50 Years Later: the Rumble in the Jungle and Zaire 74
A black and white photograph of Muhammad Ali waving to a truck full of people as he runs along a road in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo).
Donated by photographer Sonia Katchian in 2020.
After Zaire 74: Leading up to the Fight
Following the festival's conclusion on September 24, there was over a month until the fight. During this period, Muhammad Ali continued to bolster his image with the nation and world, consistently interacting with local citizens, reporters, and officials.
Correspondingly, Ali increased his banter towards Foreman with public statements like "I've officially named him 'The Mummy.' He moves like a slow mummy, and there ain't no mummy gonna whup the great Muhammad Ali." Ali continued to boast that he would dance around Foreman, "Floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee.”
However, Ali expressed concern about Foreman's strength and skill in private. He was not as quick and youthful as ten years prior when he defeated Liston, but could his experience outweigh the brute force of the much younger Foreman?
The opposite of Ali, Foreman maintained a stoic persona in interviews and often deflected questions that probed into his feelings on the fight and Ali. Foreman was much more confident in private and convinced he could knock Ali out in the first couple of rounds, like a majority of his fights. Instead of promoting himself through countless interviews and press conferences, Foreman remained mostly secluded; this increased the public's support for Ali.
When Foreman was in public, Ali fans sometimes even screamed "Ali bomaye," meaning "Ali, kill him!" to express their preferred victor. The behavior of both fighters only resulted in increased public interest in the fight globally.
