The Foreman-Ali rumble that changed their careers, and Congo

The African nation of Zaire was elated. Its president, Mobutu Sese Seko, had struck a deal in 1974 for the country to host potentially the biggest boxing contest in history: Muhammad Ali, a legend seemingly on the decline, versus George Foreman, a ferocious, rising heavyweight world champion.

- 

Mobutu, a brutal autocrat, saw a chance to introduce Zaire, now known as Congo, to the world asa stable nation of 22 million people on the path to becoming a developed powerhouse.

Then, early in the promotion of the fight, Ali, who turned bravado into an art, delivered a threat to journalists who doubted him. In Zaire, “we're going to put you in a pot and cook you,” he said, according to Gene Kilroy, his business manager.

A short time later, Kilroy said, they got a call from one of Mobutu’s aides.

“We're trying to promote tourism, not kill it,’ Kilroy recalled the aide saying, pushing back on the trope of cannibalism in Africa.

Ali’s provocations, however, helped transform the fight into a global spectacle that had implications far beyond boxing, one that reshaped the career and life of Foreman, who died on Friday at 76.

Ali won with a stunning knockout in the eighth round, after employing the “rope-a-dope” strategy of leaning on the ropes while Foreman exhausted himself with flailing punches.

Foreman, who had been undefeated, was humbled, Kilroy said. His mean streak faded, and he became friendlier, which Kilroy said may have helped him develop the gregarious persona that allowed him to become a grilling magnate.

Ali and Foreman developed a close friendship in the years after the fight, Kilroy said.