The Fight (book) The Fight (book) The Fight is a 1975 non-fiction book by Norman Mailer about the boxing title fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman at Kinshasa in Zaire in 1974, known as the "Rumble in the Jungle". The author is both the narrator and, in an example of illeism, a central figure in the story. To begin with, "Norman" goes to Ali's training camp at Deer Lake, Pennsylvania and observes his preparations. Clearly, Ali is his hero. He meets his entourage, among them Bundini, and the sparring partners such as Larry Holmes, Eddie Jones, and Roy Williams. The next scene
The Rumble in the Jungle near his right eye during training (by sparring partner Bill McMurray) and the date pushed back to October 30. A three-night-long music festival to hype the fight, Zaire 74, took place as scheduled, September 22–24, including performances by James Brown, Celia Cruz and the Fania All-Stars, B.B. King, Miriam Makeba, The Spinners, Bill Withers, The Crusaders, and Manu Dibango, as documented in the 2008 film "Soul Power". The championship was scheduled for 4 am local time in order to appear on live closed-circuit television in the Eastern Time Zone of the U.S. at 10 pm. Ali was famed for his