The Rumble in the Jungle fought in 1974, that was a long time ago. After 1981 we became the best of friends. By 1984, we loved each other. I am not closer to anyone else in this life than I am to Muhammad Ali." Foreman also stated: "Then, in 1981, a reporter came to my ranch and asked me: 'What happened in Africa, George?' I had to look him in the eye and say, "I lost. He beat me." Before that I had nothing but revenge and hate on my mind, but from then on it was clear. I'll never be able to win that
The Rumble in the Jungle coming in as a 41 underdog against the unbeaten, heavy-hitting Foreman. The fight is famous for Ali's introduction of the rope-a-dope tactic. The fight was watched by a record estimated television audience of 1billion viewers worldwide, becoming the world's most-watched live television broadcast at the time. This included a record estimated 50million viewers watching the fight pay-per-view on closed-circuit theatre TV. The fight grossed an estimated $100million (inflation-adjusted $million) in worldwide revenue. Don King arranged this fight with the music businessman Jerry Masucci, who took his famed musicians, Fania All Stars, to play at the venue. King managed to get