1 00:00:20,847 --> 00:00:23,486 Yeah, I'm in Africa. Yeah, Africa's my home. 2 00:00:23,527 --> 00:00:26,087 Damn America and what America thinks. 3 00:00:26,127 --> 00:00:29,676 I live in America, but Africa's the home of the Black man. 4 00:00:29,727 --> 00:00:31,638 I was a slave 400 years ago 5 00:00:31,687 --> 00:00:34,565 and I'm going back home to fight among my brothers! Yeah! 6 00:00:34,607 --> 00:00:37,565 'For these two African-Americans 7 00:00:37,607 --> 00:00:40,997 'to come home was of great, great significance. 8 00:00:41,047 --> 00:00:43,322 'Because of Hollywood and TV 9 00:00:43,367 --> 00:00:46,757 'a lot of us had been taught to hate Africa.' 10 00:00:46,807 --> 00:00:50,595 Once, if you called a Black person African they'd be ready to fight. 12 00:01:08,207 --> 00:01:12,917 'When I get to Africa we'll get it on because we don't get along!' 13 00:01:12,967 --> 00:01:14,764 I'm gonna eat him up! 14 00:01:14,807 --> 00:01:19,198 Too much speed for him! Too fast! Too fast! 15 00:01:19,247 --> 00:01:23,240 I'm gonna retire the heavyweight champion of the world! 16 00:01:23,287 --> 00:01:25,755 I'm gonna retire the heavyweight champion! 17 00:01:25,807 --> 00:01:28,958 September 25th the world'll be stunned! 18 00:01:29,007 --> 00:01:30,645 Tell 'em, Ali! 19 00:01:30,687 --> 00:01:33,724 If you think the world was surprised when Nixon resigned 20 00:01:33,767 --> 00:01:36,281 wait till I kick Foreman's behind! 22 00:02:09,967 --> 00:02:13,357 'An 18-year-old amateur champion with a charming smile 23 00:02:13,407 --> 00:02:16,638 'took a physical examination for his first professional fight.' 24 00:02:20,007 --> 00:02:21,599 It won't be an easy fight 25 00:02:21,647 --> 00:02:25,083 but my plan of attack on a fighter like Alex Miteff 26 00:02:25,127 --> 00:02:26,958 would be two fast left jabs, 27 00:02:27,007 --> 00:02:29,840 a rapid right cross and a left hook. 28 00:02:29,887 --> 00:02:32,606 'But in the Belgian Congo, 29 00:02:32,647 --> 00:02:36,117 'freedom was followed by rioting and an army mutiny. 30 00:02:37,167 --> 00:02:40,637 'For months, the political pattern kept changing 31 00:02:40,687 --> 00:02:43,599 'until pro-Red Premier Lumumba was seized 32 00:02:43,647 --> 00:02:46,684 'by the forces of strongman Colonel Mobutu.' 34 00:02:49,087 --> 00:02:51,965 After watching Mike DeJohn and Eddie Machen, 35 00:02:52,007 --> 00:02:53,998 I would rate myself number two. 36 00:02:56,647 --> 00:02:59,036 I'm out to break Floyd Patterson's record 37 00:02:59,087 --> 00:03:03,080 and this being my 20th birthday, today, January 17th, 38 00:03:03,127 --> 00:03:06,756 that leaves me exactly one year to reach my goal. 39 00:03:08,967 --> 00:03:13,358 People do say I'm cocky, some say I need a good whuppin', 40 00:03:13,407 --> 00:03:15,398 some say I talk too much, 41 00:03:15,447 --> 00:03:18,086 but anything that I say, I'm willing to back up. 42 00:03:19,127 --> 00:03:21,004 The other night I predicted 43 00:03:21,047 --> 00:03:24,642 that I would knock out Banks in four rounds and I did. 44 00:03:26,647 --> 00:03:28,444 I knocked out Don Warner 45 00:03:28,487 --> 00:03:31,399 and I just annihilated George Logan in four rounds. 46 00:03:42,207 --> 00:03:45,643 'Close your mouth and keep it closed.' 47 00:03:45,687 --> 00:03:48,281 - That's impossible. - Keep it closed. 48 00:03:48,327 --> 00:03:51,125 I'm the greatest and I'm knocking out all bums. 49 00:03:51,167 --> 00:03:53,442 And if you get too smart I'll knock you out. 50 00:03:58,967 --> 00:04:02,198 'You'd take him on before the fight?' 51 00:04:02,247 --> 00:04:04,044 Beat him like I'm his daddy. 52 00:04:04,087 --> 00:04:06,123 I saw Sonny Liston a few days ago. 53 00:04:06,167 --> 00:04:07,998 Ain't he ugly? 54 00:04:11,887 --> 00:04:14,082 I'm young, I'm handsome, 55 00:04:14,127 --> 00:04:17,403 I'm fast, I'm pretty and can't possibly be beat. 56 00:04:17,447 --> 00:04:20,359 Cassius Clay goes into the record book 57 00:04:20,407 --> 00:04:23,160 with Corbett, Tunney and Braddock, 58 00:04:23,207 --> 00:04:27,485 bringing off another great upset in heavyweight history. 59 00:04:27,527 --> 00:04:31,884 It is befitting that I leave the game just like I came in, 60 00:04:31,927 --> 00:04:35,363 beating a big bad monster who knocks out everybody 61 00:04:35,407 --> 00:04:37,204 and no one can whup him. 62 00:04:37,247 --> 00:04:40,523 When little Cassius Clay stopped Sonny Liston, 63 00:04:40,567 --> 00:04:43,877 the man who annihilated Floyd Patterson twice. 64 00:04:43,927 --> 00:04:45,724 He was gonna kill me! 65 00:04:45,767 --> 00:04:47,758 But he hit harder than George. 66 00:04:47,807 --> 00:04:50,560 His reach is longer, he's a better boxer 67 00:04:50,607 --> 00:04:55,317 and I'm better now than when you saw that kid running from Sonny Liston. 68 00:04:55,367 --> 00:04:57,835 I'm experienced now, professional. 69 00:04:57,887 --> 00:05:02,119 Jaw's been broke, been knocked down a couple of times, I'm bad! 70 00:05:02,167 --> 00:05:05,125 Been chopping trees, I done something new. 71 00:05:05,167 --> 00:05:08,204 - I wrestled with an alligator. 72 00:05:08,247 --> 00:05:11,523 That's right, I have wrestled with an alligator! 73 00:05:11,567 --> 00:05:16,436 I tussled with a whale. I handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder in jail! 74 00:05:16,487 --> 00:05:20,685 That's bad! Only last week I murdered a rock! 75 00:05:20,727 --> 00:05:24,197 Injured a stone! Hospitalised a brick! 76 00:05:24,247 --> 00:05:27,444 - I'm so mean I make medicine sick! - Bad dude! 77 00:05:27,487 --> 00:05:29,205 Bad, fast! 78 00:05:29,247 --> 00:05:32,717 Fast! Fast! Last night, cut the light off in my bedroom, 79 00:05:32,767 --> 00:05:35,725 hit the switch and was in the bed before the room was dark! 80 00:05:35,767 --> 00:05:37,644 - Incredible. - Fast! 81 00:05:37,687 --> 00:05:41,600 You, George Foreman, all you chumps are gonna bow when I whup him! 82 00:05:41,647 --> 00:05:46,038 All of you! I know you got him picked but the man's in trouble! 83 00:05:46,087 --> 00:05:48,601 I'm gonna show you how great I am! 84 00:05:48,647 --> 00:05:52,356 I think Ali was scared. I think he was scared even then. 85 00:05:52,407 --> 00:05:55,763 He knew he was gonna be very scared as he got closer to the fight. 86 00:05:55,807 --> 00:05:57,957 You know the way George fights. 87 00:05:58,007 --> 00:06:01,044 George comes out... "I made him the mummy!" 88 00:06:03,687 --> 00:06:08,477 'With his ego he could tell himself he would dominate Foreman, 89 00:06:08,527 --> 00:06:13,442 'make a fool of him, that Foreman would never lay a glove on him.' 90 00:06:13,487 --> 00:06:17,002 But in fact, in his sleep or wherever his private moment came 91 00:06:17,047 --> 00:06:21,962 he knew that he had not done as well against two fighters particularly, 92 00:06:22,007 --> 00:06:25,841 Joe Frazier and Ken Norton, whom Foreman had demolished. 93 00:06:25,887 --> 00:06:29,562 Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier! 94 00:06:29,607 --> 00:06:33,441 The heavyweight champion is taking the mandatory eight count 95 00:06:33,487 --> 00:06:35,796 and Foreman is as poised as can be! 96 00:06:35,847 --> 00:06:38,042 Foreman is going about his job! 97 00:06:38,087 --> 00:06:42,080 'He had an overpowering intensity when he punched. 98 00:06:42,127 --> 00:06:45,039 'Foreman won by knocking Joe Frazier out 99 00:06:45,087 --> 00:06:47,885 'and knocked him down something like seven times. 100 00:06:47,927 --> 00:06:50,999 'Then he destroyed Ken Norton in two rounds. 101 00:06:51,887 --> 00:06:56,244 'The word "murderous" does not quite apply, Foreman was awesome.' 102 00:06:56,287 --> 00:06:58,881 This chump has got everybody scared. 103 00:06:58,927 --> 00:07:02,806 Scared of what? There's nothing to be scared of. 104 00:07:04,047 --> 00:07:05,924 Scared of what? 105 00:07:08,207 --> 00:07:12,200 How many fellas in here picks George? Be truthful, be men. 106 00:07:12,247 --> 00:07:13,760 Tell the truth. 107 00:07:13,807 --> 00:07:16,799 - John, raise your hand. 108 00:07:19,687 --> 00:07:21,405 Got George? 109 00:07:21,447 --> 00:07:23,517 You got George. Tell the truth. 110 00:07:23,567 --> 00:07:25,876 You! You, fella. Yeah. 111 00:07:25,927 --> 00:07:28,885 No pick? I just wanna know. You got George... 112 00:07:31,447 --> 00:07:34,723 The time may have come to say goodbye to Muhammad Ali, 113 00:07:34,767 --> 00:07:39,124 because very honestly I don't think he can beat George Foreman. 114 00:07:39,167 --> 00:07:43,001 Howard Cosell, you told everybody I don't have a chance. 115 00:07:43,047 --> 00:07:45,925 Told 'em I don't have nothing but a prayer. 116 00:07:45,967 --> 00:07:49,880 Well, chump, all I need is a prayer because if that reaches the right man 117 00:07:49,927 --> 00:07:53,363 not only will George Foreman fall but mountains will fall! 118 00:07:53,407 --> 00:07:55,637 Maybe he can pull off a miracle, 119 00:07:55,687 --> 00:07:57,917 but against George Foreman? 120 00:07:57,967 --> 00:08:00,606 So young, so strong, so fearless? 121 00:08:00,647 --> 00:08:04,481 Against George Foreman, who does away with his opponents 122 00:08:04,527 --> 00:08:07,564 one after another in less than three rounds? 123 00:08:07,607 --> 00:08:10,121 It's hard for me to conjure with that. 124 00:08:10,167 --> 00:08:14,240 You always say "Muhammad, you're not the same man you were 10 years ago." 125 00:08:14,287 --> 00:08:15,686 I asked your wife 126 00:08:15,727 --> 00:08:18,799 and she told me you're not the same man you was two years ago! 127 00:08:18,847 --> 00:08:23,045 After this fight I suspect Ali will retire. 128 00:08:23,087 --> 00:08:25,123 And through all of the years 129 00:08:25,167 --> 00:08:29,206 my own memories of him will be as a fighter, 130 00:08:29,247 --> 00:08:34,196 and as the strange and curious and gregarious and engaging 131 00:08:34,247 --> 00:08:40,243 and sometimes cruel, and sometimes family man that he is. 132 00:08:40,287 --> 00:08:44,121 I'm gonna let everybody know that that thing on your head 133 00:08:44,167 --> 00:08:47,318 is a phoney and it comes from the tail of a pony. 134 00:08:47,367 --> 00:08:49,437 A stolen bicycle. 135 00:08:49,487 --> 00:08:53,162 He had a bicycle and he went to Columbia Gym. 136 00:08:53,207 --> 00:08:58,042 There was something going on up there and he left his bike parked outside. 137 00:08:58,087 --> 00:09:00,840 So when he came out someone had stolen it 138 00:09:00,887 --> 00:09:03,276 and he went inside and he was crying 139 00:09:03,327 --> 00:09:07,320 and he told the policeman there, his name was Joe Martin, 140 00:09:07,367 --> 00:09:09,358 that someone stole his bike. 141 00:09:09,407 --> 00:09:14,481 And Joe Martin, he also taught the little boys how to box in the evening 142 00:09:14,527 --> 00:09:18,281 so he asked would he be interested in learning how to box 143 00:09:18,327 --> 00:09:22,639 and he told him yes, because if he ever found out who stole his bike 144 00:09:22,687 --> 00:09:26,282 he wanted to know how to fight so he could beat them up. 145 00:09:26,327 --> 00:09:29,763 An overhand right sends Sonny to the canvas! 146 00:09:29,807 --> 00:09:33,322 Referee Jersey Joe Walcott is trying to get Ali to a neutral corner. 147 00:09:33,367 --> 00:09:35,597 Ali yelling at Liston to get up... 148 00:09:35,647 --> 00:09:38,400 - Anchor punch. - Which fight? 149 00:09:38,447 --> 00:09:40,642 I call it the anchor punch. 150 00:09:40,687 --> 00:09:44,236 - The one Stepin Fetchit helped with? - Yeah, man. 151 00:09:45,127 --> 00:09:46,924 People couldn't see it, 152 00:09:46,967 --> 00:09:51,165 it was so fast Sports Illustrated got a slow-motion camera, 153 00:09:51,207 --> 00:09:55,519 they clocked the punch and the punch flew at 4/100ths of a second. 154 00:09:55,567 --> 00:09:57,797 You can break a second down to 100 pieces. 155 00:09:57,847 --> 00:10:01,681 When people win a ski race they say one and 16/100ths, 156 00:10:01,727 --> 00:10:03,718 one and 32/100ths of a second, 157 00:10:03,767 --> 00:10:08,158 so you break a second into 100 pieces so, you know...that's quick, 158 00:10:08,207 --> 00:10:12,519 they got a machine that goes, like, fr-r-t, real quick, fr-r-t, 159 00:10:12,567 --> 00:10:15,035 and it counts real quick, real quick. 160 00:10:15,087 --> 00:10:18,557 And by the time that thing hit four that's how quick, 161 00:10:18,607 --> 00:10:21,599 from the time the punch started to where it landed 162 00:10:21,647 --> 00:10:25,925 was 4/100ths of a second, an eye blink, like a camera flash. 163 00:10:25,967 --> 00:10:27,958 That's 4/100ths of a second. 164 00:10:28,007 --> 00:10:31,363 When I hit Sonny Liston all those people blinked, 165 00:10:31,407 --> 00:10:33,204 so they didn't see it. 166 00:10:33,247 --> 00:10:35,477 - I swear! 167 00:10:35,527 --> 00:10:39,440 If you watch the film close, keep your eyes real close... 168 00:10:39,487 --> 00:10:41,523 - Keep looking. 169 00:10:41,567 --> 00:10:43,717 I'm getting ready to hit him. 170 00:10:43,767 --> 00:10:48,124 You got to hold your eyes and wait or you won't see it, man! 171 00:10:48,167 --> 00:10:51,079 Ali was a beautiful...specimen, 172 00:10:51,127 --> 00:10:52,765 a fighting machine. 173 00:10:52,807 --> 00:10:57,927 He was handsome, he was articulate, he was funny, 174 00:10:58,727 --> 00:11:00,718 charismatic. 175 00:11:00,767 --> 00:11:03,156 And was whuppin' ass too. 176 00:11:03,207 --> 00:11:06,756 'Deposed champion Cassius Clay, at court in Houston, 177 00:11:06,807 --> 00:11:09,685 'is found guilty of violating Selective Service laws 178 00:11:09,727 --> 00:11:11,718 'by refusing to be inducted. 179 00:11:11,767 --> 00:11:15,316 'He is sentenced to five years in prison and fined $10,000.' 180 00:11:15,367 --> 00:11:18,404 'The way he fused politics and sports. 181 00:11:18,447 --> 00:11:22,998 'Very few Black athletes had ever talked the way Muhammad Ali talked 182 00:11:23,047 --> 00:11:26,483 'without fear of something happening to their careers.' 183 00:11:26,527 --> 00:11:29,485 '..as a Moslem minister made him exempt...' 184 00:11:29,527 --> 00:11:33,520 'He was already very unpopular with mainstream Americans 185 00:11:33,567 --> 00:11:36,525 'because he had joined the Nation of Islam, 186 00:11:36,567 --> 00:11:40,242 'which was perceived as a radical Black separatist group.' 187 00:11:40,287 --> 00:11:43,518 On top of that, when he was called for induction 188 00:11:43,567 --> 00:11:46,001 he refused to take the step forward. 189 00:11:46,047 --> 00:11:48,515 He absolutely infuriated America. 190 00:11:48,567 --> 00:11:52,276 Muhammad Ali said, "No Viet Cong ever called me nigger." 191 00:11:52,327 --> 00:11:54,716 The king is going home to get his throne. 192 00:11:54,767 --> 00:11:57,964 From root to fruit, that's where everything started at. 193 00:11:58,007 --> 00:12:00,521 This is God's act and you're part of it. 194 00:12:00,567 --> 00:12:02,876 This is no Hollywood set, this is real. 195 00:12:02,927 --> 00:12:04,918 Hollywood set up these scenes, 196 00:12:04,967 --> 00:12:07,322 have somebody in the movies playing his life. 197 00:12:07,367 --> 00:12:09,278 We don't pick up a script. 198 00:12:09,327 --> 00:12:11,158 We get up in the morning, 199 00:12:11,207 --> 00:12:13,926 sometimes we feel good, sometimes bad, 200 00:12:13,967 --> 00:12:16,197 but we go through it with feeling. 201 00:12:16,247 --> 00:12:20,479 'Muhammad Ali's a prophet, he gonna be a fisherman for Elijah Muhammad. 202 00:12:20,527 --> 00:12:24,918 'This is only a stop, look and listen sign he's doing, fighting.' 203 00:12:25,687 --> 00:12:28,485 We been fightin' ever since we met. 204 00:12:28,527 --> 00:12:32,600 We beat Uncle Sam, come out of the garage and beat number two. 205 00:12:32,647 --> 00:12:36,117 First man ever did it. Rest of 'em they put out of the country. 206 00:12:39,327 --> 00:12:42,080 'This is God's act, we just actors in it. 207 00:12:42,127 --> 00:12:45,563 'If Jesus was here everybody'd want his autograph 208 00:12:45,607 --> 00:12:47,438 'and they'd be filming him. 209 00:12:47,487 --> 00:12:51,162 'This is a sport, that's why you walking, talk to him.' 210 00:12:51,207 --> 00:12:54,995 I think Muhammad is a prophet. How you gonna beat God's son? 211 00:12:55,727 --> 00:12:59,322 Anybody who loves poor people and little people gotta be a prophet. 212 00:12:59,367 --> 00:13:02,279 He was champion of the world, had a table full of food. 213 00:13:02,327 --> 00:13:06,843 Had a house for his mother, one for him and he told 'em to shove it. 214 00:13:06,887 --> 00:13:12,280 If he couldn't love his god, what do you think he is...mister? 217 00:13:25,447 --> 00:13:29,486 'Ali trained for the Foreman fight at Deer Lake, Pennsylvania. 218 00:13:29,527 --> 00:13:31,995 'He trained very hard for that fight, 219 00:13:32,047 --> 00:13:34,607 'and had very good sparring partners. 220 00:13:34,647 --> 00:13:36,842 'Larry Holmes was one of them. 221 00:13:36,887 --> 00:13:41,244 'I was struck with how well he actually handled Ali 222 00:13:41,287 --> 00:13:43,755 'in their sparring sessions. 223 00:13:43,807 --> 00:13:46,685 'He dominated Ali. That wasn't uncommon. 224 00:13:46,727 --> 00:13:51,039 'Ali would often not show his best stuff with sparring partners, 225 00:13:51,087 --> 00:13:53,078 'but would work on his weaknesses. 226 00:13:53,127 --> 00:13:56,403 'He'd go against the ropes and let people pummel him, 227 00:13:56,447 --> 00:13:59,519 'very heavy hitters, he'd let them bang away at him. 228 00:13:59,567 --> 00:14:03,606 'As if he was training his body to receive these messages of punishment 229 00:14:03,647 --> 00:14:07,003 'and absorb them faster than other fighters could absorb them.' 230 00:14:09,567 --> 00:14:14,925 'This is in Africa because they came up with $10 million.' 231 00:14:14,967 --> 00:14:17,242 $5 million for George Foreman, 232 00:14:17,287 --> 00:14:19,084 $5 million for me. 233 00:14:19,127 --> 00:14:23,006 England was trying to get it. A promoter said America was trying, 234 00:14:23,047 --> 00:14:25,925 but none could surpass the $5 million mark. 235 00:14:25,967 --> 00:14:28,117 The dream is becoming a reality. 236 00:14:28,167 --> 00:14:31,045 'Don King went to George Foreman 237 00:14:31,087 --> 00:14:33,237 'and got him to sign an agreement 238 00:14:33,287 --> 00:14:38,156 'saying that if King could deliver $5 million, Foreman would fight Ali. 239 00:14:38,207 --> 00:14:41,722 'Then King went to Ali and made the same deal, 240 00:14:41,767 --> 00:14:44,406 'so Don King now had both fighters, 241 00:14:44,447 --> 00:14:47,200 'their signatures on a piece of paper. 242 00:14:47,247 --> 00:14:49,886 'What he didn't have was $10 million.' 243 00:14:49,927 --> 00:14:53,681 ..a festival to complement this great sporting event, 244 00:14:53,727 --> 00:14:56,480 the greatest sporting event in history. 245 00:14:56,527 --> 00:14:59,405 - Of all time! - All time, as the champ says. 246 00:14:59,447 --> 00:15:01,324 Greatest event of all time! 247 00:15:01,367 --> 00:15:05,645 Bigger than Evel Knievel and the Kentucky Derby on the same day. 248 00:15:05,687 --> 00:15:09,760 The president of Zaire was willing to put $10 million 249 00:15:09,807 --> 00:15:14,881 of his country's own very scarce, hard-earned currency on the line, 250 00:15:14,927 --> 00:15:17,760 not for any short-term economic reason 251 00:15:17,807 --> 00:15:21,163 but because he felt that the fight would be good 252 00:15:21,207 --> 00:15:25,803 in terms of promoting Zaire and also in terms of promoting himself, 253 00:15:25,847 --> 00:15:27,644 and as Ali said at the time, 254 00:15:27,687 --> 00:15:30,884 countries go to war to get their names on the map 255 00:15:30,927 --> 00:15:33,725 and wars cost a lot more than $10 million. 256 00:15:33,767 --> 00:15:37,919 Some of the most dynamic performers from Afro-America 257 00:15:37,967 --> 00:15:42,279 will appear at the stadium in Kinshasa on the 20th, 21st and 22nd, 258 00:15:42,327 --> 00:15:44,716 with this theatrical release. 259 00:15:44,767 --> 00:15:48,203 It will be James Brown, soul brother number one... 260 00:15:48,247 --> 00:15:51,842 - Is he playing? - Yes, James Brown will be there. 261 00:15:51,887 --> 00:15:54,765 We will have BB King, The Spinners... 262 00:15:54,807 --> 00:16:00,677 This is the first assembly in history where the top-notch Blacks of America 263 00:16:00,727 --> 00:16:05,323 and the people of Africa had something together, all on a level, 264 00:16:05,367 --> 00:16:08,723 we're all meeting and learning more about each other, 265 00:16:08,767 --> 00:16:12,760 the first assembly among American Black men and Africans in history 266 00:16:12,807 --> 00:16:14,604 and it's a big honour. 267 00:16:14,647 --> 00:16:16,524 Plus I gotta whup George! 268 00:16:17,327 --> 00:16:19,283 'Got to whup George!' 269 00:16:19,327 --> 00:16:22,603 We're gonna rumble in the jungle! 270 00:16:22,647 --> 00:16:24,638 Come on, come on. 271 00:16:28,967 --> 00:16:31,356 Speak up, boy. Go ahead. 272 00:16:33,367 --> 00:16:35,835 - Good boy. 273 00:16:35,887 --> 00:16:37,525 Get down. 274 00:16:38,567 --> 00:16:40,364 - Quiet. - George? 275 00:16:40,407 --> 00:16:44,036 Is this fight against Ali the toughest of your career? 277 00:16:49,247 --> 00:16:52,205 Could be, could be. I doubt it. 278 00:16:52,247 --> 00:16:56,479 This is Muhammad Ali, September 10th at New York City airport, 279 00:16:56,527 --> 00:17:00,520 en route to Zaire to reclaim the heavyweight title of the world. 280 00:17:00,567 --> 00:17:04,082 Champ, what would you like to say to the children of the world? 281 00:17:04,127 --> 00:17:09,485 I'd like to say, mainly where they understand English in America, 282 00:17:09,527 --> 00:17:13,918 to...live a clean life, stay off the dope. 283 00:17:13,967 --> 00:17:16,162 It's tearing the country up. 284 00:17:16,207 --> 00:17:20,519 Also, if they wanna be like me, I'm going to whup George Foreman, 285 00:17:20,567 --> 00:17:23,525 and when they see this I will have beaten him. 286 00:17:23,567 --> 00:17:26,206 Tell them to quit eating so much candy, 287 00:17:26,247 --> 00:17:30,160 I have three rotten teeth and I had to have one of 'em pulled, 288 00:17:30,207 --> 00:17:32,402 I can't chew my food like I should. 289 00:17:32,447 --> 00:17:36,884 Eat natural foods because we must whup Mr Tooth Decay. 290 00:17:36,927 --> 00:17:39,395 I got one right there and one there. 291 00:17:39,447 --> 00:17:44,077 Ali told us he's going to use part of his money to build a hospital. 292 00:17:44,127 --> 00:17:49,076 Do you intend to use part of your money for something, a project? 293 00:17:49,967 --> 00:17:53,323 He may think he may have to be in the hospital. 294 00:17:53,367 --> 00:17:55,437 I want the man! 295 00:17:55,487 --> 00:17:59,799 When I get to Africa we gonna get it on because we don't get along! 296 00:17:59,847 --> 00:18:02,156 I don't like him, he talks too much. 297 00:18:02,207 --> 00:18:05,324 - Beg your pardon? - You would continue boxing 298 00:18:05,367 --> 00:18:07,927 - even if you lose? - I beg your pardon? 299 00:18:07,967 --> 00:18:11,004 - You don't think about losing? 300 00:18:11,047 --> 00:18:14,005 No. But thank you. Nice talking to you. 301 00:18:15,247 --> 00:18:17,761 Flying over the Sahara desert. 302 00:18:17,807 --> 00:18:23,040 An African airline with all African stewardesses, all African pilots. 303 00:18:23,087 --> 00:18:26,443 This is the first free feeling I had in a long time. 304 00:18:26,487 --> 00:18:30,799 Ain't this something, flying in an airplane with Black pilots? 305 00:18:30,847 --> 00:18:34,840 All Black crew? This is strange to the American Negro. 306 00:18:34,887 --> 00:18:36,878 We never dreamed of this! 307 00:18:36,927 --> 00:18:41,557 Every time we watch TV they show us Tarzan and the natives and jungles, 308 00:18:41,607 --> 00:18:46,158 they never told us that Africans were more intelligent than we are. 309 00:18:46,207 --> 00:18:49,882 They speak English, French and African. 310 00:18:49,927 --> 00:18:52,157 We can't even speak English good. 312 00:19:06,327 --> 00:19:08,921 Ain't this beautiful? I'm free! 313 00:19:08,967 --> 00:19:10,559 Fantastic! 314 00:19:10,607 --> 00:19:12,165 I'm free. 315 00:19:12,207 --> 00:19:13,959 # Now, I want everybody 316 00:19:14,007 --> 00:19:15,804 # To repeat after me 317 00:19:17,047 --> 00:19:20,756 # If you don't know who you are and where your place in life is 318 00:19:20,807 --> 00:19:23,241 # Just say to yourself, I am! 319 00:19:24,447 --> 00:19:26,358 # Somebody! 320 00:19:26,407 --> 00:19:28,238 # I am! 321 00:19:28,287 --> 00:19:29,879 # Somebody! 322 00:19:29,927 --> 00:19:31,883 # I may be poor 323 00:19:33,127 --> 00:19:34,640 # But I am somebody # 324 00:19:40,687 --> 00:19:42,837 'It was a great joy 325 00:19:42,887 --> 00:19:46,960 'to see that the championship was going to happen in Africa. 326 00:19:47,007 --> 00:19:49,441 'People were so happy. 327 00:19:49,487 --> 00:19:53,480 'At last the world was paying attention to our continent. 328 00:19:53,527 --> 00:19:56,678 'Yes, we knew Muhammad Ali as a boxer, 329 00:19:56,727 --> 00:20:00,276 'but more importantly for his political stance. 330 00:20:00,327 --> 00:20:05,959 'When we saw that America was at war with a Third World country, Vietnam, 331 00:20:06,007 --> 00:20:10,717 'and that one of the children of the United States said 332 00:20:10,767 --> 00:20:14,919 '"Me? You want me to go and fight against the Viet Cong?" 333 00:20:14,967 --> 00:20:18,960 '"Why should I fight against them? They haven't hurt me." 334 00:20:19,007 --> 00:20:24,365 'And for us, it was extraordinary to see that in the America of that time 335 00:20:24,407 --> 00:20:27,365 'someone could take such a position. 336 00:20:27,407 --> 00:20:32,003 'He may have lost his title, he may have lost millions of dollars 337 00:20:32,047 --> 00:20:35,642 'but he gained the esteem of millions of Africans.' 338 00:20:35,687 --> 00:20:39,316 Ali! Ali! Ali! 339 00:20:42,767 --> 00:20:45,361 What is your population? 341 00:20:47,567 --> 00:20:50,365 - 22 million. - 22 million? 342 00:20:50,407 --> 00:20:54,082 - 22 million. - How many George Foreman fans here? 344 00:20:56,167 --> 00:20:59,159 - We don't know, we don't know. 345 00:20:59,207 --> 00:21:03,280 - How many Muhammad Ali? - So many we cannot count them. 347 00:21:05,167 --> 00:21:10,719 'George Foreman? We had heard he was a world champion. 348 00:21:10,767 --> 00:21:16,046 'We thought he was white, then we realised he was black, like Ali. 349 00:21:16,087 --> 00:21:20,478 'But still, for us, Foreman represented America. 350 00:21:20,527 --> 00:21:23,644 'He arrived with a dog, a German shepherd, 351 00:21:23,687 --> 00:21:26,406 'which immediately offended Africans 352 00:21:26,447 --> 00:21:30,235 'since the Belgians had used them as police dogs.' 353 00:21:30,287 --> 00:21:33,404 Ali said you're the out-of-towner here. 354 00:21:33,447 --> 00:21:38,157 Africa is the cradle of civilisation, everybody's home is Africa. 356 00:22:23,767 --> 00:22:27,680 OK, fine. So, they're leaving tomorrow... 357 00:22:27,727 --> 00:22:32,437 Typhoid. How do you spell typhoid? Is that all that we're giving? 358 00:22:32,487 --> 00:22:37,515 Who do you want to be your beneficiary in case of anything? 359 00:22:37,567 --> 00:22:40,604 'You need a ticket to get on the plane.' 360 00:22:40,647 --> 00:22:44,925 Let me see some hands of the 51 who don't have airline tickets. 361 00:22:44,967 --> 00:22:49,358 Hi! You know who we are, don't you? 362 00:22:50,447 --> 00:22:55,680 I'm Lola Love, I'm with the dancers of the James Brown show, revue. 363 00:22:58,647 --> 00:23:02,435 Zai-ere, or Zare, or whatever, you know? 364 00:23:02,487 --> 00:23:04,876 Yeah, when are gonna get to Zee-air? 365 00:23:04,927 --> 00:23:07,316 - Who? - Mobutu land. 366 00:23:08,807 --> 00:23:12,277 We're gonna fly in zee-air till we get to Zaire. 367 00:23:12,327 --> 00:23:14,318 That's right! 368 00:23:17,367 --> 00:23:19,642 # Sittin' in a railway station 369 00:23:19,687 --> 00:23:22,121 # My suitcase in my hand 370 00:23:22,167 --> 00:23:24,044 # Going back where I came from 371 00:23:24,087 --> 00:23:26,442 # I've had more than I can stand 372 00:23:26,487 --> 00:23:29,445 # Marchin' in beside my dreams 373 00:23:29,487 --> 00:23:31,762 # Pack my things and live those dreams 374 00:23:31,807 --> 00:23:33,877 # I was up but then I've been down 375 00:23:33,927 --> 00:23:35,724 # Ain't gonna hang around 376 00:23:35,767 --> 00:23:39,919 # I'm coming home 377 00:23:39,967 --> 00:23:43,323 # Uh-huh, yes, I am 378 00:23:43,847 --> 00:23:46,281 # More than I can stand, my daughter 379 00:23:46,327 --> 00:23:47,919 # Tell someone to meet me 380 00:23:47,967 --> 00:23:52,245 # I'm comin' home 381 00:23:54,087 --> 00:23:57,636 # Why don't you, mercy me 382 00:23:57,687 --> 00:24:00,201 # Ooh-hoo, let me tell ya 383 00:24:00,567 --> 00:24:03,001 # Came to this old town 384 00:24:03,047 --> 00:24:05,083 # Some fortune and some fame 385 00:24:05,127 --> 00:24:08,039 # Never got the chance to prove myself 386 00:24:08,087 --> 00:24:10,282 # Tryin' to play every game 387 00:24:10,327 --> 00:24:12,795 # Abusin' people just ain't my thing 388 00:24:12,847 --> 00:24:14,963 # I won't dangle from any string 389 00:24:15,007 --> 00:24:18,966 # Peace movement don't care about now turning inside out 390 00:24:19,007 --> 00:24:22,795 # I'm coming home, home, yeah 391 00:24:22,847 --> 00:24:24,439 # It's mighty long 392 00:24:24,487 --> 00:24:26,842 # I got it, you know too 393 00:24:26,887 --> 00:24:29,276 # Hey, I know what I'm gonna do 394 00:24:29,327 --> 00:24:31,397 # Tell someone to meet me 395 00:24:31,447 --> 00:24:34,519 # Oh, come on 396 00:24:34,567 --> 00:24:37,445 # Yes, I am, yeah! 397 00:24:37,487 --> 00:24:39,603 # Tell someone to meet me 398 00:24:41,967 --> 00:24:43,764 # I got it, look here! # 399 00:24:44,487 --> 00:24:48,162 The plane is not coming in at six, it's now coming in between 10 and 11, 400 00:24:48,207 --> 00:24:52,086 so you don't have to have those trucks up to the airport that early. 401 00:24:52,127 --> 00:24:55,722 - Where's James Brown...? - James Brown is on his way. 402 00:24:55,767 --> 00:24:58,440 BB King... They ain't nowhere around! 403 00:25:07,287 --> 00:25:10,404 Six, fifth and fourth are done. Elevators are working. 404 00:25:10,447 --> 00:25:12,881 There's no air conditioning at all? 405 00:25:12,927 --> 00:25:16,556 80%'s out. The circuits are in but it doesn't work. 406 00:25:16,607 --> 00:25:20,043 What do you mean, 80%? What floor is out? 407 00:25:20,087 --> 00:25:22,157 I have sixth, fifth and fourth. 408 00:25:22,207 --> 00:25:24,402 I understand, but what about... 409 00:25:24,447 --> 00:25:27,678 It's individual air conditioning controls... 410 00:25:27,727 --> 00:25:30,525 What apartments have air conditioning? 411 00:25:30,567 --> 00:25:33,684 How many beds can we move people into tonight? 412 00:25:33,727 --> 00:25:36,116 - Four. Four rooms. - Just eight people? 413 00:25:36,167 --> 00:25:37,566 Yeah. 414 00:25:38,927 --> 00:25:41,077 # Everything gonna be all right 415 00:25:41,127 --> 00:25:43,516 # Cos home's where the heart's at, yeah 416 00:25:43,567 --> 00:25:45,319 # And it's a natural fact 417 00:25:45,367 --> 00:25:47,358 # What you sayin' tell me, won't you? 418 00:25:47,407 --> 00:25:49,204 # Yeah, hey hey 419 00:25:49,247 --> 00:25:50,839 # Gotta make a start today 420 00:25:51,687 --> 00:25:54,076 # Gotta do it in my way 421 00:25:54,127 --> 00:25:56,038 # Gonna see Momma again 422 00:25:56,087 --> 00:25:58,396 # Gonna see my old, old friend 423 00:25:58,447 --> 00:25:59,766 # Africa! 424 00:26:00,367 --> 00:26:01,800 # Africa! 425 00:26:02,807 --> 00:26:04,399 # Africa! 426 00:26:04,447 --> 00:26:06,961 # Ohh, Africa! # 427 00:26:08,007 --> 00:26:09,804 Hello, bubba! 428 00:26:10,687 --> 00:26:12,484 How you doin'? 429 00:26:15,887 --> 00:26:19,004 Ready to dance? I got ants in my pants, I gotta dance. 430 00:26:22,407 --> 00:26:25,205 'The fight was held in Zaire, the former Belgian Congo. 431 00:26:25,247 --> 00:26:28,045 'Kinshasa was the capital on the banks of the Congo, 432 00:26:28,087 --> 00:26:30,806 'this was just before the rainy season.' 433 00:26:30,847 --> 00:26:33,486 Up to the north was the flickering of storms, 434 00:26:33,527 --> 00:26:36,644 and it was important to the promoters 435 00:26:36,687 --> 00:26:39,485 that this fight get in before the storms occurred, 436 00:26:39,527 --> 00:26:42,963 because once the rainy season comes you can't do anything. 437 00:26:43,007 --> 00:26:46,795 The Congo had such a wonderful name, Conradian and all that. 438 00:26:46,847 --> 00:26:49,441 To call it Zaire didn't have quite the majesty, 439 00:26:49,487 --> 00:26:51,364 but there it was, the Congo. 440 00:27:11,847 --> 00:27:14,156 'Mobutu was everywhere. 441 00:27:14,207 --> 00:27:16,562 'He was the equivalent of Stalin.' 442 00:27:16,607 --> 00:27:18,757 'You saw his picture everywhere.' 443 00:27:18,807 --> 00:27:22,516 Part of the vanity of dictators, with the exception of Mussolini, 444 00:27:22,567 --> 00:27:25,286 who was half ugly and half attractive, 445 00:27:25,327 --> 00:27:29,684 most dictators are unbelievably ugly or plain - Franco, Hitler... 446 00:27:34,007 --> 00:27:38,444 'Mobutu looked the archetype, the epitome of a closet sadist. 447 00:27:38,487 --> 00:27:42,082 'Sort of guy, if you meet him in a bar, you think, "Oh, my God! 448 00:27:42,127 --> 00:27:45,642 '"Who are the poor women who are associated with this fella?" 449 00:27:51,687 --> 00:27:55,805 'And since Mobutu was an extraordinarily practical man, 450 00:27:55,847 --> 00:27:59,601 'down under the stadium, which seated 100,000 people, 451 00:27:59,647 --> 00:28:02,684 'were detention pens and rooms and chambers 452 00:28:02,727 --> 00:28:07,198 'where you could imprison as many as a couple of thousand people. 453 00:28:07,247 --> 00:28:11,877 'Before the fight came, the criminal rate in Zaire began to go up.' 454 00:28:11,927 --> 00:28:16,717 A few white foreigners had been killed, driving their cars. 455 00:28:16,767 --> 00:28:21,716 And Mobutu decided that this would be a disaster in terms of publicity, 456 00:28:21,767 --> 00:28:28,366 so on a given day he had a thousand of the leading criminals in Kinshasa 457 00:28:28,407 --> 00:28:33,959 rounded up and put in this stadium, down in the detention pens. 458 00:28:34,007 --> 00:28:38,558 'And then the legend has it, and I suspect the legend may even be true, 459 00:28:38,607 --> 00:28:42,077 'that he had 100 taken at random and killed them. 460 00:28:42,127 --> 00:28:44,766 'And the reason was a particularly simple one 461 00:28:44,807 --> 00:28:46,798 'from Mobutu's point of view.' 462 00:28:46,847 --> 00:28:51,045 Career criminals have connections who protect them when they're in trouble, 463 00:28:51,087 --> 00:28:54,602 and by making this kill of 100 out of 1,000 arbitrarily, 464 00:28:54,647 --> 00:28:59,118 Mobutu was saying "Your connections are worth nothing. I am Jehovah. 465 00:28:59,167 --> 00:29:03,604 '"I will blast you out of existence if you fool around with me."' 466 00:29:10,887 --> 00:29:15,358 'He made his point, Kinshasa was one of the safest cities in Africa, 467 00:29:15,407 --> 00:29:19,400 'in all the world, while the foreign press was there for the fight.' 469 00:29:32,407 --> 00:29:36,798 'To me, the drum was the communicator since the beginning of time, 470 00:29:36,847 --> 00:29:39,884 'I'm sure it was the first message ever sent. 471 00:29:39,927 --> 00:29:42,964 'The beat today and the beats centuries ago 472 00:29:43,007 --> 00:29:46,124 'are the only thing that's kept us together.' 473 00:29:50,807 --> 00:29:55,278 We had this thing, when we hurt, we sung for trial and tribulation, 474 00:29:55,327 --> 00:29:57,966 and for relief, we sung songs to God 475 00:29:58,007 --> 00:30:01,522 and this music that you hear today is the same songs 476 00:30:01,567 --> 00:30:06,197 that have been made popular around the world without any volition. 477 00:30:07,087 --> 00:30:08,486 Oh! 478 00:30:39,887 --> 00:30:42,162 'So anybody who knows anything 479 00:30:42,207 --> 00:30:45,836 'about the rhythm and the blues as they're so-called, 480 00:30:45,887 --> 00:30:47,923 'should know about Africa.' 481 00:30:48,607 --> 00:30:51,075 # When I first met you, baby 482 00:30:56,127 --> 00:30:58,800 # Baby, you were just 483 00:30:58,847 --> 00:31:00,644 # Sweet sixteen 484 00:31:03,127 --> 00:31:05,595 # When I first met you, baby 485 00:31:08,527 --> 00:31:13,396 # Baby, you was just sweet sixteen 486 00:31:17,807 --> 00:31:20,879 # Just off your homeland, baby 487 00:31:23,687 --> 00:31:28,556 # Oh, the sweetest thing I'd ever seen # 488 00:31:34,327 --> 00:31:38,320 The music I listen to, in most white people's houses, I don't hear this, 489 00:31:38,367 --> 00:31:40,358 because your culture wouldn't... 490 00:31:40,407 --> 00:31:44,525 Your woman doesn't leave you and slip away like our women, 491 00:31:44,567 --> 00:31:47,365 because you had money to keep your woman. 492 00:31:47,407 --> 00:31:51,639 Your songs are like, "And the train comes around that mountain, 493 00:31:51,687 --> 00:31:55,441 "In the Folsom Prison, in the Folsom Prison". 494 00:31:55,487 --> 00:31:57,876 You know, "Y'all come, y'all come." 495 00:31:57,927 --> 00:32:01,602 Chinese got diddly music, "Pleen ting tang tong ting." 496 00:32:01,647 --> 00:32:05,799 I don't want that and he understands. Everybody's got their culture. 497 00:32:05,847 --> 00:32:10,716 So we're not saying we hate you or we're never talking to you again 498 00:32:10,767 --> 00:32:13,235 and doing business, we don't do that. 499 00:32:13,287 --> 00:32:16,518 We're saying that we want to be independent. 500 00:32:16,567 --> 00:32:18,205 # Baby, I wonder 501 00:32:18,247 --> 00:32:19,646 # Yes, I wonder 502 00:32:19,687 --> 00:32:21,439 # Baby, I wonder 503 00:32:25,647 --> 00:32:31,756 # Oh, I wonder what in the world is gonna happen to me # 504 00:32:39,127 --> 00:32:42,517 'The great place to visit in Kinshasa 505 00:32:42,567 --> 00:32:45,127 'was a compound about 20 miles up the Congo. 506 00:32:45,167 --> 00:32:48,603 'A place called Enseli, a presidential palace. 507 00:32:48,647 --> 00:32:52,799 'That was where we saw Foreman, who seemed incredible.' 508 00:32:52,847 --> 00:32:56,396 I'd seen him fight before, I saw him destroy Frazier 509 00:32:56,447 --> 00:33:00,440 and the thing I always remembered was that the beaten fighter, 510 00:33:00,487 --> 00:33:03,285 even a man as powerful and big as Frazier, 511 00:33:03,327 --> 00:33:06,125 and he was very much favoured to win that, 512 00:33:06,167 --> 00:33:08,635 suddenly becomes the size of a pygmy. 513 00:33:08,687 --> 00:33:11,201 They just diminish in size, 514 00:33:11,247 --> 00:33:15,365 and Foreman suddenly became this gigantic figure. 515 00:33:17,327 --> 00:33:21,002 'And he had a trainer, Dick Sadler, tiny by comparison, 516 00:33:21,047 --> 00:33:25,723 'and Sadler would hang on to this heavy bag while Foreman would hit it. 517 00:33:25,767 --> 00:33:28,998 'Sadler would have been picked off his feet.' 518 00:33:30,527 --> 00:33:32,563 'Foreman hitting the bag 519 00:33:32,607 --> 00:33:37,123 'is one of the more prodigious sights I've had in my life. 520 00:33:37,167 --> 00:33:41,399 'Of all the people I've seen hit heavy bags, including Sonny Liston, 521 00:33:41,447 --> 00:33:43,756 'no one hit it the way Foreman did.' 522 00:33:43,807 --> 00:33:47,846 At the end of 15 minutes of pounding the heavy bag, 523 00:33:47,887 --> 00:33:52,085 there'd be a hole, not a hole but a huge dent, 524 00:33:52,127 --> 00:33:56,245 the size of half a small watermelon in that tremendous bag, 525 00:33:56,287 --> 00:33:59,643 and Foreman used to use the biggest heavy bag around. 526 00:33:59,687 --> 00:34:03,839 'What would be interesting is Ali, who would train after Foreman, 527 00:34:03,887 --> 00:34:07,800 'would pass this large hall where the training took place 528 00:34:07,847 --> 00:34:10,964 'and he never looked at Foreman hitting the heavy bag. 529 00:34:11,007 --> 00:34:14,158 'He just walked right by as if Foreman didn't exist. 530 00:34:14,207 --> 00:34:16,277 'If you were gonna fight the man 531 00:34:16,327 --> 00:34:19,842 'you didn't want to see him hitting that heavy bag.' 532 00:34:19,887 --> 00:34:22,526 I'm a speed demon! I'm a brain fighter! 533 00:34:22,567 --> 00:34:24,637 I'm scientific! I'm artistic! 534 00:34:24,687 --> 00:34:26,518 I plan my strategy! 535 00:34:27,407 --> 00:34:29,523 He's the bull, I'm the matador! 536 00:34:31,807 --> 00:34:33,718 He's scared to death. 537 00:34:34,007 --> 00:34:35,998 He's scared to death! 538 00:34:38,007 --> 00:34:40,885 He wish he could get out of the whole thing! 539 00:34:40,927 --> 00:34:44,442 He wish he could get out of the whole thing! The man is frightened! 540 00:34:44,487 --> 00:34:48,162 He's meetin' his master, his teacher, his idol! 541 00:34:48,207 --> 00:34:50,437 - Time! - Is that all? 543 00:34:52,407 --> 00:34:55,604 When I talk and work I'm in shape, it's all I do. 544 00:34:56,687 --> 00:34:59,759 'Ali announced he was gonna dance. 545 00:34:59,807 --> 00:35:01,843 'He spoke about it all the time. 546 00:35:01,887 --> 00:35:04,640 'Every interview in that period he'd say 547 00:35:04,687 --> 00:35:08,600 '"How is Foreman going to get near to me? I'm going to dance! 548 00:35:08,647 --> 00:35:13,198 '"I'm going to dance and dance! He'll look foolish trying to find me.' 549 00:35:13,247 --> 00:35:15,636 "And as he gropes his way forward 550 00:35:15,687 --> 00:35:19,362 "in this storm of blindness at the speed of my dancing 551 00:35:19,407 --> 00:35:21,398 "I will strike him with my jab! 552 00:35:21,447 --> 00:35:24,245 "Poo! Poo! Poo!" he would go and so forth. 553 00:35:24,287 --> 00:35:27,836 We heard this over and over and Foreman heard it too. 554 00:35:29,207 --> 00:35:32,961 'Foreman was working now on what's called cutting off the ring. 555 00:35:33,007 --> 00:35:35,077 'This essentially just means 556 00:35:35,127 --> 00:35:39,120 'cornering your opponent against the ropes or in a corner. 557 00:35:39,167 --> 00:35:43,365 'It's an art, a balletic art, you have to have very good footwork. 558 00:35:43,407 --> 00:35:45,557 'Foreman's footwork, he was a big man, 559 00:35:45,607 --> 00:35:48,644 'but his footwork was better than anyone had expected. 560 00:35:48,687 --> 00:35:50,803 'He worked with very fast fighters, 561 00:35:50,847 --> 00:35:53,645 'smaller than himself, who certainly could dance 562 00:35:53,687 --> 00:35:55,678 'and he worked on cornering them. 563 00:35:55,727 --> 00:35:58,924 'And the combination of watching the heavy bag 564 00:35:58,967 --> 00:36:01,606 'and watching Foreman cut off the ring 565 00:36:01,647 --> 00:36:04,719 'made most fight writers, myself included, 566 00:36:04,767 --> 00:36:07,235 'pessimistic about Ali's chances.' 567 00:36:40,127 --> 00:36:44,120 The guy threw up his elbows to protect himself from Foreman 568 00:36:44,167 --> 00:36:46,635 and Foreman walked into his elbow. 569 00:36:46,687 --> 00:36:48,598 That's how he got cut in the eye? 570 00:36:57,207 --> 00:36:58,276 What else can happen? 571 00:37:00,887 --> 00:37:03,526 I saw the man's cut and this man cannot fight. 572 00:37:03,567 --> 00:37:06,604 This man cannot fight for a world championship... 573 00:37:06,647 --> 00:37:10,083 - You're not a doctor. - I don't give a damn. I know what... 574 00:37:10,127 --> 00:37:13,722 The Zaireans kicked us out and they did not want us around, 575 00:37:13,767 --> 00:37:17,521 and they want the fight to go on, that's all there is to it. 576 00:37:17,567 --> 00:37:20,365 He won't fight with that eye, he's not dumb. 577 00:37:20,407 --> 00:37:22,045 He's not that dumb? 578 00:37:22,087 --> 00:37:24,555 That's all you want is a fight. 579 00:37:24,607 --> 00:37:26,359 Excuse me, gentlemen. 580 00:37:31,607 --> 00:37:36,397 I respectfully ask are the fighters remaining here because they want to 581 00:37:36,447 --> 00:37:39,564 or has the government requested they remain? 582 00:37:46,087 --> 00:37:50,000 Mr Sadler told me to convey to the press 583 00:37:50,047 --> 00:37:51,924 that it is just an accident. 584 00:37:51,967 --> 00:37:55,596 They will be contacting the promoters of the fight 585 00:37:55,647 --> 00:37:59,162 and it is possible that we may have to delay the fight 586 00:37:59,207 --> 00:38:02,404 and he will let the press know as soon as possible. 587 00:38:02,447 --> 00:38:04,836 Did they have to stitch Foreman? 588 00:38:04,887 --> 00:38:07,685 They had to stitch him. Holy shit, man. 589 00:38:07,727 --> 00:38:09,604 So how long is the delay? 590 00:38:09,647 --> 00:38:13,799 It'll take a day to get any intelligence, this just happened. 591 00:38:13,847 --> 00:38:15,838 Then we can make a decision. 592 00:38:15,887 --> 00:38:17,718 How does George feel? 593 00:38:17,767 --> 00:38:21,680 Like anybody, he's only human. How would any individual feel? 594 00:38:21,727 --> 00:38:24,241 Does he want it postponed? 595 00:38:24,287 --> 00:38:26,084 Who? Why should he? 596 00:38:26,127 --> 00:38:30,518 - Should he go ahead with it? - Why should he make any decision? 597 00:38:30,567 --> 00:38:33,081 Who knows what another man thinks? 598 00:38:33,127 --> 00:38:36,915 How could I truthfully tell you what you would think? 599 00:38:36,967 --> 00:38:41,040 A man may have mixed emotions, I couldn't speak for George, 600 00:38:41,087 --> 00:38:44,602 I can only speak for Dick Sadler, not for somebody else. 601 00:38:44,647 --> 00:38:46,558 I'm not that intelligent, 602 00:38:46,607 --> 00:38:51,442 I don't have that knowledge, that ability to speak another man's mind. 603 00:38:51,487 --> 00:38:53,398 He never discussed it to me, 604 00:38:53,447 --> 00:38:56,484 and a person's mind change from time to time. 605 00:38:56,527 --> 00:38:59,644 - The decision is yours... - It is mine to make 606 00:38:59,687 --> 00:39:04,044 and I haven't made any... I don't have any decisions to make. 607 00:39:04,087 --> 00:39:07,045 Let's get this show on the road. 608 00:39:07,087 --> 00:39:10,363 This meeting is called to order. Here, here. 609 00:39:10,407 --> 00:39:15,003 The delay won't have any effect on the fight at all. 610 00:39:15,047 --> 00:39:18,357 There hasn't been... there will not be a delay. 611 00:39:18,407 --> 00:39:20,398 The fight will be rescheduled 612 00:39:20,447 --> 00:39:24,520 but when it happens it'll be actually intended for that time. 613 00:39:24,567 --> 00:39:27,684 Fate intended it for another time. There is no delay. 614 00:39:27,727 --> 00:39:31,037 How does Ali feel about it? 615 00:39:31,087 --> 00:39:34,523 If there ever has been any disappointments in sports, 616 00:39:34,567 --> 00:39:38,162 setbacks or rainy days that stopped a ball game, anything, 617 00:39:38,207 --> 00:39:40,323 this is the worst of all time. 618 00:39:40,367 --> 00:39:44,246 'Muhammad went through a bad couple of hours 619 00:39:44,287 --> 00:39:48,485 'and wanted to move the whole fight back to the United States, 620 00:39:48,527 --> 00:39:53,123 'then he said "Bring Joe Frazier over and I'll fight him again 621 00:39:53,167 --> 00:39:56,204 '"and instead of each of us getting $5 million, 622 00:39:56,247 --> 00:39:59,603 '"I'll take $3 million and Joe can take $1 million." 623 00:39:59,647 --> 00:40:03,401 'Then he realised nothing could be done about it 624 00:40:03,447 --> 00:40:08,237 'except stay in Zaire an extra six weeks and make the best of it.' 625 00:40:08,287 --> 00:40:12,485 Now I gotta wait. He'll get his whupping but I just have to wait. 626 00:40:12,527 --> 00:40:16,486 Boy, I was ready! I was gonna upset the world again! 627 00:40:16,527 --> 00:40:20,964 The whole world was gonna crawl and bow the next morning! 628 00:40:21,007 --> 00:40:25,000 I was gonna defeat that big indestructible George Foreman, 629 00:40:25,047 --> 00:40:26,685 gonna rip him up! 630 00:40:26,807 --> 00:40:29,446 I'm gonna get him for a sparring partner. 631 00:40:30,487 --> 00:40:33,718 My dream's all messed up for six more weeks. 632 00:40:35,087 --> 00:40:37,885 The man's in trouble, the man is scared. 633 00:40:37,927 --> 00:40:41,124 - He's in my country to start with! 634 00:40:44,127 --> 00:40:48,040 He's in my country. You wanna see some of my country? 635 00:40:48,087 --> 00:40:50,078 Ali, boma ye! 636 00:40:50,127 --> 00:40:54,325 Ali, boma ye! Ali, boma ye! 637 00:40:54,367 --> 00:40:58,679 Can you picture 100,000? Can you picture 100,000? 638 00:40:58,727 --> 00:41:03,881 How you say it? Ali, boma ye, Ali, boma ye! 639 00:41:03,927 --> 00:41:05,645 Ali, boma ye! 640 00:41:05,687 --> 00:41:09,123 When I hear them brothers howling like that, whoo! 641 00:41:09,167 --> 00:41:10,964 I get my soul and spirit, 642 00:41:11,007 --> 00:41:14,920 100,000 African brothers hollering "Ali, boma ye!" 643 00:41:14,967 --> 00:41:16,719 And I'm gonna... Ooh! 644 00:41:16,767 --> 00:41:20,680 I'm tired, can't take it no more, let me get out of here. 645 00:41:20,727 --> 00:41:24,515 I wanna... I'm going to my room, I'll talk to you later. 646 00:41:30,247 --> 00:41:31,839 I said I'm gone! 647 00:41:35,607 --> 00:41:37,404 # What you give me 648 00:41:38,767 --> 00:41:40,564 # When I miss you, baby! 649 00:41:41,967 --> 00:41:44,037 # Oh, man! 650 00:41:45,687 --> 00:41:47,484 # Baby, you understand? 651 00:41:49,687 --> 00:41:51,484 # I'll be good! 652 00:41:52,847 --> 00:41:54,565 # In a cold sweat 653 00:41:56,607 --> 00:41:57,596 # Ow! 654 00:42:00,487 --> 00:42:02,284 # Turn it back # 656 00:42:04,527 --> 00:42:07,724 'Black acts in America have not learned 657 00:42:07,767 --> 00:42:11,840 'that once their record is off the charts they're finished.' 658 00:42:11,887 --> 00:42:15,926 I heard a speech by Jesse Jackson, saying we must recognise 659 00:42:15,967 --> 00:42:19,403 that we're only useful as long as we're necessary. 660 00:42:19,447 --> 00:42:24,077 So they don't realise that your strength comes from your community. 661 00:42:24,127 --> 00:42:26,846 And you have to deal from your strength. 662 00:42:26,887 --> 00:42:30,084 In dealing from your strength you got somebody 663 00:42:30,127 --> 00:42:32,925 so if somebody wants to hurt James Brown, 664 00:42:32,967 --> 00:42:35,879 somebody gonna raise a voice and say "why?" 665 00:42:35,927 --> 00:42:39,158 You got soldiers, somebody that's concerned. 666 00:42:39,207 --> 00:42:43,758 But as an individual, no matter how big you get, you still a nigger. 667 00:42:43,807 --> 00:42:47,925 You don't care how much money you get. You are still a nigger. 668 00:42:47,967 --> 00:42:49,958 When you become unnecessary. 669 00:42:50,007 --> 00:42:51,406 # Listen 670 00:42:52,607 --> 00:42:54,598 # Extend your love 671 00:42:56,607 --> 00:42:58,404 # Can I get a drum? 672 00:42:59,727 --> 00:43:01,877 # Can I get a little taste? # 673 00:43:02,407 --> 00:43:05,877 Do unto others as you would have them to do unto you. 674 00:43:05,927 --> 00:43:07,918 Would you ask somebody to lynch you 675 00:43:07,967 --> 00:43:12,757 and tell you where to go and how to look, then refuse to pay you? 676 00:43:12,807 --> 00:43:15,605 Would you ask somebody to take advantage of your woman 677 00:43:15,647 --> 00:43:17,638 and you can't even speak to his? 678 00:43:17,687 --> 00:43:21,521 Would you like to pay taxes for something that you never received? 679 00:43:21,567 --> 00:43:24,798 Do unto others as you would have somebody do unto you. 680 00:43:24,847 --> 00:43:28,078 And I don't have to use the word "FM" backwards. 682 00:43:33,367 --> 00:43:36,643 We left Africa in shackles, fetters and chains. 683 00:43:36,687 --> 00:43:40,202 We're coming back in an aura of splendour and glory. 684 00:43:40,247 --> 00:43:45,196 The champions are here, champions of the sports world and the music world, 685 00:43:45,247 --> 00:43:49,240 so put 'em together and we got one champion that's so intermingled 686 00:43:49,287 --> 00:43:51,596 that we're fused into one entity. 687 00:43:51,647 --> 00:43:55,162 The brother said something there! Yeah! 688 00:43:55,207 --> 00:43:57,038 Don King put this together. 689 00:43:57,087 --> 00:44:00,318 It was not a colour put it together, you understand? 690 00:44:00,367 --> 00:44:02,358 I'd like to call him the Messiah. 691 00:44:02,407 --> 00:44:05,285 'This fight came into existence 692 00:44:05,327 --> 00:44:09,002 'because of Don King's desire to break out of the pack. 693 00:44:09,047 --> 00:44:14,326 'He was either going to become an enormously prominent man, at least, 694 00:44:14,367 --> 00:44:17,484 'or go back to obscurity again if it failed.' 695 00:44:17,527 --> 00:44:20,166 Oh, I'm so happy to see you, my brothers. 696 00:44:20,207 --> 00:44:23,040 This is the Minister of Finance of Zaire. 697 00:44:23,087 --> 00:44:26,682 Yes, I have met the Minister of Finance. How are you? 698 00:44:26,727 --> 00:44:29,605 I appreciate your talent and expertise. 699 00:44:29,647 --> 00:44:33,162 This is what it's all about. I welcome you with love. 700 00:44:33,207 --> 00:44:37,359 We must deal with it as such, but with love, not with hostility. 701 00:44:37,407 --> 00:44:39,682 You know, just but with love. 702 00:44:39,727 --> 00:44:41,479 Bravo, Mr King! 703 00:44:41,527 --> 00:44:43,119 My brother! 704 00:44:43,167 --> 00:44:46,523 'King had this huge air of welcome. 705 00:44:46,567 --> 00:44:50,560 'Rarely has anyone ever been welcomed the way King could do it.' 706 00:44:50,607 --> 00:44:52,404 'A joy came off him.' 707 00:44:52,447 --> 00:44:55,757 I knew his reputation, how he'd been in jail, 708 00:44:55,807 --> 00:44:58,241 how he was thoroughly untrustworthy 709 00:44:58,287 --> 00:45:00,926 but nonetheless he made you feel good. 710 00:45:00,967 --> 00:45:03,276 Don't leave! I need your strength! 711 00:45:03,327 --> 00:45:05,124 He was startling looking. 712 00:45:05,167 --> 00:45:09,399 Writers found different ways to describe this uprush of hair. 713 00:45:09,447 --> 00:45:13,042 Some would say that he'd stuck his thumb into an electric socket. 714 00:45:13,087 --> 00:45:15,476 Falling through an elevator shaft. 715 00:45:15,527 --> 00:45:17,722 'The fight was postponed. 716 00:45:17,767 --> 00:45:22,318 'Don King turned up and it seemed maybe the fight wouldn't happen.' 717 00:45:22,367 --> 00:45:24,756 Nothing as big as this ever runs smoothly, 718 00:45:24,807 --> 00:45:27,275 anything worthwhile is worth fighting for. 719 00:45:27,327 --> 00:45:30,205 If you think about what Shakespeare said, 720 00:45:30,247 --> 00:45:32,238 "the sweet uses of adversity, 721 00:45:32,287 --> 00:45:36,997 "ugly and venomous like a toad yet wears a precious jewel in his head." 722 00:45:37,047 --> 00:45:41,086 "Ugly and venomous like a toad yet wears a precious jewel." 723 00:45:41,127 --> 00:45:44,802 How many fight promoters have tried even one line of Shakespeare? 724 00:45:44,847 --> 00:45:48,362 I can relate to the denial they are confronted with, 725 00:45:48,407 --> 00:45:53,720 the rat-infested hovels, sub-standard tenements, overcrowded tenements. 726 00:45:53,767 --> 00:45:57,760 I've been a part of it. I know about roaches and rats. 727 00:45:57,807 --> 00:45:59,798 When he started talkin' to me 728 00:45:59,847 --> 00:46:02,202 I can understand him and he can understand me. 729 00:46:02,247 --> 00:46:05,045 So, when I do this here he can understand. 730 00:46:05,087 --> 00:46:06,884 Now he will believe in me 731 00:46:06,927 --> 00:46:09,885 because he feels that I have shared with him 732 00:46:09,927 --> 00:46:13,681 the same anguish and anxiety, the same pain that he has felt. 733 00:46:13,727 --> 00:46:15,365 It's a big difference. 734 00:46:15,407 --> 00:46:18,160 What would happen if you took a small part 735 00:46:18,207 --> 00:46:21,563 of the vast sums of money being made from the fight 736 00:46:21,607 --> 00:46:24,075 and put it into something that was... 737 00:46:24,127 --> 00:46:27,563 that would help a number of people rather than a few? 738 00:46:27,607 --> 00:46:29,677 This is my dream and desire, 739 00:46:29,727 --> 00:46:35,165 and I feel that I would need... white counterparts to do this here. 740 00:46:35,207 --> 00:46:40,042 I would say let me engender a large amount of money, if it's possible, 741 00:46:40,087 --> 00:46:44,524 and then don't just let the money sit there and wither away and die 742 00:46:44,567 --> 00:46:49,004 but put it into the sun so it could germinate, blossom and grow. 743 00:46:49,047 --> 00:46:51,356 'He's a remarkable man. 744 00:46:51,407 --> 00:46:55,241 'Don King is one of the brightest people I've ever met, 745 00:46:55,287 --> 00:46:59,075 'he's one of the most charismatic people I've ever met, 746 00:46:59,127 --> 00:47:03,245 'he's one of the hardest working people I've ever met.' 747 00:47:03,287 --> 00:47:06,245 He is also totally amoral 748 00:47:06,287 --> 00:47:12,442 and I can't think of a man who has done more to demoralise fighters, 749 00:47:12,487 --> 00:47:17,880 exploit from fighters and ruin fighters' careers than Don King. 750 00:47:17,927 --> 00:47:19,963 But you have to give him his due 751 00:47:20,007 --> 00:47:24,558 for what he did to make Muhammad Ali versus George Foreman in Zaire. 752 00:47:24,607 --> 00:47:27,644 And nobody does anything for nothing. 753 00:47:28,247 --> 00:47:29,839 You understand that? 754 00:47:29,887 --> 00:47:32,765 Fight or no fight, what business are we in? 755 00:47:32,807 --> 00:47:35,116 - Music! - I was starting to wonder. 756 00:47:35,167 --> 00:47:36,919 I felt like we've been in the fight business. 757 00:48:07,727 --> 00:48:09,718 # My body 758 00:48:10,047 --> 00:48:11,844 # My body 759 00:48:13,367 --> 00:48:15,483 # Shake your body 760 00:48:16,167 --> 00:48:18,635 # Shake your body 761 00:48:19,687 --> 00:48:21,882 # Shake your body 762 00:48:22,247 --> 00:48:24,238 # We're gonna have a funky good time 763 00:48:24,647 --> 00:48:27,320 # We're gonna have a funky good time 764 00:48:28,927 --> 00:48:31,395 # We're gonna have a funky good time 765 00:48:32,367 --> 00:48:34,881 # We're gonna have a funky good time 766 00:48:36,007 --> 00:48:38,646 # We're gonna have a funky good time 767 00:48:39,607 --> 00:48:41,837 # We're gonna have a funky good time 768 00:48:41,887 --> 00:48:43,320 # Pick 'em up! 769 00:48:43,367 --> 00:48:48,043 # We're gonna take you high 770 00:48:57,647 --> 00:49:00,002 # We're gonna have a funky good time 771 00:49:00,647 --> 00:49:03,241 # We're gonna have a funky good time 772 00:49:04,687 --> 00:49:07,121 # We're gonna have a funky good time 773 00:49:08,247 --> 00:49:10,556 # We're gonna have a funky good time 774 00:49:10,607 --> 00:49:12,438 # Pick 'em up! 775 00:49:12,487 --> 00:49:16,958 # We're gonna take you high, yeah! # 776 00:49:26,807 --> 00:49:29,879 I'm gonna play me some soul music, man. 777 00:49:31,287 --> 00:49:34,723 The Spinners...to James Brown. 778 00:49:34,767 --> 00:49:37,201 - # Make me high - # Get me high 779 00:49:37,487 --> 00:49:39,318 - # Make me high - # Get me high 780 00:49:39,367 --> 00:49:42,598 - # A natural high - # Groovy high... # 781 00:49:42,647 --> 00:49:45,366 Ali! Ali! 782 00:49:45,407 --> 00:49:47,716 # Downright high 783 00:49:47,767 --> 00:49:49,997 - # Everybody high - # Legal high 784 00:49:50,047 --> 00:49:51,799 # Need to get high 785 00:49:51,847 --> 00:49:54,520 - # Down high... # - I'm ready. 786 00:49:54,567 --> 00:49:56,558 - # Bad! - # Bad! 787 00:49:57,127 --> 00:49:58,321 - # Bad! - # Bad! 788 00:49:58,807 --> 00:50:00,126 - # Bad! - # Bad! 789 00:50:00,527 --> 00:50:02,324 - # Bad! - # Bad! 790 00:50:02,407 --> 00:50:04,045 - # Bad! - # Bad! 791 00:50:04,407 --> 00:50:05,396 - # Bad! - # Bad! 792 00:50:05,847 --> 00:50:07,246 - # Bad! - # Bad! 793 00:50:07,647 --> 00:50:09,285 - # Bad! - # Bad! # 794 00:50:55,287 --> 00:50:57,164 Sucker, you ain't nothin'! 795 00:50:57,207 --> 00:50:58,799 You're too ugly! 796 00:50:58,847 --> 00:51:01,566 You don't represent us coloured folks. 797 00:51:01,607 --> 00:51:04,075 These Africans make all of us ugly. 798 00:51:05,127 --> 00:51:06,719 Sucker, look at you! 799 00:51:08,647 --> 00:51:10,638 You out, sucker. 800 00:51:13,727 --> 00:51:15,843 Ali, boma ye! 801 00:51:15,887 --> 00:51:17,957 Ali, boma ye! 802 00:51:18,007 --> 00:51:19,998 Ali, boma ye! 803 00:51:20,247 --> 00:51:22,363 Ali, boma ye! 804 00:51:22,407 --> 00:51:24,079 That mean kill him! 805 00:51:24,127 --> 00:51:27,836 When I walk down the street kids follow me 806 00:51:27,887 --> 00:51:30,560 screaming "George Foreman, bumba yu" 807 00:51:30,607 --> 00:51:32,404 er, "boma ye", yeah. 808 00:51:32,447 --> 00:51:35,723 And that hasn't... I don't think that's so nice. 809 00:51:35,767 --> 00:51:39,726 I'd like, if they have anything to say about me they could say 810 00:51:39,767 --> 00:51:44,363 "George Foreman loves Africa" or "George Foreman loves being here" 811 00:51:44,407 --> 00:51:47,797 not "George Foreman, kill him," I don't like that. 812 00:51:47,847 --> 00:51:50,042 Boma ye! Boma ye! 813 00:51:51,167 --> 00:51:54,284 George Foreman. Boma ye! Boma ye! 815 00:51:58,607 --> 00:52:01,405 - There he is! - Boma ye! 816 00:52:01,447 --> 00:52:03,403 Sucker, you wasn't nothing! 817 00:52:03,447 --> 00:52:05,517 Even they understand English. 818 00:52:05,567 --> 00:52:09,196 'We were all for Muhammad Ali. 819 00:52:09,247 --> 00:52:11,841 'Foreman? We didn't know him. 820 00:52:14,287 --> 00:52:16,960 'Foreman said "Why? 821 00:52:17,007 --> 00:52:19,805 '"I'm black, blacker than Muhammad Ali. 822 00:52:19,847 --> 00:52:21,838 '"Why all this bias?" 823 00:52:23,007 --> 00:52:25,965 'Yes, Muhammad Ali, he was lighter, 824 00:52:26,007 --> 00:52:29,363 'but he was a real person, he was genuine. 825 00:52:29,407 --> 00:52:33,116 'Muhammad Ali could have been even lighter-skinned 826 00:52:33,167 --> 00:52:36,204 'but for us he was defending the good cause, 827 00:52:36,247 --> 00:52:38,886 'for Africans and the whole world.' 828 00:52:38,927 --> 00:52:40,724 Watch this, seven punches. 829 00:52:41,847 --> 00:52:44,156 I'm gonna fight for the prestige, 830 00:52:44,207 --> 00:52:47,119 not for me but to uplift my little brothers 831 00:52:47,167 --> 00:52:50,842 who are sleeping on concrete floors today in America. 832 00:52:50,887 --> 00:52:54,084 Black people living on welfare, who can't eat, 833 00:52:54,127 --> 00:52:59,121 Black people who don't know no knowledge of themselves or no future. 834 00:52:59,167 --> 00:53:03,558 I wanna win my title and walk down the alleys with the wine-heads, 835 00:53:03,607 --> 00:53:06,838 walk with the dope addicts, the prostitutes. 836 00:53:06,887 --> 00:53:11,005 I could help people, show 'em films, take this documentary, 837 00:53:11,047 --> 00:53:14,483 and help uplift my people in Louisville, Kentucky; 838 00:53:14,527 --> 00:53:17,519 Indianapolis, Indiana; Cincinnati, Ohio; 839 00:53:17,567 --> 00:53:20,843 go through Tennessee, Florida and Mississippi 840 00:53:20,887 --> 00:53:25,165 and show Black Africans who didn't know this was their country, 841 00:53:25,207 --> 00:53:28,722 "You look like your brothers in Alabama, in Georgia. 842 00:53:28,767 --> 00:53:31,076 "They never knew you was over here." 843 00:53:31,127 --> 00:53:33,846 God is blessing me and it was an accident 844 00:53:33,887 --> 00:53:35,878 to help get to all these people 845 00:53:35,927 --> 00:53:40,398 and show them films I haven't seen! I'm well and I haven't seem them! 846 00:53:40,447 --> 00:53:45,077 Now I can get all these films, you governments can let me take pictures 847 00:53:45,127 --> 00:53:48,324 and I can take all this back to America! 848 00:53:48,367 --> 00:53:52,758 But - it's good to be a winner, all I've got to do is whup Foreman. 849 00:53:52,807 --> 00:53:56,322 I realise how unfortunate and uncomfortable it is 850 00:53:56,367 --> 00:53:58,801 for you guys to have travelled so far 851 00:53:58,847 --> 00:54:00,758 and expecting so much 852 00:54:00,807 --> 00:54:02,763 and getting so little. 853 00:54:02,807 --> 00:54:05,275 'George Foreman was a phenomenon. 854 00:54:05,327 --> 00:54:07,716 'He was almost like a physical guru. 855 00:54:07,767 --> 00:54:11,282 'He almost never spoke but it was always arresting. 856 00:54:11,327 --> 00:54:16,196 'You never quite knew what he meant, it might be deep or non-responsive. 857 00:54:16,247 --> 00:54:19,922 'He was Negritude. He was this huge Black force.' 858 00:54:19,967 --> 00:54:23,880 Because of this I had expected Muhammad Ali to be here today. 859 00:54:23,927 --> 00:54:28,443 I was gonna hit him in his mouth to give you some entertainment. 860 00:54:28,487 --> 00:54:32,400 Now when I go in the ring, you see what kind of mind I got now? 861 00:54:33,447 --> 00:54:35,438 Oh! Oh! 862 00:54:35,487 --> 00:54:37,478 I just got to pound him. 863 00:54:37,527 --> 00:54:39,324 I'm not gonna even realise... 864 00:54:39,367 --> 00:54:42,643 I might look at his face and say, "How'd I do that?" 865 00:54:42,687 --> 00:54:47,317 Allah, God, I'm his tool. God got in me on purpose for my people. 866 00:54:47,367 --> 00:54:50,439 God has made this man look like a little kid. 867 00:54:50,487 --> 00:54:54,958 His so-called right hand ain't nothing now, I don't even feel 'em! 868 00:54:55,007 --> 00:54:59,000 I walk right in and take my shots because I have God in my mind. 869 00:54:59,047 --> 00:55:03,677 I'm thinking of my people being free and I can help with just one fight. 870 00:55:03,727 --> 00:55:07,640 He looks little in comparison to what I'm getting from it! 871 00:55:07,687 --> 00:55:10,155 But if I think about just me... 872 00:55:10,207 --> 00:55:13,597 George Foreman knocked out Joe Frazier like he was God. 873 00:55:13,647 --> 00:55:15,638 He knocked out Ken Norton. 874 00:55:15,687 --> 00:55:18,485 And the white press, the power structure 875 00:55:18,527 --> 00:55:20,722 rank me to get tired in five or six, 876 00:55:20,767 --> 00:55:24,680 then I go in like Norton and the rest of them and get scared. 877 00:55:24,727 --> 00:55:26,160 But my God controls the universe. 878 00:55:36,207 --> 00:55:40,120 'I was interested in people called "f�ticheurs". 879 00:55:40,167 --> 00:55:42,761 'They are witches, soothsayers, 880 00:55:42,807 --> 00:55:45,480 'and in Western Africa almost everybody has one. 881 00:55:45,527 --> 00:55:48,087 'They go to a witch doctor the way we would go to a dentist.' 882 00:55:50,686 --> 00:55:54,201 Muhammad Ali had been to Mobutu's f�ticheur. 883 00:55:56,366 --> 00:55:58,163 And... 884 00:55:59,046 --> 00:56:01,196 He had said that... 885 00:56:01,246 --> 00:56:05,125 The f�ticheur had said that a woman with trembling hands 886 00:56:05,166 --> 00:56:07,475 would somehow get to Foreman. 887 00:56:07,526 --> 00:56:09,323 A succubus. 888 00:56:09,366 --> 00:56:11,926 'And that impressed me enormously.' 890 00:57:13,766 --> 00:57:19,079 'The heavyweight championship produces an excitement 891 00:57:19,126 --> 00:57:22,163 'that's unlike almost any other spectacle. 892 00:57:22,206 --> 00:57:24,766 'It's almost physically unendurable 893 00:57:24,806 --> 00:57:28,162 'to wait for that bell to ring for the first round. 894 00:57:28,206 --> 00:57:31,835 'In 1974 in Zaire, the fight started at four in the morning, 895 00:57:31,886 --> 00:57:35,003 'in order that it could be shown on TV in America 896 00:57:35,046 --> 00:57:37,241 'at a reasonable hour like 10.' 897 00:57:37,286 --> 00:57:39,800 Boma ye! Boma ye! 898 00:57:39,846 --> 00:57:44,158 'Before the fight, I saw a scene that was incomparable. 899 00:57:44,206 --> 00:57:47,004 'Ali's dressing room was like a morgue.' 900 00:57:47,046 --> 00:57:49,037 It was like The Last Supper. 901 00:57:50,006 --> 00:57:52,600 And at a certain point Ali said, 902 00:57:52,646 --> 00:57:55,479 "Why is everyone... 903 00:57:56,886 --> 00:57:58,683 "so unhappy? 904 00:57:58,726 --> 00:58:01,160 "What is the matter with all of you?" 905 00:58:01,206 --> 00:58:06,485 The sense was that we were watching a man who was going out to be... 906 00:58:06,526 --> 00:58:08,596 going out to the gallows. 907 00:58:08,646 --> 00:58:13,117 They all believed he was gonna get defeated and they were terrified. 908 00:58:13,166 --> 00:58:15,396 They thought that with his pride 909 00:58:15,446 --> 00:58:18,438 he would take one of the world's worst beatings ever 910 00:58:18,486 --> 00:58:20,204 and he wouldn't give up. 911 00:58:20,246 --> 00:58:23,921 And he was gonna be destroyed. Killed or maimed, they knew not what. 912 00:58:23,966 --> 00:58:26,196 But they were deeply frightened, 913 00:58:26,246 --> 00:58:30,956 as if they were taking whatever fear Ali might have had and absorbing it. 914 00:58:31,006 --> 00:58:33,395 After a while he looked at Bundini 915 00:58:33,446 --> 00:58:36,199 and said, "We're gonna dance tonight." 916 00:58:36,246 --> 00:58:39,477 They said, "You're gonna dance!" 917 00:58:39,526 --> 00:58:42,916 Muhammad Ali was so funny repeating this. 918 00:58:42,966 --> 00:58:45,844 "What am I gonna do?!" They said, "Dance!" 919 00:58:45,886 --> 00:58:49,674 He said, "Yes! And that man's gonna be bewildered! 920 00:58:49,726 --> 00:58:51,842 "I'm gonna dance and dance!" 921 00:58:51,886 --> 00:58:55,879 And they said, "You're gonna dance!" I swear they were all crying. 922 00:58:55,926 --> 00:58:58,838 And he built them up to a degree 923 00:58:58,886 --> 00:59:00,956 so that for him they became half-happy. 924 00:59:03,606 --> 00:59:05,801 Here comes the Ali people out of the dressing room 925 00:59:05,846 --> 00:59:08,724 and all of the questions will be answered. 926 00:59:08,766 --> 00:59:11,234 The awesome power of George Foreman 927 00:59:11,286 --> 00:59:14,756 against the varied boxing skills of Muhammad Ali. 928 00:59:14,806 --> 00:59:17,195 It's age against youth. 929 00:59:17,246 --> 00:59:19,362 The experience of Muhammad Ali 930 00:59:19,406 --> 00:59:23,160 against the youth and brute force and blinding speed. 931 00:59:23,206 --> 00:59:25,800 You can hear the band strike up in the background 932 00:59:25,846 --> 00:59:27,837 as Ali moves to the ring. 933 00:59:27,886 --> 00:59:31,799 This is what Muhammad Ali lives for, this is the man's life. 934 00:59:31,846 --> 00:59:33,996 This may be an historic event, 935 00:59:34,046 --> 00:59:38,039 Muhammad Ali coming into the boxing ring for the last time. 936 00:59:38,086 --> 00:59:39,997 Should Muhammad Ali retire, 937 00:59:40,046 --> 00:59:43,641 this will be, what you're seeing now, a very historic event. 938 00:59:43,686 --> 00:59:47,759 Here comes the heavyweight champion of the world, George Foreman, 939 00:59:47,806 --> 00:59:49,797 jogging out! 940 00:59:49,846 --> 00:59:52,838 George Foreman decked out in his red robes, 941 00:59:52,886 --> 00:59:54,877 coming in with his people. 942 00:59:54,926 --> 00:59:58,282 'No one in the press ever saw Mobutu 943 00:59:58,326 --> 01:00:00,556 'and he didn't come to the fight. 944 01:00:00,606 --> 01:00:03,439 'He watched the fight on closed circuit. 945 01:00:03,486 --> 01:00:05,442 'It was the only one in Zaire. 946 01:00:05,486 --> 01:00:08,398 'He was terribly afraid of assassination. 947 01:00:08,446 --> 01:00:11,643 'This stadium was a true arena for gladiators. 948 01:00:11,686 --> 01:00:16,965 'The floor you could not see beneath the floor was covered with blood. 949 01:00:17,006 --> 01:00:21,397 'That blood had been washed away but the effect was still there.' 950 01:00:21,446 --> 01:00:24,836 There was talk about the possibility of rain, 951 01:00:24,886 --> 01:00:28,401 I don't think the weather could be any more beautiful than it is. 952 01:00:28,446 --> 01:00:31,006 Ali is getting the people to chant! 953 01:00:31,046 --> 01:00:34,004 "Ali, boma ye," that means "Ali, kill him." 954 01:00:34,046 --> 01:00:38,995 'The atmosphere before the bell rang for that first round 955 01:00:39,046 --> 01:00:42,277 'was as intense as any I ever recall.' 956 01:00:42,326 --> 01:00:47,241 As they stare, Muhammad Ali talking to George Foreman. 957 01:00:47,286 --> 01:00:49,277 Really staring at each other. 958 01:00:49,326 --> 01:00:52,841 Foreman looking serious, Ali definitely talking. 959 01:00:52,886 --> 01:00:56,481 Look at the stare on Foreman. Look at Ali give him the word. 960 01:00:56,526 --> 01:01:00,155 The stage is set, we're just about ready to begin round one. 961 01:01:00,206 --> 01:01:02,276 The championship is at stake 962 01:01:02,326 --> 01:01:05,523 and $5 million will be paid to both fighters. 963 01:01:05,566 --> 01:01:09,445 Ali ready, Foreman ready, we're waiting for the bell. 964 01:01:10,926 --> 01:01:13,759 Here we go, Ali quickly across the ring. 965 01:01:13,806 --> 01:01:17,719 Round one, Ali bouncing around, shifting left to right. 966 01:01:17,766 --> 01:01:20,997 George moves slow, Ali gets the first punch in, 967 01:01:21,046 --> 01:01:25,039 a light right-hand taken on the forehead by the champion. 968 01:01:25,086 --> 01:01:27,475 Foreman moving slow, stalking. 969 01:01:27,526 --> 01:01:30,643 Ali looks like he's ready to go here. 970 01:01:30,686 --> 01:01:33,758 He's not staying away, he's going after his man. 971 01:01:33,806 --> 01:01:38,277 Foreman cautious in the first round, looking to drop that left hook. 972 01:01:42,606 --> 01:01:45,564 Foreman's locked his man to the far corner. 973 01:01:45,606 --> 01:01:49,360 There's that left upper-cut into the body of Muhammad Ali. 974 01:01:49,406 --> 01:01:52,762 Ali tries to hang on to the head of George Foreman. 975 01:01:52,806 --> 01:01:55,923 Foreman dances... Ali with a right-hand lead! 976 01:01:55,966 --> 01:01:59,481 Has Foreman slightly confused with that right-hand lead, 977 01:01:59,526 --> 01:02:02,245 which I haven't seen too many times before. 978 01:02:02,286 --> 01:02:06,359 A right-hand lead, where you throw your right without countering, 979 01:02:06,406 --> 01:02:09,045 you throw it first, like a jab. 980 01:02:09,086 --> 01:02:13,159 That has to travel that extra distance across the shoulders. 981 01:02:13,206 --> 01:02:17,802 'Professionals rarely use this because it's so dangerous to throw 982 01:02:17,846 --> 01:02:20,121 'since you are open to a left hook. 983 01:02:20,166 --> 01:02:22,964 'Since fighters work in milliseconds 984 01:02:23,006 --> 01:02:26,601 'they can see a right coming much faster than a jab.' 985 01:02:26,646 --> 01:02:29,763 Nobody had thrown a right-hand lead at Foreman in two years, 986 01:02:29,806 --> 01:02:32,843 and none of his sparring partners, for $50 a day, 987 01:02:32,886 --> 01:02:36,356 was going to start throwing right-hand leads at him 988 01:02:36,406 --> 01:02:39,842 because it's a great insult to a top professional. 989 01:02:39,886 --> 01:02:43,674 'It suggests he's slow enough that you can hit him with it.' 990 01:02:43,726 --> 01:02:48,436 'Instead Ali figured out Foreman's not expecting a right-hand lead. 991 01:02:48,486 --> 01:02:52,001 '"I'm gonna hit him with a right hand and knock him out." 992 01:02:52,046 --> 01:02:56,756 'Ali threw 12 right hand leads, he hadn't told anybody he was going to.' 993 01:02:56,806 --> 01:03:00,560 He may have debated whether to up until the last moment. 994 01:03:00,606 --> 01:03:03,916 But he didn't knock Foreman down or knock him out. 995 01:03:03,966 --> 01:03:05,922 Instead, Foreman went crazy. 996 01:03:05,966 --> 01:03:09,641 That punch did no damage. That one did! 997 01:03:09,686 --> 01:03:12,758 Two wild right hands taken on the head of Ali! 998 01:03:12,806 --> 01:03:16,003 A real strong right hand just underneath the heart. 999 01:03:16,046 --> 01:03:18,685 Ali is taking some punishment now! 1000 01:03:18,726 --> 01:03:20,921 Eight seconds left in the round. 1001 01:03:20,966 --> 01:03:22,957 Bell rang. 1002 01:03:23,566 --> 01:03:25,796 Ali went back to the corner... 1003 01:03:25,846 --> 01:03:29,998 Finally the nightmare he'd been awaiting in the ring 1004 01:03:30,046 --> 01:03:32,196 had finally come to visit him. 1005 01:03:32,246 --> 01:03:35,795 'He was in the ring with a man he could not dominate, 1006 01:03:35,846 --> 01:03:39,441 'who was stronger than him, who was not afraid of him, 1007 01:03:39,486 --> 01:03:43,399 'who'd try to knock him out, and who punched harder than Ali, 1008 01:03:43,446 --> 01:03:47,280 'and this man was determined and unstoppable. 1009 01:03:47,326 --> 01:03:49,920 'Ali had a look on his face that I'll never forget. 1010 01:03:49,966 --> 01:03:52,878 'It was the only time I ever saw fear in Ali's eyes.' 1011 01:03:52,926 --> 01:03:56,123 Ali looked as if he looked into himself and said, 1012 01:03:56,166 --> 01:03:58,282 "All right, this is the moment. 1013 01:03:58,326 --> 01:04:00,965 "This is what you've been waiting for. 1014 01:04:01,006 --> 01:04:03,725 "This is...that hour. 1015 01:04:04,646 --> 01:04:07,638 "Do you have the guts?" And he kind of nodded, 1016 01:04:07,686 --> 01:04:10,519 like, "Really got to get it together, boy. 1017 01:04:10,566 --> 01:04:14,605 "You are gonna get it together... you WILL get it together." 1018 01:04:14,646 --> 01:04:19,117 He nodded some more, as if he were looking into the eyes of his maker, 1019 01:04:19,166 --> 01:04:23,045 and then turned to the crowd and went "Ali, boma ye!" 1020 01:04:23,086 --> 01:04:26,965 and 100,000 people all yelled back "Ali, boma ye!" 1021 01:04:27,006 --> 01:04:31,841 And this huge reverberation of the crowd came back into the ring. 1022 01:04:31,886 --> 01:04:34,958 'Ali picked it up as if "these are my people, 1023 01:04:35,006 --> 01:04:36,962 '"this is what I'm here for. 1024 01:04:37,006 --> 01:04:41,158 '"The time has come, I'm gonna find a way to master this man."' 1025 01:04:41,206 --> 01:04:43,674 Ali tries to tie him up. 1026 01:04:43,726 --> 01:04:46,286 No real damage done in that exchange. 1027 01:04:46,326 --> 01:04:50,956 'Foreman, like everyone, had assumed that Ali would dance, 1028 01:04:51,006 --> 01:04:56,034 'and so Ali now went to the ropes and went into the Rope-a-Dope. 1029 01:04:56,926 --> 01:05:00,805 'And a lot of people thought that moment the fight was over. 1030 01:05:00,846 --> 01:05:05,158 'Especially on TV, it looked like Foreman was killing a very weak Ali.' 1031 01:05:05,206 --> 01:05:07,003 You don't go to the ropes. 1032 01:05:07,046 --> 01:05:10,038 And there he was, leaning way back. 1033 01:05:10,086 --> 01:05:13,044 'I wrote about it, like a man leaning out of his window 1034 01:05:13,086 --> 01:05:15,919 'trying to see if there's something on his roof.' 1035 01:05:15,966 --> 01:05:17,763 And, you know, taking it. 1036 01:05:17,806 --> 01:05:19,922 Here were these great broadsides 1037 01:05:19,966 --> 01:05:23,436 and it looked like he was being set up for the kill. 1038 01:05:23,486 --> 01:05:25,920 It happened so quickly and so abruptly, 1039 01:05:25,966 --> 01:05:30,437 that I said, I shouted to Norman, "The fix is in." 1040 01:05:30,486 --> 01:05:33,000 'He's supposed to go down in the first or second. 1041 01:05:33,046 --> 01:05:35,514 'Ropes is halfway house to the floor.' 1042 01:05:35,566 --> 01:05:38,160 'It just looked as though he had to cave in.' 1043 01:05:38,206 --> 01:05:43,121 ..some awkward but very powerful hooks with both hands. 1044 01:05:43,166 --> 01:05:46,954 'They became so basic that they were like two kids fighting.' 1045 01:05:48,486 --> 01:05:51,683 'For that round and the next round and the next round 1046 01:05:51,726 --> 01:05:55,321 'Ali lay against the ropes, and he kept talking to Foreman. 1047 01:05:55,366 --> 01:05:56,958 'It was extraordinary. 1048 01:05:57,006 --> 01:05:59,645 'You had to be close to see it.' 1049 01:05:59,686 --> 01:06:03,281 'And Foreman was throwing these prodigious punches 1050 01:06:03,326 --> 01:06:06,079 'and Ali swung like a man in the rigging.' 1051 01:06:06,126 --> 01:06:08,799 He'd go all the way back, he'd slide out like that. 1052 01:06:08,846 --> 01:06:12,236 Occasionally, he'd get hit and he'd say "George, you disappoint me. 1053 01:06:12,286 --> 01:06:16,359 "You don't hit as hard as I thought you would, George, 1054 01:06:16,406 --> 01:06:18,840 "you're not breaking popcorn!" 1055 01:06:18,886 --> 01:06:21,081 'And Foreman's insane with rage, 1056 01:06:21,126 --> 01:06:23,845 'wanging at him and wanging at him, 1057 01:06:23,886 --> 01:06:26,354 'powerful, powerful, powerful. 1058 01:06:26,406 --> 01:06:30,115 'And middle of the fifth round Foreman had punched himself out. 1059 01:06:30,166 --> 01:06:32,122 'It had taken three rounds.' 1060 01:06:32,166 --> 01:06:36,523 Ali picks it up, 40 seconds left in round five. 1061 01:06:40,686 --> 01:06:45,157 First good combination by Ali lands on the head of Foreman. 1062 01:06:45,206 --> 01:06:47,595 Foreman with that right hook. 1063 01:06:47,646 --> 01:06:49,557 Ali scores a hook! 1064 01:06:49,606 --> 01:06:52,564 Quick jab with the right backs up Foreman! 1065 01:06:52,606 --> 01:06:54,483 Backs him up in his tracks! 1066 01:06:54,526 --> 01:06:57,916 Foreman tries the hook! Ali goes to the right! 1067 01:06:57,966 --> 01:07:00,196 Foreman gets knocked to the left! 1068 01:07:01,286 --> 01:07:03,242 Foreman hit again! 1069 01:07:03,286 --> 01:07:07,165 Foreman has been hit three or four times! 1070 01:07:07,206 --> 01:07:09,561 Ali came off the ropes and hit him a right 1071 01:07:09,606 --> 01:07:13,599 and you can see the sweat pour off like a fountain off Foreman's face 1072 01:07:13,646 --> 01:07:17,719 and you suddenly realised there was design in this madness. 1073 01:07:17,766 --> 01:07:20,997 So I turned to Norman, he was somewhat puzzled, 1074 01:07:21,046 --> 01:07:23,640 but I said, "The succubus has got him!", 1075 01:07:23,686 --> 01:07:26,564 referring to this woman with the trembling hands 1076 01:07:26,606 --> 01:07:30,360 that the witch doctors had said would touch Foreman and destroy him. 1077 01:07:32,166 --> 01:07:36,717 ..Ali's tactics, to let the man punch himself out. 1078 01:07:36,766 --> 01:07:38,996 30 seconds left in round eight. 1079 01:07:41,966 --> 01:07:43,763 Very even fight. 1080 01:07:43,806 --> 01:07:46,001 Ali a sneaky right hand. 1081 01:07:46,726 --> 01:07:48,603 Another sneaky right hand. 1082 01:07:48,646 --> 01:07:51,035 Works over the shoulder of Foreman. 1083 01:07:51,086 --> 01:07:52,883 There's the combination! 1084 01:07:55,206 --> 01:07:57,561 Two...three... 1085 01:07:57,606 --> 01:08:00,166 Four...five... 1086 01:08:00,206 --> 01:08:03,562 Foreman gets up to the knee at eight! 1087 01:08:04,406 --> 01:08:06,966 That's it! The fight is stopped! 1088 01:08:07,006 --> 01:08:10,316 Muhammad Ali with a dramatic eighth round knockout! 1089 01:08:10,366 --> 01:08:13,995 He knocks out...George Foreman! 1090 01:08:14,046 --> 01:08:16,879 He's done it! Muhammad Ali has done it! Muhammad Ali has... 1091 01:08:19,806 --> 01:08:21,239 Muhammad Ali. Muhammad Ali... 1092 01:08:21,286 --> 01:08:25,518 'Muhammad Ali, he was like a sleeping elephant. 1093 01:08:25,566 --> 01:08:29,605 'You can do whatever you want around a sleeping elephant, 1094 01:08:29,646 --> 01:08:35,118 'but when he wakes up... he tramples everything.' 1096 01:08:38,126 --> 01:08:41,084 Muhammad Ali, boma ye. 1097 01:08:41,126 --> 01:08:45,756 Boma ye. Muhammad Ali, boma ye George Foreman. 1098 01:08:45,806 --> 01:08:47,717 He did it. 1099 01:08:47,766 --> 01:08:51,122 'He's champion again, we couldn't believe it. 1100 01:08:51,166 --> 01:08:54,397 'It was such a classic performance and so beautiful 1101 01:08:54,446 --> 01:08:57,961 'that at the moment Ali hit the knockout punch, 1102 01:08:58,006 --> 01:09:01,555 'Foreman began to go, Ali followed him around, 1103 01:09:01,606 --> 01:09:04,643 'Ali had his right cocked for one more punch 1104 01:09:04,686 --> 01:09:06,199 'but he never threw it, 1105 01:09:06,246 --> 01:09:10,956 'as though he didn't want to ruin the aesthetic of this man going down.' 1106 01:09:11,966 --> 01:09:15,117 One has mixed emotions when you see the end of a fight. 1107 01:09:15,166 --> 01:09:18,203 'I always feel sympathy for the man losing it, 1108 01:09:18,246 --> 01:09:22,159 'particularly when you see a titanic, formidable figure 1109 01:09:22,206 --> 01:09:24,037 'suddenly on the ground.' 1110 01:09:24,086 --> 01:09:26,680 'Now, when we see George on TV, 1111 01:09:26,726 --> 01:09:29,286 'and know that after that knockout 1112 01:09:29,326 --> 01:09:33,001 'he went through two years of the deepest depression, 1113 01:09:33,046 --> 01:09:35,321 'he almost didn't come out of it. 1114 01:09:35,366 --> 01:09:38,119 'To see the man who's come out of it, 1115 01:09:38,166 --> 01:09:41,363 'the way he reconstructed his personality, 1116 01:09:41,406 --> 01:09:46,560 'it's hard to find anyone in America more affable than George Foreman. 1117 01:09:46,606 --> 01:09:50,485 'Foreman has become a fabulous person in American life.' 1118 01:09:50,526 --> 01:09:52,517 Just as the fight finished, 1119 01:09:52,566 --> 01:09:56,559 the monsoons, the African rains, came, and they came so hard 1120 01:09:56,606 --> 01:10:00,599 that the waters were about three feet deep in the dressing rooms 1121 01:10:00,646 --> 01:10:04,036 where we'd just been an hour ago, I'd never seen such a downpour. 1122 01:10:04,086 --> 01:10:07,078 And we rode back through the African night 1123 01:10:07,126 --> 01:10:09,435 from the boxing ring into Kinshasa 1124 01:10:09,486 --> 01:10:13,638 and there were crowds on the roads standing in the pouring rain 1125 01:10:13,686 --> 01:10:17,804 leaping up and down because news had got around that Ali had won. 1126 01:10:17,846 --> 01:10:21,919 'He stayed up all night from what I heard, 1127 01:10:21,966 --> 01:10:26,482 'and in the morning he spoke to African groups who'd come to see him, 1128 01:10:26,526 --> 01:10:29,438 'and they more than revered him, he was a god. 1129 01:10:29,486 --> 01:10:33,195 'And he spoke to them very simply and beautifully, 1130 01:10:33,246 --> 01:10:36,955 'and he said, "Afro-Americans, in America, 1131 01:10:37,006 --> 01:10:38,962 '"we're not as good as you are. 1132 01:10:39,006 --> 01:10:41,315 '"Some of us are richer than you are, 1133 01:10:41,366 --> 01:10:45,120 '"but you have a dignity in your poverty that we don't have. 1134 01:10:45,166 --> 01:10:46,963 '"We are spoiled in America, 1135 01:10:47,006 --> 01:10:50,999 '"we have lost what you still have in Africa and you must keep that." 1136 01:10:51,046 --> 01:10:55,039 'And I thought, on top of everything else he's a political leader 1137 01:10:55,086 --> 01:10:57,236 'and he's gonna be a great political leader.' 1138 01:10:59,886 --> 01:11:02,275 I have a lot of things to do in the Black neighbourhoods, 1139 01:11:02,326 --> 01:11:06,239 we have a lot of problems we have to solve among ourselves. 1140 01:11:06,286 --> 01:11:08,595 Prostitution, dope, gang fights. 1141 01:11:08,646 --> 01:11:12,480 Knowledge of self. Black people have no knowledge of themselves. 1142 01:11:12,526 --> 01:11:15,120 We have been made just like white people mentally. 1143 01:11:15,166 --> 01:11:17,805 White people have made us so much like them 1144 01:11:17,846 --> 01:11:20,519 it's hard to teach them about themselves, 1145 01:11:20,566 --> 01:11:24,798 it's hard to teach them to unite and marry and be with their own. 1146 01:11:24,846 --> 01:11:27,314 Black people are now like white people, 1147 01:11:27,366 --> 01:11:29,516 we have to re-brainwash 'em now, 1148 01:11:29,566 --> 01:11:33,718 teach them about themselves and their history and language, 1149 01:11:33,766 --> 01:11:35,836 to do something for themselves 1150 01:11:35,886 --> 01:11:40,164 and quit begging white people for things they should do themselves. 1151 01:11:40,206 --> 01:11:43,482 I never heard Ali say he would never fight again. 1152 01:11:43,766 --> 01:11:46,200 If he had said it, and usually he told the truth, 1153 01:11:46,246 --> 01:11:48,202 I wouldn't have believed it. 1154 01:11:48,246 --> 01:11:51,875 He was born to fight, born for the ring and loved it, 1155 01:11:51,926 --> 01:11:53,757 he truly loved fighting. 1156 01:11:53,806 --> 01:11:58,675 And...as happens with people who love a thing too much, it destroys them. 1157 01:11:58,726 --> 01:12:02,082 It was Oscar Wilde that said you destroy the thing you love. 1158 01:12:02,126 --> 01:12:05,801 It's the other way round, what you love destroys you. 1159 01:12:11,046 --> 01:12:13,844 'He came back, he had 22 fights. 1160 01:12:13,886 --> 01:12:16,684 'Some were most honourable, some very difficult. 1161 01:12:16,726 --> 01:12:19,115 'Some were comedies and farces. 1162 01:12:19,166 --> 01:12:23,637 'He hurt himself in those 22 fights after the fight in Africa.' 1163 01:12:27,046 --> 01:12:31,039 'There is a tendency to look at Muhammad and say 1164 01:12:31,086 --> 01:12:32,997 'he's wounded, he's ill. 1165 01:12:33,046 --> 01:12:37,437 'There are no intellectual deficits, it's a motor skills problem 1166 01:12:37,486 --> 01:12:40,364 'and he doesn't try to hide his condition. 1167 01:12:40,406 --> 01:12:42,966 'He goes out and lets the whole world see it. 1168 01:12:43,006 --> 01:12:45,361 'He doesn't feel sorry for himself 1169 01:12:45,406 --> 01:12:49,957 'and there's really no reason for anybody else to feel sorry for him. 1170 01:12:50,006 --> 01:12:52,281 'He loves being Muhammad Ali, 1171 01:12:52,326 --> 01:12:55,762 'he truly believes that he's doing God's work 1172 01:12:55,806 --> 01:12:59,242 'and he's as happy with each day as anybody I know.' 1173 01:13:00,246 --> 01:13:04,080 'Today's young generation, they don't know anything.' 1174 01:13:05,006 --> 01:13:08,919 Something happened last year, they know nothing about it. 1175 01:13:08,966 --> 01:13:13,278 So there are these great great stories, great historic events, 1176 01:13:13,326 --> 01:13:16,204 and I'm not talking about 1850s stuff, 1177 01:13:16,246 --> 01:13:20,159 they don't know who Malcolm X is, they don't know who JFK is, 1178 01:13:20,206 --> 01:13:23,801 Muhammad Ali, Jackie Robinson, you can go down the line. 1179 01:13:23,846 --> 01:13:25,643 And it's scary. 1180 01:13:25,686 --> 01:13:30,237 'They're missing a lot if they don't know the legacy of Muhammad Ali, 1181 01:13:30,286 --> 01:13:33,084 'because no matter what era you live in, 1182 01:13:33,126 --> 01:13:35,242 'you see very few true heroes.' 1183 01:13:39,766 --> 01:13:41,836 Ali, boma ye! 1184 01:13:41,886 --> 01:13:46,562 Ali, boma ye! Ali, boma ye! Ali, boma ye! 1185 01:13:48,246 --> 01:13:50,521 Back up, sucker, back up. 1186 01:13:51,406 --> 01:13:53,715 Come get me, sucker, I'm dancin'! 1187 01:13:53,766 --> 01:13:55,836 I'm dancin'! Follow me, chump! 1188 01:13:55,886 --> 01:13:57,922 I'm not there, I'm here! 1189 01:13:59,726 --> 01:14:01,921 Sucker, you ain't got nothing! 1190 01:14:10,166 --> 01:14:12,680 # In every heart 1191 01:14:12,726 --> 01:14:15,957 # There is a drum that beats 1192 01:14:16,006 --> 01:14:17,962 # Steady and strong 1193 01:14:18,006 --> 01:14:21,476 # It does not know defeat 1194 01:14:21,526 --> 01:14:23,994 # I feel its power 1195 01:14:24,046 --> 01:14:29,643 # And know for certain the true belief 1196 01:14:32,486 --> 01:14:35,205 # In every soul 1197 01:14:35,246 --> 01:14:37,919 # There is a memory 1198 01:14:37,966 --> 01:14:40,719 # Of standing tall 1199 01:14:40,766 --> 01:14:43,803 # The proudest we could be 1200 01:14:43,846 --> 01:14:46,485 # I cannot fall 1201 01:14:46,526 --> 01:14:48,721 # For I recall 1202 01:14:48,766 --> 01:14:52,122 # We were born in majesty 1203 01:14:54,606 --> 01:15:00,954 # And when the long night has been fought and won 1204 01:15:01,006 --> 01:15:05,079 # We'll stand in the sun 1205 01:15:05,126 --> 01:15:07,720 # And we will raise our hands 1206 01:15:07,766 --> 01:15:10,326 # We will touch the sky 1207 01:15:10,366 --> 01:15:16,236 # Together we will dance in robes of gold 1208 01:15:16,286 --> 01:15:21,997 # And we will leave the world remembering 1209 01:15:22,046 --> 01:15:27,166 # When we were kings 1210 01:15:27,406 --> 01:15:31,558 # When we were kings 1211 01:15:33,646 --> 01:15:35,716 # Now is the time 1212 01:15:35,766 --> 01:15:39,122 # Here is the mountaintop 1213 01:15:39,166 --> 01:15:44,479 # When one man climbs the rest are lifted up 1214 01:15:44,526 --> 01:15:47,245 # When memories stay 1215 01:15:47,286 --> 01:15:50,039 # We're closer, yeah 1216 01:15:50,086 --> 01:15:54,876 # To our higher destiny 1217 01:15:55,886 --> 01:16:02,075 # And when we reach up to claim the throne 1218 01:16:02,126 --> 01:16:05,675 # Every man will know 1219 01:16:05,726 --> 01:16:08,320 # We will raise our hands 1220 01:16:08,366 --> 01:16:11,164 # We will touch the sky 1221 01:16:11,206 --> 01:16:16,724 # Together we will dance in robes of gold 1222 01:16:16,766 --> 01:16:22,875 # And we will leave the world remembering 1223 01:16:22,926 --> 01:16:28,239 # When we were kings 1224 01:16:28,526 --> 01:16:32,485 # When we were kings 1225 01:16:32,526 --> 01:16:34,642 # Ooh 1226 01:16:34,686 --> 01:16:37,120 # When we were kings 1227 01:16:38,166 --> 01:16:40,077 # Yeah 1228 01:16:40,126 --> 01:16:41,525 # When we were kings 1229 01:16:41,566 --> 01:16:43,682 # Float like a butterfly 1230 01:16:43,726 --> 01:16:47,719 # Sting like a bee 1231 01:16:48,086 --> 01:16:50,077 # Float like a butterfly 1232 01:16:51,766 --> 01:16:53,802 # I remember... # 1233 01:16:57,046 --> 01:17:01,039 Years after the fight in Zaire, perhaps ten years after, 1234 01:17:01,086 --> 01:17:05,716 I'd run into Ali on occasion after that, but I remember this meeting. 1235 01:17:05,766 --> 01:17:08,917 Esquire was giving a party for various people 1236 01:17:08,966 --> 01:17:12,800 who had distinguished themselves in Esquire that year. 1237 01:17:12,846 --> 01:17:14,837 Ali, for whatever he'd done, 1238 01:17:14,886 --> 01:17:18,925 I was there probably because I had a good story in Esquire that year, 1239 01:17:18,966 --> 01:17:21,605 maybe 25 of us, honoured guests, 1240 01:17:21,646 --> 01:17:24,160 I was there with my wife and we saw Ali 1241 01:17:24,206 --> 01:17:26,117 and we were talking with him 1242 01:17:26,166 --> 01:17:28,555 and he couldn't have been nicer. 1243 01:17:28,606 --> 01:17:31,723 I remember I was 62 then, cos he said, "How old are you now?" 1244 01:17:31,766 --> 01:17:36,556 I said "62," he said "Oh," same as when we were jogging that night, 1245 01:17:36,606 --> 01:17:41,361 "Oh, I hope I'm as young as you are when I'm 62," he went on like that. 1246 01:17:41,406 --> 01:17:45,399 I got so pleased and so vain that, you know, I'm like a dog. 1247 01:17:45,446 --> 01:17:49,075 What did I have to do? I had to go urinate, and I did. 1248 01:17:49,126 --> 01:17:52,482 I went away and once I was gone he turned to my wife, 1249 01:17:52,526 --> 01:17:56,565 who's much younger than I am, and he looked at her hard and said, 1250 01:17:56,606 --> 01:17:59,120 "You still with that old man?" 1251 01:18:01,086 --> 01:18:04,078 And for me that's always been... That's Ali. 1252 01:18:04,926 --> 01:18:08,316 You love him even when you turn your back on him. 1253 01:18:08,366 --> 01:18:13,281 I heard him once talking to the Harvard senior class commencement. 1254 01:18:14,646 --> 01:18:18,798 He gave this extraordinary speech, you know he was dyslexic, 1255 01:18:18,846 --> 01:18:21,155 and he would look at a paper and say, 1256 01:18:21,206 --> 01:18:24,482 "What does this word mean?" I'd say, "Appendicitis." 1257 01:18:24,526 --> 01:18:28,838 He'd say, "How d'you get a word like appendicitis? It's so long." 1258 01:18:28,886 --> 01:18:31,116 Here he was delivering a lecture, 1259 01:18:31,166 --> 01:18:36,320 senior class day with these 1,000, 2,000 Harvard graduates, 1260 01:18:36,366 --> 01:18:39,756 and...he had these little cards in front of him. 1261 01:18:39,806 --> 01:18:44,561 He gave this wonderful speech about he hadn't had the opportunity 1262 01:18:44,606 --> 01:18:49,157 but they had and they should use that to make the world a better place. 1263 01:18:49,206 --> 01:18:53,722 It was moving and funny, and a great roar of appreciation at the end. 1264 01:18:53,766 --> 01:18:56,644 Then someone shouted out, "Give us a poem!" 1265 01:18:56,686 --> 01:18:59,359 And everybody quieted down. 1266 01:18:59,406 --> 01:19:04,321 Now, the shortest poem according to Bartlett's Quotations is called 1267 01:19:04,366 --> 01:19:06,436 "On the Antiquity of Microbes" 1268 01:19:06,486 --> 01:19:08,795 and the poem is "Adam had 'em." 1269 01:19:08,846 --> 01:19:10,484 Pretty short. 1270 01:19:10,526 --> 01:19:12,801 But Muhammad Ali's poem was 1271 01:19:12,846 --> 01:19:15,918 "Me, we." 1272 01:19:16,726 --> 01:19:18,284 Two words. 1273 01:19:18,326 --> 01:19:22,763 I wrote Bartlett's Quotations and I said, "Look, that's shorter." 1274 01:19:22,806 --> 01:19:26,242 It stands for something more than the poem itself. 1275 01:19:26,286 --> 01:19:28,641 "Me, we." What a fighter he was. And what a man. 1276 01:19:33,166 --> 01:19:37,079 # Refugee cat... Ali, boma ye 1277 01:19:37,126 --> 01:19:40,277 # Yes, yes... Rumble in the jungle 1278 01:19:45,966 --> 01:19:47,319 # Come on! 1279 01:19:47,366 --> 01:19:49,675 # Root to the fruit more bass than Bootsy Collins 1280 01:19:49,726 --> 01:19:52,365 # You versus me that's like Ali versus Foreman 1281 01:19:52,406 --> 01:19:55,159 # God's act, stand back and watch 1282 01:19:55,206 --> 01:19:58,039 # Devil's time-out can't be timed with no Swatch watch 1283 01:19:58,086 --> 01:20:00,316 # Who I am, the Black Abraham 1284 01:20:00,366 --> 01:20:03,039 # Zunga zunga zang yellow man, Vietnam 1285 01:20:03,086 --> 01:20:05,361 # Add an extra bar as I spar with literature 1286 01:20:05,406 --> 01:20:06,680 # Taking kingdoms from Tsars 1287 01:20:06,726 --> 01:20:08,284 # Winning more wars than the Moors 1288 01:20:08,326 --> 01:20:10,794 # Hey, what's the deal? I seen the Devil spar with Allah 1289 01:20:10,846 --> 01:20:13,406 # Mathematics was the key to set my whole race free 1290 01:20:13,446 --> 01:20:16,040 # You might debate we, a refugee no harm hurt me 1291 01:20:16,086 --> 01:20:18,805 # Dying, thirsty from the struggle to my own hustle bubble 1292 01:20:18,846 --> 01:20:21,406 # On the low, woe is me to show the Free Bob right 1293 01:20:21,446 --> 01:20:22,765 # The righteous Asiatic thinker 1294 01:20:22,806 --> 01:20:24,205 # While Satan rob light 1295 01:20:24,246 --> 01:20:25,599 # Civilised like the Molly 1296 01:20:25,646 --> 01:20:26,965 # Burgundy, wildly rocking 1297 01:20:27,006 --> 01:20:28,439 # Seen the fifth when Ali clocked him 1298 01:20:28,486 --> 01:20:29,885 # John Forte will keep you locked in 1299 01:20:29,926 --> 01:20:32,281 # People all around you got to recognise and witness 1300 01:20:32,326 --> 01:20:34,999 # The Mister who swift enough to knock you out with mic fitness 1301 01:20:35,046 --> 01:20:36,274 # Hands blistered from holding the mic tight 1302 01:20:36,326 --> 01:20:37,520 # Some say it's fight night 1303 01:20:37,566 --> 01:20:40,478 # Well, throw the R after the F cos I'm gonna take away your breath 1304 01:20:40,526 --> 01:20:43,086 # The bell rings and it's just a daily operation 1305 01:20:43,126 --> 01:20:45,799 # Yo, you saw my lubrication you can see this occupation 1306 01:20:45,846 --> 01:20:48,201 # (The winner) You know we're here from Q-borough 1307 01:20:48,246 --> 01:20:51,204 # L-Booie and Clef the trainers Prazwell promote the throw 1308 01:20:51,246 --> 01:20:53,885 # We used to bite the bullets with the pigskin cases 1309 01:20:53,926 --> 01:20:56,565 # Now we perfect slang like a gang of street masons 1310 01:20:56,606 --> 01:20:59,040 # Scribe check make connects true pyramid architects 1311 01:20:59,086 --> 01:21:01,316 # Replace the last name with the X 1312 01:21:01,366 --> 01:21:03,084 # The man's got a God complex 1313 01:21:03,126 --> 01:21:04,400 # But take the text change the picture 1314 01:21:04,446 --> 01:21:07,006 # Watch Muhammad play the messenger like holy Moslem scripture 1315 01:21:07,046 --> 01:21:09,799 # Take orders from only God only one when it's jihad 1316 01:21:09,846 --> 01:21:12,485 # See Ali appears in Zaire to reconnect 400 years 1317 01:21:12,526 --> 01:21:13,925 # But we're the people dark but equal 1318 01:21:13,966 --> 01:21:15,240 # Give love to such things 1319 01:21:15,286 --> 01:21:17,880 # For the man who made the fam' remember when we were kings 1320 01:21:17,926 --> 01:21:20,042 # Block's on fire 1321 01:21:20,086 --> 01:21:22,441 # Flames getting higher 1322 01:21:22,486 --> 01:21:25,205 # Robbin' blue collar 1323 01:21:25,246 --> 01:21:27,919 # Killin' for a dollar 1324 01:21:27,966 --> 01:21:30,526 # Youths get tired 1325 01:21:30,566 --> 01:21:33,205 # We're dealin' with them liars 1326 01:21:33,246 --> 01:21:35,999 # From Brooklyn to Zaire 1327 01:21:36,046 --> 01:21:38,879 # We need a ghetto messiah 1328 01:21:39,926 --> 01:21:44,522 # Send me an angel in the morning, baby 1329 01:21:44,806 --> 01:21:49,960 # Send me an angel in the morning, darling 1330 01:21:50,006 --> 01:21:55,205 # Send me Muhammad in the morning, baby 1331 01:21:55,446 --> 01:22:00,645 # Send me an angel in the morning, darling 1332 01:22:00,686 --> 01:22:02,677 # Once the pen hits the pad it's danger 1333 01:22:02,726 --> 01:22:03,920 # To this I'll be no stranger 1334 01:22:03,966 --> 01:22:05,797 # Step inside the ring and I'll derange you 1335 01:22:05,846 --> 01:22:08,485 # I'm hearing no comments everyone looks despondent 1336 01:22:08,526 --> 01:22:11,120 # Dejected, rejected similar to Liston catching licks 1337 01:22:11,166 --> 01:22:13,555 # Beat it, Sonny, my man is still the greatest in history 1338 01:22:13,606 --> 01:22:16,166 # To hell with Frazier, yapping about that negative shit 1339 01:22:16,206 --> 01:22:19,164 # Now, listen, you can try and escape if you want to 1340 01:22:19,206 --> 01:22:22,039 # But ask yourself who the hell you gonna run to? 1341 01:22:22,086 --> 01:22:24,759 # Like Sade Abu you got a punch that I can sleep to 1342 01:22:24,806 --> 01:22:27,240 # Fugees, Tribe, Busta Rhymes forever coming through 1343 01:22:27,286 --> 01:22:29,754 # You sing Amazing Grace over two dollar plates 1344 01:22:29,806 --> 01:22:32,525 # One roll, snake-eyes, like Jake the Snake 1345 01:22:32,566 --> 01:22:35,364 # Many lies, put up for stakes, wash our sins at the Great Lakes 1346 01:22:35,406 --> 01:22:38,000 # You and I cannot see eye-to-eye so therefore we can't relate 1347 01:22:38,046 --> 01:22:40,514 # I'm here when I make myself crystal clear 1348 01:22:40,566 --> 01:22:43,205 # You fled to Cape Fear when I aced you up in Zaire 1349 01:22:43,246 --> 01:22:45,760 # Tussle with a lasso in the Royal Rumble 1350 01:22:45,806 --> 01:22:48,639 # Separate boys from men in the concrete jungle 1351 01:22:48,686 --> 01:22:50,722 # I remember when Cassius Clay flipped the script 1352 01:22:50,766 --> 01:22:52,199 # Taking trips to Zimbabwe 1353 01:22:52,246 --> 01:22:55,124 # Africans started calling the God Ali, boma ye! 1354 01:22:55,166 --> 01:22:58,556 # It be the God stricken, God nutrition, lightly stricken 1355 01:22:58,606 --> 01:23:00,562 # Blow that make you feel like you was poison bitten 1356 01:23:00,606 --> 01:23:02,915 # Ha! Yo, I'm 'bout to blister you and your sister 1357 01:23:02,966 --> 01:23:05,685 # Predicting every ass whipping before my fights, my nigga 1358 01:23:05,726 --> 01:23:08,843 # This be your last warning once you walk past the doorman 1359 01:23:08,886 --> 01:23:11,605 # Ali and Foreman gonna lock ass until the morning 1360 01:23:11,646 --> 01:23:14,160 # Marvellous finances provided by Joseph Mobutu 1361 01:23:14,206 --> 01:23:17,243 # Special guests of honour like the Archbishop Desmond Tutu 1362 01:23:17,286 --> 01:23:19,038 # We watched the Rumble In The Jungle 1363 01:23:19,086 --> 01:23:21,680 # To see who be the targeted uncle to be the first to fall and fumble 1364 01:23:21,726 --> 01:23:24,286 # Nuff blows they getting thrown like solid milestones 1365 01:23:24,326 --> 01:23:27,204 # Internally shaking up niggas imbalance your chromosomes 1366 01:23:27,246 --> 01:23:28,964 # With the force of a thousand warriors 1367 01:23:29,006 --> 01:23:31,839 # When I bust your ass identify me as the lord victorious 1368 01:23:31,886 --> 01:23:33,877 # Blocks on fire 1369 01:23:33,926 --> 01:23:36,759 # Flames getting higher 1370 01:23:36,806 --> 01:23:39,366 # Robbing blue collar 1371 01:23:39,406 --> 01:23:41,601 # Killing for a dollar 1372 01:23:41,646 --> 01:23:44,558 # Youths get tired 1373 01:23:44,606 --> 01:23:47,404 # We're dealing with them liars 1374 01:23:47,446 --> 01:23:49,880 # From Brooklyn to Zaire 1375 01:23:49,926 --> 01:23:52,281 # We need a ghetto Messiah #