Rumble in the Jungle remembered after 50 years

KINSHASA, DR Congo — Alfred Mamba was just 12 when boxing great Muhammad Ali descended on Kinshasa, at that time the capital of Zaire, in October 1974 in a bid to regain his heavyweight title.

Mamba watched as his father — a boxing referee — helped carry flags into the arena ahead of the fight between Ali and fellow-American George Foreman in the early hours of October 30.

The memory of the event, better known as “The Rumble in the Jungle”, has stayed with him for 50 years.

"It was an impossible atmosphere, we have never seen an atmosphere like it," he excitedly tells AFP on the sidelines of the amateur Africa Boxing Championships in Kinshasa.

The Rumble in the Jungle, which inspired Norman Mailer's book "The Fight" and the Oscar-winning documentary "When We Were Kings", has passed into boxing myth.

Financed as a big public relations event by Zaire's dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, the fight took place in the 20th May Stadium, now called the Tata Raphael Stadium and was screened in over 100 countries.

The giant concrete structure was packed to the rafters with some 60,000 spectators, singing, dancing and chanting in anticipation of the match.

"People were screaming at every possible moment, it was really great," Mamba recalls wide-eyed.

As he speaks he flicks through black and white paper photos from the legendary event that would turn the tide on Ali's career.

Foreman, an Olympic gold-medallist at the 1968 Mexico Olympics, was the favorite — the 25-year-old had won his first 37 fights after turning professional.

He started out the stronger but Ali, now 32 and employing his famous rope-a-dope tactics, turned the tables and landed a left hook and straight right that sent Foreman to the canvas in the eighth round.

Foreman tried to get to his feet but the referee signaled the end of the fight and a knockout win for Ali.

It was a triumph for Ali who reclaimed the title that had been stripped from him in 1967 when his decision to refuse the draft to fight in the Vietnam War landed him a three and a half year suspension.

"People really wanted Muhammad Ali to win the fight," says Mamba.

There was no clear reason why the locals leaned in his favour but, according to magazine