1974 — The Rumble in the Jungle

On October 30, 1974, under the Kinshasa night sky, Muhammad Ali stepped into the ring at the 20th of May Stadium to fight George Foreman for the heavyweight championship of the world, in the bout billed as the Rumble in the Jungle. Foreman was undefeated, a four-to-one favourite, and 60,000 people packed the stadium. The fight, staged by Zaire's president, Mobutu Sese Seko, to put his country on the world map, was watched by up to a billion people.

Ali leaned back on the ropes and let Foreman punch himself out, in the tactic known as the rope-a-dope. By the eighth round Ali struck, knocking Foreman down and reclaiming the heavyweight crown before a roaring stadium.