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
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