‘I didn’t really plan it’: what Ali told me when we rewatched The Rumble in the Jungle

Thirty-five years ago, I sat on the sofa in my living room watching a tape of The Rumble in the Jungle with Muhammad Ali beside me. I was researching the book that ultimately became Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times. Over the course of a year, Ali and I watched tapes of every one of his fights together.Time plays funny tricks. Ali v George Foreman seemed like long ago history on that afternoon in 1989. And now …This Wednesday will mark the 50th anniversary of Ali-Foreman. There have been other sporting events that captured the imagination of the world. But no athletic contest in history inspired as much global joy as Muhammad’s victory in Kinshasa, Zaire, during the pre-dawn hours of 30 October 1974. It was the classic tale of a handsome prince, unfairly stripped of his crown, who battles back against adversity to recapture what rightfully belongs to him. Let’s put that night in perspective.Ali was a great fighter and possibly the most beautiful fighting machine ever. His…