Bob Goodman Rank and Don King Productions. Light heavyweight great Bob Foster and heavyweight champion Ken Norton, were personal clients. Don King brought Bob on board full-time as his Director of Boxing in the early 70’s, where he remained until the end of 1985. During those years they promoted the biggest events in boxing, including the “Rumble in the Jungle” between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman; the “Thrilla in Manila” between Ali and Joe Frazier; The “Sunshine Showdown” with George Foreman and Joe Frazier, and the two fights between Roberto Duran and Sugar Ray Leonard. At Madison Square Garden, Goodman and his
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,