Muhammad Ali vs. George Foreman is one of the most famous fights of all time.
The two boxing legends met in The Rumble in the Jungle in October 1974, with 60,000 people in attendance at the 20th of May Stadium in Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo).
Foreman headed into the fight as the undisputed heavyweight champion, with an unbeaten record of 40-0 with 37 wins by knockout.
Ali was deemed by many to be past his best and had a record of 44-2 at this stage, and was eight years older than Foreman for the contest.
Despite the pre-fight rhetoric, Ali upset the odds to earn the victory, displaying his rope-a-dope tactic for the first time on his way to memorable eighth round knockout win.
The rope-a-dope tactic meant that he got caught with a number of big shots by the hard-hitting Foreman in the bout, with ‘Big George deemed as one of the hardest hitters in heavyweight history.
While that may be the case, Ali insists that he isn’t the biggest puncher he has ever faced, and instead named Earnie Shavers as the man who hits hardest.
“Earnie Shavers. He’s stronger than Joe Frazier and George Foreman. He hit hard. I don’t know why I picked on him this late in my career. I didn’t really believe he was as good as he was. I predicted he was going in round seven, but he was good. He took all I had and hit real hard.”
Ali fought Shavers in September 1977, winning the fight on points, but was caught with some big shots in the process. Shavers finished his career with a record of 76 wins, 14 losses and one draw, with an impressive 70 wins coming by knockout.
As for Foreman, he has named the one boxer he fought who he felt was even better than Ali.
