Zaire 74 Zaire 74 Zaire 74 was a three-day live music festival that took place on September 22 to 24, 1974 at the 20th of May Stadium in Kinshasa, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo). The concert, conceived by South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela and record producer Stewart Levine, was meant to be a major promotional event for the heavyweight boxing championship match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, known as The Rumble in the Jungle. When an injury forced Foreman to postpone the fight by six weeks, the festival's intended audience of international tourists was all but eliminated and Levine
George Foreman the ropes with a flurry to Foreman's head, punctuated by a hard right cross that landed flush on the jaw, knocking Foreman down. Muhammad Ali was the first boxer to stop Foreman. Foreman later reflected that "it just wasn't my night". Though he sought one, he was unable to secure a rematch with Ali. It has been suggested in some quarters that Ali was ducking Foreman, although he did give a rematch to Joe Frazier and to Ken Norton. Ali also preferred to fight such "minimal risk" opponents as Chuck Wepner, Richard Dunn, Jean Pierre Coopman, and Alfredo Evangelista. Foreman