50 years after Ali fought Foreman in Congo, the ‘jungle’ has not stopped rumbling

Karamba Kebe of Senegal, right, wins the final of the African Boxing Championship against Landry Matete Kankonde of Congo in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Saturday, October 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Samy Ntumba Shambuyi)

Kinshasa, Congo – Alfred Mamba recalls the frenzy that gripped the football stadium in Zaire, now known as Congoas the fierce heavyweight title fight unfolded over eight rounds between 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 boxing federation in Congo, who took him to fight as a 15-year-old.

As Mamba looked through a stack of photos he said were taken during the fight, he recalled the stadium erupting as Ali and Foreman stepped out for the highly anticipated ‘ Clutter in the jungle ‘as the match was known.

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

The crowd’s hysteria followed the series of punches until Ali’s final punch. It also created a new generation of fighters and fans who became inspired to keep this country on the global boxing stage.

Ahead of the 50th anniversary of the Ali-Foreman fight, boxers and fans from all over Africa have been in Kinshasa, the Congolese capital, for the just concluded 21st African Amateur Boxing Championships, with the Stade des Martyrs stadium and main roads illuminated .

Landry Matete Kankonde, who represented Congo in the men’s heavyweight division, lost to Senegalese Karamba Kebe but said he still dreams of becoming the next Ali. He wrote that the 1974 battle put Congo on the map.

“The next superstar will be me,” said 24-year-old Kankonde with a wide grin on his face.

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

Although Congo is one of the most decorated African countries in boxing, it still lacks adequate sports infrastructure, such as a gym for the national team, forcing many to train in open spaces, Mamba said.

In the eastern region, where a deadly security crisis has resulted in one of the largest in the world humanitarian disastersMany can only dream of getting out of conflict zones and displaced persons camps and taking part in official competitions in the distant capital.

Even in Kinshasa, amateurs often train on the side of the road and in the street without equipment, ducking and swinging as their hands roll punches.

“Congo is a country where people are motivated by the suffering we experience here,” Kankonde said. “Every time a Congolese boxer gives everything, and sees what we are going through here, it gives us a boost.”

The 1974 fight was one of the most memorable moments in boxing.

Mobutu Sese Seko, the Congolese dictator who wanted to put the Central African nation in the spotlight, had worked with promoters to bring the bout to the country and provided a $5 million purse for the fight.

Just before dawn on October 30, 1974, as soldiers with machine guns watched the crowd from ringside and a huge portrait of Mobuto towered over the Stade des Martyrs stadium, spectators from all over the world watched the battle between the 32-year-old Ali – looking for a comeback after being stripped of the world title for refusing to draft into the Vietnam War – and the then undefeated 25-year-old Foreman.

Many felt that Ali didn’t stand a chance against Foreman because he had been out of the ring for years after the sanction.

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

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

The fight ended when Ali dropped Foreman 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 match and his father, also a referee.

And for fifty years, Congo has continued to rumble, producing boxing greats like Sumbu Kalambay, the Congolese-Italian champion who held the World Boxing Association (WBA) world middleweight title in the 1980s, and Junior Ilunga Makabu, who won the WBC cruiserweight title. early 2020s.

And people still fall in love with the sport in the country, including Josue Loloje, who was among the spectators at the Kinshasa Stadium for the African Championship.

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

Alfred Mamba, who as a child witnessed the Ali-Foreman ‘rumble in the jungle’ fight fifty years ago, poses for a photo in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Saturday, October 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Samy Ntumba Shambuyi)

FILE – Challenger Muhammad Ali, right, watches as defending champion George Foreman goes to the canvas in the eighth round of their WBA/WBC championship match, on October 30, 1974, in Kinshasa, Zaire. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

FILE – Sweat flies from George Foreman’s head as he takes a right of challenger Muhammad Ali in the seventh round of the match called Rumble in the Jungle in Kinshasa, Zaire on October 30, 1974. (AP Photo/Ed Kolenovsky, File)

FILE – This is a September 22, 1974 file photo of Zairean President Mobutu Sese Seko, center, raising the arms of heavyweight champion George Foreman (left) and Muhammad Ali (right) in Kinshasa, Zaire. (AP Photo/Horst Faas, File)

FILE – Muhammad Ali looks down at George Foreman during their fight in Kinshasa, Zaire, October 30, 1974. (AP Photo, File)

FILE – Challenger Muhammad Ali is hit with a left jab by defending world champion George Foreman during the WBA/WBC championship fight in Kinshasa, Zaire, on October 30, 1974. (AP Photo, File)

FILE – Challenger Muhammad Ali looks on as defending champion George Foreman struggles for balance during the WBA/WBC championship fight in Kinshasa, Zaire, on October 30, 1974. (AP Photo, File)

FILE – Challenger Muhammad Ali raises his arms in victory after defending champion George Foreman is counted out by referee Zack Clayton, ending the WBA/WBC championship fight in Kinshasa, Zaire, October 30, 1974. (AP Photo, File)

FILE – In this October 30, 1974 file photo, referee Zack Clayton (right) intervenes as challenger Muhammad Ali looks on after knocking down defending heavyweight champion George Foreman in the eighth round of their championship fight in Kinshasa, Zaire. (AP photo/file)