The Rumble in the Jungle age 45 — at that time, the oldest man ever to win the title. Foreman and Ali became friends after the fight. Ali had trouble walking to the stage at the 1996 Oscars to be part of the group receiving the Oscar for "When We Were Kings" (1996), a documentary of the fight in Zaire, due to his Parkinson's syndrome. George Foreman helped him up the steps to receive the Oscar. Over the years, George Foreman revised his opinions on Muhammad Ali and on The Rumble in the Jungle, on several accounts. In 2012, "The Telegraph" reported Foreman's declaration: "We
The Rumble in the Jungle Ali and Foreman to sign separate contracts saying they would fight for him if he could get a $5 million purse. However, as King did not have the money, he began seeking an outside country to sponsor the event. Zaire's dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, eager for the publicity such a high-profile event would bring, asked for the fight to be held in his country. King had pulled together a consortium that included Risnelia Investment from Panama; the Hemdale Film Corporation, a British company founded by film producer John Daly and the actor David Hemmings; Video Techniques Incorporated of New York;