Even so, with the training and the inner peace I had found in the Lord, I didn’t tire in the late rounds like I had as a young, intense fighterīy 1994, I had earned a title shot so I wore the same red trunks that I wore in my loss to Ali 20 years earlier, but this time I was a huge underdog. I had to train twice as hard as when I was young and fit. When the money ran out in 1987, I decided to go back to boxing, even though I had been out of the ring for 10 years and had never wanted to go back. Having grown up in a home lacking food and a father figure, I wanted to do all I could to help young people and to give back for what I had been given. I poured my life savings into my youth center. I devoted myself to my family, my church and the youth center I opened to help troubled youth. I heard him ask me to change my life and ways, and I became a born-again Christian and an ordained minister. In the locker room, I had a near death experience and pleaded with God to help me. I fought my way back beating the top contenders until I lost a decision to Jimmy Young in 1977. It was my first defeat and Ali remains the only person to ever beat me by a knockout. In the eighth round, I was exhausted and when Ali connected, I went down. This “rope-a-dope” strategy made me swing wildly and tire. Ali changed tactics to use the stretching of the ropes to lean back and away from my swings and then maul me in clinches. When we finally got into the ring, I didn’t let Ali dance around. Rumors were spread that my food would be poisoned and that a curse was being placed on me to paralyze me. Ali used the extra month to taunt me and to keep me from being focused. I hated Zaire and just wanted to get the fight over with.

Ali was a great boxer and an incredible showman who seemed to enjoy all the hype. Zaire’s dictator Mobutu Sese Seko wouldn’t let us leave the country because his government had put up the money for the fight. He had them chanting, “Ali bomaye” - “Ali, kill him.” During practice, I got a cut over my eye and we had to postpone the fight for a month. Ali arrived first and worked to win over the population. The 1974 “Rumble in the Jungle” with Muhammad Ali in Africa was a very different story for me. Then in 1974, I defended my title against Ken Norton who had just beaten Muhammad Ali and I beat him in just two rounds. I beat him in 50 seconds, the shortest ever heavyweight championship match. Then I defended my title against Puerto Rican heavyweight champion Jose Roman. Frazier was heavily favored to beat me, but I knocked him out in two rounds. In the meantime, I was working my way up and soon became the number #1 challenger. After the 1968 Olympics, I turned professional. In 1971, Joe Frazier beat Muhammad Ali to win the heavyweight championship.

Muhammad ali george foreman