50 years after Ali fought Foreman in the Congo, the “jungle” has not stopped rumbling

Alfred Mamba remembers the excitement that gripped the main soccer stadium in Zaire, now Congo, as the bitter eight-round heavyweight title fight unfolded between the underdog Muhammad Ali and the seemingly invincible George Foreman.

“It was a big party,” Mamba said, remembering his father, one of the co-founders of the Congo boxing federation, taking him to the fight as a 15-year-old.

As Mamba flipped through a stack of photos he said were taken at the fight, he recalled the eruption in the stadium as Ali and Foreman headed to the highly anticipated “Rumble in the Jungle,” as the contest was famously called , got out.

“When Foreman threw punches, the crowd screamed,” recalled Mamba, now a boxing referee. “But Ali had surprised everyone with his hook technique. And how he punched on the ropes. And voila, he won the fight.”

The crowd's hysteria followed the series of hits until Ali's final blow. It also created a new generation of fighters and fans who were inspired to keep this country on the global boxing stage.

Ahead of the 50th anniversary of the Ali-Foreman fight, boxers and fans from across Africa gathered in Kinshasa, the Congolese capital, for the just-concluded 21st African Amateur Boxing Championships, which lit up the Stade des Martyrs Stadium and the main streets were .

Landry Matete Kankonde, who represented Congo in the men's heavyweight division, lost to Senegal's Karamba Kebe but said he still dreams of becoming the next Ali and credited the 1974 fight for putting Congo on the map.

“I will be the next superstar,” said 24-year-old Kankonde, a broad grin crossing his face.

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But in this impoverished country of 110 million mostly young people, people like Kankonde struggle against all odds to reach the highest levels.

Despite being among the most decorated African nations in boxing, Congo still lacks adequate sports infrastructure such as a gym for its national team, forcing many to train in open spaces, Mamba said.

In the eastern region, where a deadly security crisis has led to one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters, many can only dream of leaving conflict zones and displaced camps for official competitions in the far-away capital.

Even in Kinshasa, amateurs often train without equipment on the side of the road and in the streets, crouching and weaving as their hands throw punches.

“Congo is a country where people are motivated by the suffering we know here,” Kankonde said. “Every time a Congolese boxer gives his best and sees what we endure here, it motivates us.”

The 1974 fight was one of boxing's most memorable moments.

Mobutu Sese Seko, the Congolese dictator who wanted to put the central African nation in the spotlight, had teamed up with organizers to bring the competition to the country and provided $5 million in prize money for the fight.

Shortly before dawn on October 30, 1974, spectators from around the world watched the fight between the 32-year-old, as machine gun-toting soldiers watched the crowd from ringside and a huge portrait of Mobuto towered over the Martyrs' Stadium. Ali – making a comeback after he was stripped of his world title for refusing to be drafted into the Vietnam War – and the then undefeated 25-year-old Foreman.

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Many believed Ali had no chance against Foreman as he had been out of the ring for years following the sanction.

“People were praying before the fight that Ali wouldn't get killed,” said Bill Caplan, who was Foreman's public relations man in Zaire.

“I think it was one of the top 10 surprises in boxing,” Ed Schuyler Jr., the longtime boxing writer for The Associated Press, who was in Congo to cover the fight, said of Ali's victory.

The fight ended with Ali taking Foreman to the canvas in the eighth round, but that was just the beginning of a passion for the sport among many Congolese. After that, everyone wanted to learn boxing, Mamba said. He himself was inspired by both the competition and his father, who was also a referee.

And for fifty years, Congo has continued to boom, producing boxing greats such as Sumbu Kalambay, the Congolese-Italian champion who held the World Boxing Association (WBA) middleweight world title in the 1980s, and junior Ilunga Makabu, who won the WBC World Middleweight Championship in 2019. Cruiserweight title held in the early 2020s.

And people in the country are still falling in love with the sport, including Josue Loloje, who was among the spectators at the Kinshasa Stadium at the African Cup.

“The fight between Ali and Foreman is the foundation for these talents emerging in Congolese boxing,” Loloje said between contests. “That’s where it all started.”

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Asadu reported from Abuja, Nigeria.