Is that all you got, George?" And Foreman had to admit, "Yup, that's about it."
Through a months-long psychological campaign, including practically the entire black population of the continent of Africa in his favor and against the equally black Foreman – he had done something similar to Joe Frazier, who was puzzled by it: "I'm darker than he is!" – Ali had gotten into Foreman's head, just as he had done to Sonny Liston, Floyd Patterson, and just about everybody else he'd ever fought.
In the 8th round, backed up against the ropes, Ali managed to turn an exhausted Foreman around, toss a few jabs, and knock him on his can. Foreman tried to get up, but he ran out of time, and Ali was the winner by a knockout.
In the 8th round, backed up against the ropes, Ali managed to turn an exhausted Foreman around, toss a few jabs, and knock him on his can. Foreman tried to get up, but he ran out of time, and Ali was the winner by a knockout.
When David Frost went to interview him for the BBC after the fight, he pointed at the camera and said, "Is this thing on? I told you all that I was the greatest of all time when I beat Sonny Liston! I am still the greatest of all time! Never again doubt me! Never again make me an underdog until I'm about 50 years old!"
He was off a bit, as he probably should have quit at 36, after losing the title to Leon Spinks and then regaining it from him. But, by far more than his boxing prowess, by the force of his personality, and by the example he set as a man of (at least, in America) a minority race and a minority religion, making him, somewhat contradictorily, the champion of the underdog, he proved that he really was The Greatest... Of All Tiiiiiiiime!
He still is.
Built in 1952 under Belgian rule as the Stade Roi Baudouin, the site of the fight was renamed Stade du 20 Mai (for May 20, the anniversary of the founding of Zaire's ruling party) in 1967, and Stade Tata Raphaël (Father Raphael Stadium) in 1997, after the death of dictator Mobutu Sese Seko.
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October 30, 1974 was a Wednesday. The baseball season had been over for 2 weeks, as the Oakland Athletics had beaten the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series. And it was the middle of the wee, so there were no NFL games played.
But there were 7 games played in the NBA that night:
* The New York Knicks lost to the Washington Bullets, 94-86 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland. Walt Frazier scored 24 points, but it wasn't enough for the Knickerbockers.
* The Chicago Bulls beat the Boston Celtics, 105-104 at the Boston Garden.
* The Phoenix Suns beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 104-99 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.
* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Detroit Pistons, 104-96 at Cobo Hall in Detroit.
* The Houston Rockets beat the New Orleans Jazz, 113-100 at the Municipal Auditorium in New Orleans.
* The Kansas City-Omaha Kings beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 99-97 at the Kemper Arena in Kansas City.
* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 117-97 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.
There were also 5 games played that night in the American Basketball Association:
* The New York Nets beat the Utah Stars, 95-91 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City. Julius "Dr. J" Erving scored 36 for the Nets.
* The Virginia Squires beat the Indiana Pacers, 114-111 at the Scope in Norfolk, Virginia.
* The Kentucky Colonels beat the San Diego Conquistadors, 97-94 at Freedom Hall in Louisville.
* The Denver Nuggets beat the Memphis Sounds, 105-95 at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis.
* And the San Antonio Spurs beat the Spirits of St. Louis, 135-98 at the HemisFair Arena in San Antonio.
There were 4 games played in the NHL that night:
* The New York Rangers and the New York Islanders played to a tie, 1-1 at Madison Square Garden.
* The Chicago Black Hawks and the Montreal Canadiens played to a tie, 4-4 at the Montreal Forum.
* The Atlanta Flames beat the California Golden Seals, 4-1 at The Omni in Atlanta.
* The Boston Bruins and the Minnesota North Stars played to a tie, 3-3 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.
And there were 4 games played in the World Hockey Association:
* The New England Whalers beat the Toronto Toros, 5-2 at the Eastern States Coliseum, a.k.a. the Big E Coliseum, in Springfield, Massachusetts.
* The Houston Aeros beat the Chicago Cougars, 1-0 at the Sam Houston Coliseum in Houston.
* The Winnipeg Jets beat the Phoenix Roadrunners, 6-5 in overtime at the Winnipeg Arena.
* And the Vancouver Blazers beat the Edmonton Oilers, 8-6 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.
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