J. M. Johnson collaboration with London-based world-renowned boxing promoter, Jack Solomons, staged the very first world boxing title fight in Africa, In Ibadan, Western Nigeria between Tiger and Fullmer, in 1963, well before the much publicized The Rumble in the Jungle fight between Muhammad Ali vs George Foreman in Zaire, in 1974. In 1963 he retired from politics by declining to contest the General Elections. This was, as he put it, to make way for the young, which endeared him to many Nigerians. Born into Lagosian & Brazilian families in Lafiaji, Lagos, he was described as tall, handsome, flamboyant, gregarious and renowned as
Muhammad Ali corner, Ali retreated to the ropes and invited Foreman to hit him while covering up, clinching and counter-punching, all while verbally taunting Foreman. The move, which would later become known as the "Rope-a-dope", so violated conventional boxing wisdom—letting one of the hardest hitters in boxing strike at will—that at ringside writer George Plimpton thought the fight had to be fixed. Foreman, increasingly angered, threw punches that were deflected and did not land squarely. Midway through the fight, as Foreman began tiring, Ali countered more frequently and effectively with punches and flurries, which electrified the pro-Ali crowd. In the eighth round,