The Heavyweight Championship of the World

Foreman Ali George Foreman (40-0) VS. Muhammad Ali (44-2) October 30, 1974 Mai 20 Stadium (outdoors) Kinshasa Zaire, Africa Scheduled for 15 rounds

▪ World Boxing Council (WBC) Heavyweight Title (Foreman defending) ▪ World Boxing Association (WBA) Heavyweight Title (Foreman defending) Expected attendance: 60,000 Both fighters are being paid $5 million for this fight.

Tale of the Tape

Name: Muhammad Ali Name: George Foreman Alias: The Greatest Alias: Big Birth Name: Cassius Marcellus Clay Born: 1949-01-10 (age, 24) Born: 1942-01-17 (age, 32) Birthplace: Marshall, Texas, USA Birthplace: Louisville, Kentucky, USA Nationality: US American Nationality: US American Hometown: Houston, Texas, USA Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky, USA Stance: Orthodox Stance: Orthodox Height: 6ʹ 3½″ Height: 6ʹ 3″ Reach: 82” Reach: 80″ Weight: 220 lbs. Weight: 216 lbs

1 Muhammad Ali – personal information

Originally known as Cassius Clay, Ali changed his name after joining the Nation of Islam in 1964, subsequently converting to Sunni Islam in 1975, and more recently practicing Sufism. In 1967, three years after Ali had won the World Heavyweight Championship, he was publicly vilified for his refusal to be conscripted into the U.S. military, based on his religious beliefs and opposition to the Vietnam War. Ali stated, "I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong... No Viet Cong ever called me nigger" – one of the more telling remarks of the era. Ali was eventually arrested and found guilty on draft evasion charges; he was stripped of his boxing title, and his boxing license was suspended. He was not imprisoned, but did not fight again for nearly three years while his appeal worked its way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, where it was eventually successful. Nicknamed "The Greatest," and the “Louisville Lip.” Ali is well known for his unorthodox fighting style. He often fights with his gloves (his defense) at his sides rather than up and protecting his head. He describes this as "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee." He is also known for his footwork including the Ali Shuffle. Ali has brought beauty and grace to the most uncompromising of sports and through the wonderful excesses of skill and character, he has become the most famous athlete in the world. He is also known for his pre-match hype, where he would "trash talk" opponents, often with rhymes and poems.

Ali won the gold medal as a light heavyweight in the Summer Olympics in Rome in 1960.

Muhammad Ali’s Professional Fight Record L – loss, W – win, EXH – exhibition, KO – knockout

Day, Month Location W/L round

1960 29 Oct -- Tunney Hunsaker, Louisville, KY -- W 6 27 Dec -- Herb Siler, Miami Beach, FL -- KO 4

1961 17 Jan -- Tony Esperti, Miami Beach, FL -- KO 3 6 Feb -- Ingemar Johansson, Miami Beach, FL -- Spar 2 7 Feb -- Jim Robinson, Miami Beach, FL -- KO 1 21 Feb -- Donnie Fleeman, Miami Beach, FL -- KO 7 19 Apr -- Lamar Clark, Louisville, KY -- KO 2 26 Jun -- Duke Sabedong, Las Vegas, NV -- W 10 22 Jul -- Alonzo Johnson, Louisville, KY -- W 10 7 Oct -- Alex Miteff, Louisville, KY -- KO 6 29 Nov -- Willi Besmanoff, Louisville, KY -- KO 7

1962 19 Feb -- Sonny Banks, New York, NY -- KO 4 28 Mar -- Don Warner, Miami Beach, FL -- KO 4 23 Apr -- George Logan, Los Angeles, CA -- KO 6 19 May -- Billy Daniels, New York, NY -- KO 7 20 Jul -- Alejandro Lavorante, Los Angeles, CA -- KO 5 15 Nov -- Archie Moore, Los Angeles, CA -- KO 4

1963

2 24 Jan -- Charlie Powell, Pittsburgh, PA -- KO 3 13 Mar -- Doug Jones, New York, NY -- W 10 18 Jun -- Henry Cooper, London -- KO 5

1964 25 Feb -- Sonny Liston, Miami Beach, FL -- KO 7 (Won World Heavyweight Title)

1965 25 May -- Sonny Liston, Lewiston, ME -- KO 1 (Retained World Heavyweight Title) 31 Jul -- Jimmy Ellis, San Juan, PR -- Exh. 3 31 Jul -- Cody Jones, San Juan, PR -- Exh. 3 16 Aug -- Cody Jones, Goteborg, Sweden -- Exh. 2 16 Aug -- Jimmy Ellis, Goteborg, Sweden -- Exh. 2 20 Aug -- Jimmy Ellis, London -- Exh. 4 20 Aug -- Cody Jones, Paisley, Scotland -- Exh. 4 22 Nov -- Floyd Patterson, Las Vegas, NV -- KO 12 (Retained World Heavyweight Title)

1966 29 Mar -- George Chuvalo, Toronto -- W 15 (Retained World Heavyweight Title) 21 May -- Henry Cooper, London -- KO 6 (Retained World Heavyweight Title) 6 Aug -- Brian London, London -- KO 3 (Retained World Heavyweight Title) 10 Sep -- Karl Mildenberger, Frankfurt, Germany -- KO 12 (Retained World Heavyweight Title) 14 Nov -- Cleveland Williams, Houston, TX -- KO 3 (Retained World Heavyweight Title)

1967 6 Feb -- Ernie Terrell, Houston, TX -- W 15 (Retained World Heavyweight Title) 22 Mar -- Zora Folley, New York, NY -- KO 7 (Retained World Heavyweight Title) 15 Jun -- Alvin Lewis, Detroit, MI -- Exh. 3 15 Jun -- Orvill Qualls, Detroit, MI -- Exh. 3

1970 Sep -- George Hill -- Exh. 4 26 Oct -- Jerry Quarry, Atlanta, GA -- KO 3 7 Dec -- Oscar Bonavena, New York, NY -- KO 15

1971 8 Mar -- Joe Frazier, New York, NY -- L 15 (For World Heavyweight Title) 26 Jul -- Jimmy Ellis, Houston, TX -- KO 12 17 Nov -- Buster Mathis, Houston, TX -- W 12 26 Dec -- Jurgen Blin, Zurich, Switzerland -- KO 7

1972 1 Apr -- Mac Foster, Tokyo -- W 15 1 May -- George Chuvalo, Vancouver, Canada -- W 12 29 Jun -- Jerry Quarry, Las Vegas, NV -- KO 7 1 Jul -- Rudy Clay, Los Angeles, CA -- Exh. 2 19 Jul -- Al Lewis, Dublin -- KO 11 1 Aug -- Gregorio Peralta, Barcelona, Spain -- Exh. 8 20 Sep -- Floyd Patterson, New York, NY -- KO 7 21 Nov -- Bob Foster, Stateline, NV -- KO 8

3 1973 14 Feb -- Joe Bugner, Las Vegas, NV -- W 12 23 Feb -- Cookie Wallace, Dallas -- Exh. 4 31 Mar -- Ken Norton, San Diego, CA -- L 12 10 Sep -- Ken Norton, Los Angeles, CA -- W 12 20 Oct -- Rudi Lubbers, Jakarta -- W 12

1974 28 Jan -- Joe Frazier, New York, NY -- W 12

George Foreman – personal information

George Edward Foreman was born in Marshall, Texas. He grew up in the Fifth Ward, Houston, Texas, with six siblings. Although reared by J.D. Foreman, whom his mother had married when George was a small child, his biological father was Leroy Moorehead. Foreman was interested in football and idolized Jim Brown, but gave it up for boxing. He won a gold medal in the boxing/heavyweight division at the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games. By his own admission in his autobiography George was a troubled youth.

Foreman had an amateur record of 22-4, losing twice to Clay Hodges (also defeated by Max Briggs in his first ever fight). Foreman turned professional in 1969 with a three-round knockout of Donald Walheim in New York. He had a total of 13 fights that year, winning all of them (11 by knockout). In 1970, Foreman continued his march toward the undisputed heavyweight title, winning all 12 of his bouts (11 by knockout). Among the opponents he defeated were Gregorio Peralta, whom he beat by decision at Madison Square Garden although Peralta gave a very good account of himself and showed George was vulnerable to fast counter punching mixed with an assertive boxing style. But the boxing world shuddered when George Chuvalo was defeated by technical knockout (TKO) in three rounds. After this impressive win, Foreman defeated Charlie Polite in four rounds and Boone Kirkman in three. In 1971, Foreman won seven more fights, winning all of them by knockout, including a rematch with Peralta, whom he defeated by knockout in the tenth and final round in Oakland, California, and a win over Leroy Caldwell, who was knocked out in the second round. After amassing a record of 32–0 (29 KO), Foreman was ranked as the number one challenger by the WBA and WBC.

Foreman won the gold medal as a heavyweight in the Summer Olympics in Mexico City in 1968.

George Foreman’s Professional Fight Record L – loss, W – win, EXH – exhibition, KO – knockout, TKO – technical knockout

Month, Day Location W/L round

1969 06-23 -- Don Waldhelm, New York, NY, W TKO 3 07-01 -- Fred Askew, Houston, TX, W KO 1 07-14 -- Sylvester Dullaire, Washington, DC, W TKO 1 08-18 -- Chuck Wepner, New York, NY, W TKO 3 09-18 -- Johnny (J.C.) Carroll, Seattle, WA, W KO 1 09-23 -- Roy (Cookie) Wallace, Houston, TX, W KO 2

4 10-07 -- Vernon Clay, Houston, TX, W KO 2 10-31 -- Roberto Davila, New York, NY, W 8 11-05 -- Leo Peterson, Scranton, PA, W KO 4 11-18 -- Max Martinez, Houston, TX, W KO 2 12-06 -- Bob Hazelton, Las Vegas, NV, W KO 1 12-16 -- Levi Forte, Miami Beach, FL, W 10 1 2-18 -- Gary Wiler, Seattle, WA, W KO 1

1970 01-06 -- Charley Polite, Houston, TX, W KO 4 01-26 -- Jack O'Halloran, New York, NY, W KO 5 02-16 -- Gregorio Peralta, New York, NY, W 10 03-30 -- Rufus Brassell, Houston, TX, W TKO 1 04-17 -- James J. Woody, New York, NY, W TKO 3 04-29 -- Aaron Eastling, Cleveland, OH, W TKO 4 05-16 -- George Johns, Inglewood, CA, W TKO 7 07-20 -- Roger Russell, Philadelphia, PA, W KO 1 08-04 -- George Chuvalo, New York, NY, W TKO 3 11-03 -- Lou Bailey, Oklahoma City, OK, W TKO 3 11-18 -- Boone Kirkman, New York, NY, W TKO 2 12-18 -- Mel Turnbow, Seattle, WA, W TKO 1

1971 02-08 -- Charlie Boston, St. Paul, MN, W KO 1 04-03 -- Stamford Harris, Lake Geneva, WI, W KO 2 05-10 -- Gregorio Peralta, Oakland, CA, W TKO 10 09-14 -- Vic Scott, El Paso, TX, W KO 1 09-21 -- Leroy Caldwell, Beaumont, TX, W KO 2 10-07 -- Ollie Wilson, San Antonio, TX, W KO 2 10-29 -- Luis Faustino Pires, New York, NY, W TKO 4

1972 02-29 -- Murphy Goodwin, Austin, TX, W KO 2 03-07 -- Clarence Boone, Beaumont, TX, W KO 2 04-10 -- Ted Gullick, Inglewood, CA, W KO 2 05-11 -- Miguel Angel Paez, Oakland, CA, W KO 2 10-10 -- Terry Sorrell, Salt Lake City, UT, W KO 2

1973 01-22 -- Joe Frazier, Kingston, Jamaica, W TKO 2 (Won WBC Heavyweight Title) (Won WBA Heavyweight Title) 04-28 -- Lonnie Bennett, Las Vegas, NV, Exh 2 04-28 -- Victor Scott, Las Vegas, NV, Exh 2 04-28 -- Terry Hinsky, Las Vegas, NV, Exh 04-28 -- Eddie Jones, Las Vegas, NV, Exh 09-01 -- Jose (King) Roman, Tokyo, Japan, W KO 1 (Retained WBC Heavyweight Title) (Retained WBA Heavyweight Title)

1974 03-26 -- Ken Norton, Caracas, Venezuela, W TKO 2 (Retained WBC Heavyweight Title) (Retained WBA Heavyweight Title)

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