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The Rumble in the Jungle was a historic boxing event in 1974 in Kinshasa, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo). Held at the 20th of May Stadium on the night of October 30, 1974 (4:00 am), it pitted the undefeated world heavyweight champion George Foreman against challenger Muhammad Ali, a former heavyweight champion. Ali won by knockout, putting Foreman down just before the end of the eighth round. It has been called "arguably the greatest sporting event of the 20th century". Attendance was about 60,000. The event was one of Don King's first ventures as a professional boxing promoter. He managed to get Ali and Foreman to sign separate contracts saying they would fight for him if he could get a $5 million purse. However, King did not have the money, so he began looking for an outside country to sponsor the event. Zaïre's dictator Mobutu Sésé Seko asked for the fight to be held in his country, eager for the publicity such a high-profile event would bring. King had pulled together a consortium that included a Panamanian company called Risnelia Investment, the Hemdale Film Corporation, a British company founded by film producer John Daly and the actor David Hemmings, Video Techniques Incorporated of New York and Don King Productions. Although King is most closely associated with the fight, Hemdale and Video Techniques Inc., with whom King was a director, were the official co-promoters of the fight. ==Build-up== In 1967, then-champion Ali was stripped of his title and suspended from boxing for 3½ years for his refusal to comply with the draft and enter the U.S. Army. In 1970, he first regained a boxing license and promptly fought comeback fights against Jerry Quarry and Oscar Bonavena in an attempt to regain the heavyweight championship from the then undefeated Joe Frazier. In a bout dubbed the ''Fight of the Century'', Frazier scored a unanimous decision, leaving Ali fighting other contenders for years in an attempt at a new title shot. Meanwhile, the heavily-muscled Foreman had quickly risen from a gold medal victory at the 1968 Olympics to the top ranks of professional heavyweights. Greatly feared for his punching power, size, and sheer physical dominance, Foreman was nonetheless underestimated by Frazier and his promoters, and knocked the champion down six times in two rounds before the bout was stopped. He further solidified his hold over the heavyweight division by demolishing the only man besides Frazier at the time to defeat Ali, Ken Norton, in two rounds. At 25, the younger and stronger Foreman seemed an overwhelming favorite against the well worn 32-year-old Ali. Foreman and Ali spent much of the summer of 1974 training in Zaïre, getting acclimatised to its tropical African climate. The fight was originally set to happen in September 25, but Foreman was cut near his right eye during training (by sparring partner Bill McMurray) and the date pushed back to October 30. A three-night-long music festival to hype the fight, Zaire 74, took place as scheduled, September 22–24, including performances by James Brown, Celia Cruz and the Fania All-Stars, B.B. King, Miriam Makeba, The Spinners, Bill Withers, The Crusaders, and Manu Dibango, as documented in the 2008 film ''Soul Power''. The championship was scheduled for 4 am local time in order to appear on live closed-circuit television in the Eastern Time Zone of the U.S. at 10 pm.〔The Boxing Register: International Boxing Hall of Fame Official Record Book.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Rumble in the Jungle」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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