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Foreman, although not well-educated, is a very intelligent man and he understood the situation in which he was placed. “This was clearly Muhammad Ali country . . . If I knocked him out, the most I’d get would be grudging respect for vanquishing a legend. And if I lost, there’d be a big crowd at the station, jeering me back to Palookaville.”{{sfn|Goldstein|2000|p=108}} | Foreman, although not well-educated, is a very intelligent man and he understood the situation in which he was placed. “This was clearly Muhammad Ali country . . . If I knocked him out, the most I’d get would be grudging respect for vanquishing a legend. And if I lost, there’d be a big crowd at the station, jeering me back to Palookaville.”{{sfn|Goldstein|2000|p=108}} | ||
Indeed, as far the fans in Zaire were concerned, the fix was in against | Indeed, as far the fans in Zaire were concerned, the fix was in against Foreman from the outset—partially due to Muhammad Ali and partially due to Foreman’s and his managers’ lack of worldliness. Ali had arrived in Zaire first, where there was little infrastructure and few people had access to television or print media. It seems incredible today, but up until fight time, because of rumors Ali started, quite a number of Zairians believed that George Foreman was ''white''. For his own part, Foreman deplaned in Zaire with his pet German shepherd, Diego. The dog was introduced at a press conference and filmed with his front paws on the table next to Foreman. George and his unsophisticated handlers had no idea that just a generation earlier, when Zaire was the Belgian Congo, German shepherds had been used by Belgian police to intimidate and attack Zairians.{{sfn|Gast|2019}} | ||
After sustaining the injury, for the next five weeks Foreman retreated to his compound and had minimal contact with the press. He lost an additional ten days of training due to being advised that strenuous activity and sweating might delay the healing of his cut. Still, he was confident of his ability to dominate and knock out Muhammad Ali. He had good reason to believe this, having TKO’d both Ken Norton and Joe Frazier in short order within the past eighteen months. Norton had broken Ali’s jaw in the course of earning a split decision victory and Frazier had sent Ali to the canvas with one of the most perfectly delivered left hooks in boxing history. Foreman, like the rest of the boxing world, had observed that Ali was not the fighter he once was. | After sustaining the injury, for the next five weeks Foreman retreated to his compound and had minimal contact with the press. He lost an additional ten days of training due to being advised that strenuous activity and sweating might delay the healing of his cut. Still, he was confident of his ability to dominate and knock out Muhammad Ali. He had good reason to believe this, having TKO’d both Ken Norton and Joe Frazier in short order within the past eighteen months. Norton had broken Ali’s jaw in the course of earning a split decision victory and Frazier had sent Ali to the canvas with one of the most perfectly delivered left hooks in boxing history. Foreman, like the rest of the boxing world, had observed that Ali was not the fighter he once was. | ||
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In re-watching Foreman dismantle Norton and Frazier, I see exactly why Foreman felt the way he did. I’ve watched hundreds, perhaps over a thousand fights over the years and have never seen anyone punch harder than Foreman. In winning the championship against Joe Frazier in Kingston, Jamaica, on January 22, 1973 (after Frazier had defeated Ali) one of George’s uppercuts in the second round lifted Smokin’ Joe entirely off the canvas. Incredibly, Frazier got up, only to be knocked down again, for the sixth and final time, before the fight was stopped.{{sfn|Cosell|2021}} Coincidentally, the match was refereed by Arthur Mercante, who afterward may have revised his opinion about the hardest a man can be hit. | In re-watching Foreman dismantle Norton and Frazier, I see exactly why Foreman felt the way he did. I’ve watched hundreds, perhaps over a thousand fights over the years and have never seen anyone punch harder than Foreman. In winning the championship against Joe Frazier in Kingston, Jamaica, on January 22, 1973 (after Frazier had defeated Ali) one of George’s uppercuts in the second round lifted Smokin’ Joe entirely off the canvas. Incredibly, Frazier got up, only to be knocked down again, for the sixth and final time, before the fight was stopped.{{sfn|Cosell|2021}} Coincidentally, the match was refereed by Arthur Mercante, who afterward may have revised his opinion about the hardest a man can be hit. | ||
During the run-up to the fight in Zaire, while Foreman healed, brooded, and trained without gusto, Ali threw his one-man public relations machine into high gear. During a reception given in his honor at the presidential palace, Ali said, “Mr. President, I’ve been a citizen of the United States for 33 years and was never invited to the White House. It sure gives me pleasure to be invited to the Black House.”{{sfn|Goldstein|2000|p=110}} Meanwhile, he privately | During the run-up to the fight in Zaire, while Foreman healed, brooded, and trained without gusto, Ali threw his one-man public relations machine into high gear. During a reception given in his honor at the presidential palace, Ali said, “Mr. President, I’ve been a citizen of the United States for 33 years and was never invited to the White House. It sure gives me pleasure to be invited to the Black House.”{{sfn|Goldstein|2000|p=110}} Meanwhile, he privately confessed to Howard Bingham, his personal photographer, “I’d give anything to be training in the United States. They got ice cream there, and pretty girls and miniskirts.”{{sfn|Hauser|1991|p=270}} | ||
''When We Were Kings'' refers to the subject of women distracting boxers from their training regimens by way of George Plimpton’s comments. Ali, he reports, visited president Mobutu’s fortune teller, who predicted that a mystical woman with shaky hands would somehow get to Foreman. Plimpton refers to the woman as a succubus—a female demon believed to have sexual intercourse with sleeping men. “And that impressed me enormously,” Plimpton says with gravitas.{{sfn|Gast|2019}} | ''When We Were Kings'' refers to the subject of women distracting boxers from their training regimens by way of George Plimpton’s comments. Ali, he reports, visited president Mobutu’s fortune teller, who predicted that a mystical woman with shaky hands would somehow get to Foreman. Plimpton refers to the woman as a succubus—a female demon believed to have sexual intercourse with sleeping men. “And that impressed me enormously,” Plimpton says with gravitas.{{sfn|Gast|2019}} | ||
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Two other individuals featured in the film—promoter Don King and President Sese Seke Mobutu—are essential to understanding the context of the fight. Like Ali and Foreman and Mailer and Plimpton, they each possessed a huge ego and led complex and controversial lives. | Two other individuals featured in the film—promoter Don King and President Sese Seke Mobutu—are essential to understanding the context of the fight. Like Ali and Foreman and Mailer and Plimpton, they each possessed a huge ego and led complex and controversial lives. | ||
Mailer comments in the film, “This fight came into existence because of Don King’s desire to be famous . . . if it failed, he was destined to go back into obscurity.”{{sfn|Gast|2019}} Consider the fact that just three and a half years earlier, King had listened to reports of the Ali-Frazier fight in his prison cell in | Mailer comments in the film, “This fight came into existence because of Don King’s desire to be famous . . . if it failed, he was destined to go back into obscurity.”{{sfn|Gast|2019}} Consider the fact that just three and a half years earlier, King had listened to reports of the Ali-Frazier fight in his prison cell in Marion, Ohio, where he was serving time for a manslaughter conviction.{{sfn|Hauser|1991|p=261}} He had been convicted in 1967 for stomping Sam Garrett, an ex-employee in his numbers racket, to death on the street in Cleveland. It was the second time he had killed a man. In 1954, he shot Hillary Brown in the back and the killing was ruled justifiable homicide. Paroled in 1971, King was eventually granted a full pardon by Ohio Governor James Rhodes in 1983. Rhodes justified the pardon by saying he relied heavily on letters of support submitted by Reverend Jesse Jackson, Coretta Scott King, Steve Davis, executive director of the National Publishers Association, Cleveland Mayor George Voinovich, Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell, and Cleveland Indians president Gabe Paul, among others.{{sfn|Cengage|2019}} | ||
Thomas Hauser, Ali’s biographer, said, “Don King is one of the brightest, most charismatic, hardest working people in the world . . . he’s also totally amoral and I can’t think of a man who has done more to demoralize fighters, take from fighters, and exploit fighters and ruin their careers. But you have to give him his due for what he did to make Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in Zaire.”{{sfn|Gast|2019}} Since 1975, [[w:Don King|King]] has been sued by Muhammad Ali, Larry Holmes, Tim Witherspoon, Mike Tyson, Terry Norris, Lennox Lewis, and ESPN, to name but a few. | Thomas Hauser, Ali’s biographer, said, “Don King is one of the brightest, most charismatic, hardest working people in the world . . . he’s also totally amoral and I can’t think of a man who has done more to demoralize fighters, take from fighters, and exploit fighters and ruin their careers. But you have to give him his due for what he did to make Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in Zaire.”{{sfn|Gast|2019}} Since 1975, [[w:Don King|King]] has been sued by Muhammad Ali, Larry Holmes, Tim Witherspoon, Mike Tyson, Terry Norris, Lennox Lewis, and ESPN, to name but a few. | ||
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According to the popular legend of how the fight was put together, King more or less willed it into existence through a combination of guile and gumption. As the story goes, King first went to George Foreman, told him he could get him five million dollars for fighting Ali, and got him to sign a contract. Then he went to Ali and did the same. However, at that point, Don King had not a penny to actually promote the fight.{{sfn|Gast|2019}} | According to the popular legend of how the fight was put together, King more or less willed it into existence through a combination of guile and gumption. As the story goes, King first went to George Foreman, told him he could get him five million dollars for fighting Ali, and got him to sign a contract. Then he went to Ali and did the same. However, at that point, Don King had not a penny to actually promote the fight.{{sfn|Gast|2019}} | ||
Madison Square Garden matchmaker Teddy Brenner, who knew a thing or two about such matters, said, “Actually, King didn’t promote the fight, | Madison Square Garden matchmaker Teddy Brenner, who knew a thing or two about such matters, said, “Actually, King didn’t promote the fight, although he did his best to make it seem that way. Video Techniques put it together, with up front money from a British corporation and the rest from the government of Zaire. King was helpful in lining up the fighters, but the deal could have been made without him. For ten million dollars, which is what Foreman and Ali split, anyone could have done the job.”{{sfn|Hauser|1991|p=263}} The five million dollars each fighter was paid in 1974 is worth a total of roughly $52,200,000 now in 2020.{{sfn|CPI|2019}} | ||
Brenner’s explanation makes sense. The big money was going to come in through worldwide television coverage and the fight ended up being | Brenner’s explanation makes sense. The big money was going to come in through worldwide television coverage and the fight ended up being broadcast live to an estimated one billion viewers, a record at that time. We’ll never know for sure, but chances are President Mobutu may have put up far less than the ten million he has been credited with. Like Don King, though, he did his best to make it seem that way. | ||
Not that Mobutu was entirely without resources—both imagined and real. According to Neil Leifer, who photographed the fight for ''Sports Illustrated'', Mobutu owned one of only two privately-owned Boeing 747s at that time. In a phone interview, Leifer related the story of a photo shoot he did at the presidential palace prior to the fight. Ali and Foreman were to be personally escorted down a long, exquisitely beautiful flower-lined path by the president, strolling slowly toward the amassed press corps. Leifer, a consummate pro, arrived early and secured a good vantage point. | Not that Mobutu was entirely without resources—both imagined and real. According to Neil Leifer, who photographed the fight for ''Sports Illustrated'', Mobutu owned one of only two privately-owned Boeing 747s at that time. In a phone interview, Leifer related the story of a photo shoot he did at the presidential palace prior to the fight. Ali and Foreman were to be personally escorted down a long, exquisitely beautiful flower-lined path by the president, strolling slowly toward the amassed press corps. Leifer, a consummate pro, arrived early and secured a good vantage point. | ||
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Born Joseph Desire Mobutu, upon seizing power with CIA help in 1965, Mobutu became Mobutu Sese Seke Kuku Ngbendu waza Banga, which translates to, “the all-conquering warrior, who because of his endurance and inflexible will to win, will go from conquest to conquest leaving fire in his wake”.{{sfn|French|1997}} Like Don King, Mobutu was familiar with homicide. Six months after taking office, he had four former cabinet ministers hanged before 50,000 spectators.{{sfn|French|1997}} In the film and in his book, ''The Fight'', Mailer relates the unconfirmed tale of Mobutu’s detention cells beneath the Kinshasa stadium and the summary execution of 100 unfortunates in order to deter crime during the festival. | Born Joseph Desire Mobutu, upon seizing power with CIA help in 1965, Mobutu became Mobutu Sese Seke Kuku Ngbendu waza Banga, which translates to, “the all-conquering warrior, who because of his endurance and inflexible will to win, will go from conquest to conquest leaving fire in his wake”.{{sfn|French|1997}} Like Don King, Mobutu was familiar with homicide. Six months after taking office, he had four former cabinet ministers hanged before 50,000 spectators.{{sfn|French|1997}} In the film and in his book, ''The Fight'', Mailer relates the unconfirmed tale of Mobutu’s detention cells beneath the Kinshasa stadium and the summary execution of 100 unfortunates in order to deter crime during the festival. | ||
With borders on nine countries, Mobutu promoted Zaire to Washington, D.C. and Paris. He received economic and political support in exchange for allowing Zaire to be used as a staging area for Cold War era interventions and covert activities throughout Central Africa, most notably against the Marxist regime in Angola. Moreover, Zaire had extensive mineral deposits, especially copper, which provided revenue for his grandiose economic schemes. Despite these projects, such as the world’s largest hydroelectric dam near Kinshasa, the country had few viable roads or other infrastructure. In a special report to the ''New York Times International Edition'' subtitled, “Master of Ruin,” Howard French wrote in1997,when Mobutu was still president, “Life in a vast country deprived of roads, health care, electricity, telephones, and often education has reverted to a brutishness not known since the 1940s.”{{sfn|French|1997}} | With borders on nine countries, Mobutu promoted Zaire to Washington, D.C. and Paris. He received economic and political support in exchange for allowing Zaire to be used as a staging area for Cold War era interventions and covert activities throughout Central Africa, most notably against the Marxist regime in Angola. Moreover, Zaire had extensive mineral deposits, especially copper, which provided revenue for his grandiose economic schemes. Despite these projects, such as the world’s largest hydroelectric dam near Kinshasa, the country had few viable roads or other infrastructure. In a special report to the ''New York Times International Edition'' subtitled, “Master of Ruin,” Howard French wrote in1997, when Mobutu was still president, “Life in a vast country deprived of roads, health care, electricity, telephones, and often education has reverted to a brutishness not known since the 1940s.”{{sfn|French|1997}} | ||
Using other autocrats as role models, Mobutu’s personality cult had few rivals during his era. For weeks at a time, the press in Zaire was forbidden to mention any Zairian other than the president. “Mobutism” was cultivated, being described as, “The sum total of his actions . . . just as the sum total of Mao’s actions constitute Maoism.” A Zairian citizen related years later that the first 15 minutes of the day in elementary school required students to dance and shout the name of the president.{{sfn|French|1997}} | Using other autocrats as role models, Mobutu’s personality cult had few rivals during his era. For weeks at a time, the press in Zaire was forbidden to mention any Zairian other than the president. “Mobutism” was cultivated, being described as, “The sum total of his actions . . . just as the sum total of Mao’s actions constitute Maoism.” A Zairian citizen related years later that the first 15 minutes of the day in elementary school required students to dance and shout the name of the president.{{sfn|French|1997}} | ||
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The fight starts and Mailer does a brilliant job of describing the action, summarizing his even-better blow-by-blow account fleshed out in ''The Fight''. Norman is at his best here, nearly equaling his famous description of the 1962 ring death of Benny Paret at the hands of Emile Griffith and his piece for ''Life'' magazine on the first Ali-Frazier fight. | The fight starts and Mailer does a brilliant job of describing the action, summarizing his even-better blow-by-blow account fleshed out in ''The Fight''. Norman is at his best here, nearly equaling his famous description of the 1962 ring death of Benny Paret at the hands of Emile Griffith and his piece for ''Life'' magazine on the first Ali-Frazier fight. | ||
In round two, Ali begins the rope-a-dope, so it’s time to shine some light on the myth of Ali’s trainer, Angelo Dundee, loosening the ropes prior to the fight. Mailer has, to some degree, helped to perpetuate this myth. | In round two, Ali begins the rope-a-dope, so it’s time to shine some light on the myth of Ali’s trainer, Angelo Dundee, loosening the ropes prior to the fight. Mailer has, to some degree, helped to perpetuate this myth. According to Dundee’s autobiography, ''My View From The Corner'' (a great read for all boxing fans), upon inspecting the ring the afternoon before the fight, Angelo and assistant Bobby Goodman discovered it had been set up by people who had never seen a boxing ring.{{sfn|Dundee|Sugar|2008|p=181}} Having set up a ring myself several times before matches I promoted, I can attest to the fact that it requires experience to do so properly. | ||
The ring in the 20th of May Stadium had a pronounced list, one corner support having sunk into the turf. The ropes were sagging due to improper installation along with the tropical heat and humidity. Angelo and Goodman worked for several hours to jack up the sunken corner and install blocks under it. As for the ropes, they had to scrounge up a razor blade and use it to cut over a foot of slack from each rope before reinstalling and tightening them. According to Dundee, if they hadn’t attended to the ring, by fight time the ropes would have been sagging onto the canvas.{{sfn|Dundee|Sugar|2008|p=182}} His account is verified by Goodman in a separate interview.{{sfn|Hauser|1991|p=272}} | The ring in the 20th of May Stadium had a pronounced list, one corner support having sunk into the turf. The ropes were sagging due to improper installation along with the tropical heat and humidity. Angelo and Goodman worked for several hours to jack up the sunken corner and install blocks under it. As for the ropes, they had to scrounge up a razor blade and use it to cut over a foot of slack from each rope before reinstalling and tightening them. According to Dundee, if they hadn’t attended to the ring, by fight time the ropes would have been sagging onto the canvas.{{sfn|Dundee|Sugar|2008|p=182}} His account is verified by Goodman in a separate interview.{{sfn|Hauser|1991|p=272}} | ||
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Following the fight, on a whim, writer Pete Bonventre commandeered a car and driver and rode through the monsoon to Ali’s compound, the twenty-mile trip taking two hours. The compound was deserted, with the press all having filed their stories and the entourage gone to party. “Three hours after the greatest victory of his life, Muhammad Ali was sitting on the stoop, showing a magic trick to a group of black children. . . . And it was hard to tell who was having a better time, Ali or the children.” Ten years after upsetting Sonny Liston and seven years after he’d been stripped of the title, Muhammad Ali was once again the heavyweight champion.{{sfn|Hauser|1991|p=279}} | Following the fight, on a whim, writer Pete Bonventre commandeered a car and driver and rode through the monsoon to Ali’s compound, the twenty-mile trip taking two hours. The compound was deserted, with the press all having filed their stories and the entourage gone to party. “Three hours after the greatest victory of his life, Muhammad Ali was sitting on the stoop, showing a magic trick to a group of black children. . . . And it was hard to tell who was having a better time, Ali or the children.” Ten years after upsetting Sonny Liston and seven years after he’d been stripped of the title, Muhammad Ali was once again the heavyweight champion.{{sfn|Hauser|1991|p=279}} | ||
While the Rumble in the Jungle may have been Ali’s greatest boxing victory, I think of it as the high point of the second act of his four-part dramatic career. In Act One, he defeats Sonny Liston and is stripped of his title for | While the Rumble in the Jungle may have been Ali’s greatest boxing victory, I think of it as the high point of the second act of his four-part dramatic career. In Act One, he defeats Sonny Liston and is stripped of his title for refusing induction into the military. In Act Two, after a three-year legal battle, his boxing license is reinstated, he loses to Frazier, and regains the title in Zaire. Act Three begins with winning the epic Thrilla in Manilla rubber match with Frazier, losing the title to Leon Spinks, who had only eight professional fights, defeating Spinks in the rematch to win the title for the third time, and ending his ring career with several tragically bad performances. In Act Four, Ali goes into serious physical decline and begins to slip into obscurity. Then he reemerges—more popular than ever—when he unsteadily lights the 1996 Olympic torch in Atlanta. To me, his greatest victory took place not in the ring, but in foregoing his physical peak as an athlete and defeating the United States government in the courtroom. | ||
Muhammad Ali died in 2016. George Foreman remains alive, and, by all indications, is well at this writing. His career after Zaire is equally remarkable to Ali’s. Two years after losing to Ali, following a savage fight with slugger Ron Lyle, Foreman lost a decision to slick boxer Jimmy Young in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Afterward, George collapsed from heat stroke in his dressing room and had a near-death experience. He claimed God pulled him from the brink of an abyss and gave him a mission in life. He returned to Houston, stopped boxing, gained a hundred pounds, and began preaching on street corners. He established a church and built a congregation. | Muhammad Ali died in 2016. George Foreman remains alive, and, by all indications, is well at this writing. His career after Zaire is equally remarkable to Ali’s. Two years after losing to Ali, following a savage fight with slugger Ron Lyle, Foreman lost a decision to slick boxer Jimmy Young in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Afterward, George collapsed from heat stroke in his dressing room and had a near-death experience. He claimed God pulled him from the brink of an abyss and gave him a mission in life. He returned to Houston, stopped boxing, gained a hundred pounds, and began preaching on street corners. He established a church and built a congregation. | ||
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He took fights in places like Anchorage and other locations not on the boxing map. “I had seen others, like Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, fail in their comeback attempts because they were looking for overnight success. I knew it would take a long period of time to do it right, so I started from the bottom and worked my way up and it took three years”.{{sfn|Dundee|Sugar|2008|p=282}} He fought twenty-one fights against increasingly challenging opponents, including Gerry Cooney, Tommy Morrison, and Evander Holyfield. | He took fights in places like Anchorage and other locations not on the boxing map. “I had seen others, like Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, fail in their comeback attempts because they were looking for overnight success. I knew it would take a long period of time to do it right, so I started from the bottom and worked my way up and it took three years”.{{sfn|Dundee|Sugar|2008|p=282}} He fought twenty-one fights against increasingly challenging opponents, including Gerry Cooney, Tommy Morrison, and Evander Holyfield. | ||
On November 5, 1994, age 45 years, 299 days, the New George got his chance. Following the ninth round in a fight against champion Michael Moorer, George had lost every previous round on all scorecards. His corner man told him, “You gotta put this guy down. You’re behind, baby.” Foreman’s corner man was none other than Angelo Dundee, Ali’s former handler (“Foreman,” You Tube). George bristled at Angelo’s comment, but boy did he ever go out and follow directions. Like Ali in Zaire, he controlled the action of the circle. Moving to his left, he saw the opening and landed that sneaky right directly on Moorer’s chin. Traveling no more than twelve inches, the punch was reminiscent of the one Joe Louis floored Max Schmeling with in the first round of their rematch in 1938. Moorer was starched, as they say in boxing, landing on the seat of his pants, knocked out cold. Twenty years after losing the title to Ali, Foreman took it back from a man 19 years his junior. He had come full circle—along with his red boxing trunks, the same ones he wore in Zaire–with alterations for waist size. Muhammad Ali, whose disabilities had by this time become very evident, wrote to George. He said, “Congratulations, Champ, you had the courage and the guts to go out and do | On November 5, 1994, age 45 years, 299 days, the New George got his chance. Following the ninth round in a fight against champion Michael Moorer, George had lost every previous round on all scorecards. His corner man told him, “You gotta put this guy down. You’re behind, baby.” Foreman’s corner man was none other than Angelo Dundee, Ali’s former handler (“Foreman,” You Tube). George bristled at Angelo’s comment, but boy did he ever go out and follow directions. Like Ali in Zaire, he controlled the action of the circle. Moving to his left, he saw the opening and landed that sneaky right directly on Moorer’s chin. Traveling no more than twelve inches, the punch was reminiscent of the one Joe Louis floored Max Schmeling with in the first round of their rematch in 1938. Moorer was starched, as they say in boxing, landing on the seat of his pants, knocked out cold. Twenty years after losing the title to Ali, Foreman took it back from a man 19 years his junior. He had come full circle—along with his red boxing trunks, the same ones he wore in Zaire–with alterations for waist size. Muhammad Ali, whose disabilities had by this time become very evident, wrote to George. He said, “Congratulations, Champ, you had the courage and the guts to go out and do it.”{{sfn|Dundee|Sugar|2008|p=298}} | ||
Following a close loss in his final fight at age 48 to respected heavyweight Shannon Briggs, Foreman returned to his dressing room dejected. There he was met by his lawyer with a check for a million dollars from the Salton company, whose electric grill George had reluctantly agreed to endorse. It was just the beginning.{{sfn|Rovell|2010}} | Following a close loss in his final fight at age 48 to respected heavyweight Shannon Briggs, Foreman returned to his dressing room dejected. There he was met by his lawyer with a check for a million dollars from the Salton company, whose electric grill George had reluctantly agreed to endorse. It was just the beginning.{{sfn|Rovell|2010}} | ||
By 1998, Salton had sold $200 million worth of the George Foreman Lean, Mean, Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine, and the company made the business decision to offer Foreman a buyout instead of awarding him a percentage of sales. George was paid $137.5 million in cash and stock for use of his name in perpetuity. Added to what he’d earned previously, along with $11 million more for television appearances, Foreman’s profit from the grill approaches $200 million—more, by far, than he earned or ever dreamt of in his boxing career. He continues to sidelight as a boxing commentator for HBO and | By 1998, Salton had sold $200 million worth of the George Foreman Lean, Mean, Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine, and the company made the business decision to offer Foreman a buyout instead of awarding him a percentage of sales. George was paid $137.5 million in cash and stock for use of his name in perpetuity. Added to what he’d earned previously, along with $11 million more for television appearances, Foreman’s profit from the grill approaches $200 million—more, by far, than he earned or ever dreamt of in his boxing career. He continues to sidelight as a boxing commentator for HBO and payper-view broadcasts.{{sfn|Rovell|2010}} | ||
Asked in recent years to reflect on the Rumble in the Jungle, the New George delivers his own version of the Butterfly Effect. “I’m just happy that I didn’t win it . . . because everything would be different . . . it made me fall into the hands of God . . . it was that fragile . . . one little thing could have messed the whole thing up. The world would have been different for us”{{sfn|Brunt|2002|p=189}} . . . ”I’m just proud to be part of the Ali legend. If people mention my name with his from time to time, that’s enough for me. That, and I hope Muhammad Ali likes me, because I like him. I like him a lot”.{{sfn|Hauser|1991|p=278}} | Asked in recent years to reflect on the Rumble in the Jungle, the New George delivers his own version of the Butterfly Effect. “I’m just happy that I didn’t win it . . . because everything would be different . . . it made me fall into the hands of God . . . it was that fragile . . . one little thing could have messed the whole thing up. The world would have been different for us”{{sfn|Brunt|2002|p=189}} . . . ”I’m just proud to be part of the Ali legend. If people mention my name with his from time to time, that’s enough for me. That, and I hope Muhammad Ali likes me, because I like him. I like him a lot”.{{sfn|Hauser|1991|p=278}} | ||
===References=== | ===References=== | ||
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{{Refbegin|indent=yes|30em}} | {{Refbegin|indent=yes|30em}} | ||
* {{cite book |last=Bradbury |first=Ray |date=2005 |title=A Sound of Thunder and Other Stories |url= |location= |publisher=William Morrow |ref=harv }} | * {{cite book |last=Bradbury |first=Ray |date=2005 |title=A Sound of Thunder and Other Stories |url= |location= |publisher=William Morrow |ref=harv }} | ||
* {{cite book |last=Brunt |first=Stephen |date=2002 |title= | * {{cite book |last=Brunt |first=Stephen |date=2002 |title=Facing Ali |edition=1 |publisher=The Lyons Press |ref=harv }} | ||
* {{cite | * {{cite AV media |people=Cosell, Howard (narrator) |date=2011 |title=George Foreman Knocks Out Joe Frazier |trans-title= |medium=video |language= |url=http://youtu.be/vz3tPjLhw2U |access-date= |archive-url= |archive-date= |format= |time= |location= |publisher=ABC Sports |ref={{SfnRef|Cosell|2011}} }} | ||
* {{ | * {{cite web |url=https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl |author=<!--US gov--> |title=CPI Inflation Calculator |publisher=US Government |date=November 1, 2019 |ref={{Sfnref|CPI|2019}} }} | ||
* {{ | * {{cite web |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/sports-and-games/sports-biographies/don-king |title=Don King |author=<!--none given--> |date=2019 |website=Encyclopedia.com |publisher=Cengage |access-date=2021-02-28 |quote= |ref={{SfnRef|King|2019}} }} | ||
* {{cite book |last1=Dundee |first1=Angelo |last2=Sugar |first2=Bert R. |date=2008 |title=My View From The Corner: A Life In Boxing |url= |location=New York |publisher=McGraw Hill |ref=harv }} | * {{cite book |last1=Dundee |first1=Angelo |last2=Sugar |first2=Bert R. |date=2008 |title=My View From The Corner: A Life In Boxing |url= |location=New York |publisher=McGraw Hill |ref=harv }} | ||
* {{cite | * {{cite news |last=French |first=Howard W. |date=May 17, 1997 |title=Anatomy of an Autocracy: Mobutu’s 32 Year Reign |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/world/africa/051797zaire-mobutu.html?scp=21&sq=32&st=cse |work=The New York Times |edition=International |page= |access-date=2021-02-28 |ref=harv }} | ||
* {{ | * {{cite AV media |people=Gast, Leon (director); Grant, Leon (producer) |date=2019 |title=When We Were Kings |trans-title= |medium=Blu-Ray |publisher=Criterion |ref=harv }} | ||
* {{cite | * {{cite magazine |last=Gehr |first=Richard |date=June 6, 2016 |title=Zaire ’74: How a Pan-Continental Funk Fest Soundtracked Muhammad Ali |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/zaire-74-how-a-pan-continental-funk-fest-soundtracked-muhammad-ali-59935/ |magazine=Rolling Stone |pages= |access-date=2021-02-28 |ref=harv }} | ||
* {{ | * {{cite AV media |people= |date=May 11, 1994 |title=George Foreman vs Michael Moorer |trans-title= |medium=video |language= |url=http://youtu.be/2VQmYUg2Pp8 |access-date=2021-02-28 |archive-url= |archive-date= |format= |time= |location= |publisher=Classic Boxing Matches |ref={{Sfnref|Foreman|1994}} }} | ||
* {{cite book |last=Goldstein |first=Alan |title=Muhammad Ali |publisher=MetroBooks |date=2000|ref=harv }} | * {{cite book |last=Goldstein |first=Alan |title=Muhammad Ali |publisher=MetroBooks |date=2000 |ref=harv }} | ||
* {{cite book |last=Hauser |first=Thomas |title=Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times |publisher=Simon & Schuster |date=1991|ref=harv }} | * {{cite book |last=Hauser |first=Thomas |title=Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times |publisher=Simon & Schuster |date=1991 |ref=harv }} | ||
* {{citation |last=Leifer |first=Neil |title=Telephone Interview |date=13 | * {{citation |last=Leifer |first=Neil |title=Telephone Interview |date=November 13, 2019 |ref=harv }} | ||
* {{ | * {{cite AV media |people=McKormack, Pete (director); Murray, Derik (producer) |date=2010 |title=Facing Ali |trans-title= |medium=video |publisher=Network Entertainment |ref=harv }} | ||
* {{cite book |last=Oates |first=Joyce Carol |title=On Boxing |edition=1 | | * {{cite book |last=Oates |first=Joyce Carol |title=On Boxing |edition=1 |location=Garden City |publisher=Dolphin/Doubleday |date=1987|ref=harv }} | ||
* {{ | * {{cite web |url=http://www.cnbc.com/id/38657945 |title=Foreman’s Grill Deal: Best in Sports Marketing History? |last=Roovell |first=Darren |date=August 11, 2010 |website=CNBC |publisher= |access-date=2021-02-28 |quote= |ref=harv }} | ||
* {{cite book |last=Sipiora |first=Phillip |date=2013 |title=Mind of an Outlaw: Selected Essays |url= |location=New York |publisher=Random House |author-link=Phillip Sipiora | * {{cite book |editor-last=Sipiora |editor-first=Phillip |date=2013 |title=Mind of an Outlaw: Selected Essays |url= |location=New York |publisher=Random House |author-link=Phillip Sipiora |ref=harv }} | ||
* {{cite web |url=https://web.library.yale.edu/film |title=When We Were Kings |author=<!--None given--> |date=n.d. |website=Yale Film Archive |publisher= |access-date=2021-02-26 |quote= |ref={{SfnRef|Yale|n.d.}} }} | |||
* {{cite book |last=Van Raybrouck |first=David |title=Congo: The Epic History of a People |publisher=Harper Collins |date=2012 |ref=harv }} | |||
* {{cite web |url=https://web.library.yale.edu/film |title= | |||
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