Jabir Herbert Muhammad Group, until Ali's retirement in 1981. Muhammad negotiated the first multimillion-dollar earnings for any athlete, starting with the $2.5M Ali earned for the Frazier vs Ali “Fight of the Century” in March, 1971 and including the $5.5M purse Ali achieved for the Foreman vs Ali “Rumble in the Jungle” in Zaire in 1974. Muhammad was considered one of the most powerful figures in boxing in the 1960s and 1970s, achieving the International Boxing Hall of Fame's 1974 "Manager of the Year" award. He continued to manage Ali's career for another ten years after his retirement from boxing. Muhammad then went
The Rumble in the Jungle match, so I had to let it go." Foreman eventually concluded, in 2003: "[Ali is] the greatest man I've ever known. Not greatest boxer that's too small for him. He had a gift. He's not pretty he's beautiful. Everything America should be, Muhammad Ali is." The fight was broadcast live pay-per-view on closed-circuit television, also known as theatre television, to venues across the world. The fight had a record estimated 50million viewers on closed-circuit television worldwide, grossing an estimated $100million (inflation-adjusted $million) in revenue. In the United States, the fight had an estimated 3million closed-circuit viewers in 400venues, with tickets