The Rumble in the Jungle

The boxing match known as the Rumble in the Jungle, fought between Muhammed Ali and George Foreman in 1974, was documented by Magnum photographer Abbas during the time he spent making work in Zaire, now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo. Ahead of the release of the new book, Mohamed Ali, Kinshasa 1974, by Dupuis, we reflect on the history of the event and speak to Hamish Crooks, Abbas’ son, manager of the photographer’s estate and former head of licensing at Magnum Photos, about boxing, Abbas’ photographic practice and the significance of photography in the construction of Ali’s legend.

In the autumn of 1974, the world’s biggest sporting event was being in held in a new state in Africa. Zaire, formerly known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was to host a boxing match in its capital Kinshasa; a contest between Muhammad Ali, the former heavyweight champion of the world who was 32 — already into retirement age, and George Foreman, a younger fighter and reigning heavyweight champion whose unflagging power in the ring had led many to describe him as undefeatable. Ali had previously won the world title defeating Sonny Liston at age 22, but had been suspended from boxing following his refusal to be drafted into the Vietnam War; four years out of practice, odds were not in his favour.

Franco-Iranian photographer Abbas was working for the magazine Jeune Afrique, who had sent him on assignment to profile the nascent Zaire for their series of books on countries of Africa. Abbas had an enduring connection with Africa. He had lived in Algeria for fifteen years as a boy, and spent many of his later years living and working in West and Central Africa. Following the end of World War II and throughout the 1960s and ‘70s, old colonial powers – including France, Belgium and Britain among others – were losing imperial control of nations across Africa. These colonial powers were often replaced by neo-colonial influences, both of former rulers, and of the newer American and Soviet superpowers. Concurrently African nationalist movements were growing in power and popularity: it was a pivotal time for much of the continent, and provided fertile ground for photojournalists to make work.

The Ali vs Foreman fight is sometimes thought of within a wider context of large-scale sporting events used as a distraction from problematic political environments – a practice commonly referred to today as sports-washing. Mobutu Sese Seko was under scrutiny for his actions during the Congo Crisis of 1960, the circumstances behind his succession to power, and the methods he used to consolidate his authoritarian regime in the country. In 1960 the military leader had removed the prime minister Patrice Lamumba and facilitated his execution by the Belgian-backed secessionist group, the Katanga. Lumumba had played a pivotal role in Congo’s separation from Belgian colonial powers, but his appeal for help from the Soviet Union was looked upon unfavourably by the United States, who had provided financial support to the Katanga. It is sometimes rumoured that the CIA played a role in setting up the Ali vs Foreman fight: so unusual were the circumstances in which it came together. Don King was at the time an inexperienced boxing promoter who took a major risk in proposing a $10-million-dollar purse for the fight, who had also managed to convince Mobutu that the event would put his country on the map. The fight was planned to capture international attention: the match itself was broadcast at 4am local time to coincide with prime viewing time in the United States, and a music festival was organized in Kinshasa to coincide with it, featuring popular artists such as James Brown, BB King, Miriam Makeba and Bill Withers.

Crooks, a boxing enthusiast himself, observes how the politics of the sport manifested in journalism and mainstream perceptions during that era. “George Foreman used to wave the American flag, so he was the total opposite to Ali. Ali himself knew no one would be interested in the fight, unless they started to make the divisions between the fighters. You needed some antagonism: ‘I’m fighting for black people, he’s not’. Marketing a fight with two black fighters before the 1970s was difficult as the largely white audience had less identification with two black fighters. Then Ali showed up as representing the radical black liberation political discourse of the time, which troubled many white Americans,” he says.

Ali’s rhetoric also attracted pro-black sympathies in the US, and provided the promoters with a great PR narrative. “His opponent would become ‘white for the night’ [as proclaimed by the media] in the hope they’d beat him.” Thus divisions between black identities in the US became a story of black versus white: “It added a level of identification for the fans to get behind.” Crooks stresses the multiple layers of interpretation that the symbolism of boxing titles is subject to, and the ways in which a culture invests in them as a result: “I always think it’s very important to remember how significant the ‘Heavyweight Champion of the World’ was viewed as being at the time. You are the ultimate male of the species in many people’s eyes. That’s why we have phrases such as ‘Great White Hope’ — the saying was first used when Jack Johnson, the first black man to win in the 1900s, won the title. The headlines in the newspapers talked of finding a white man who could beat this ‘uppity black man’”.

“When they did the editing at Magnum they’d go back and that’s what they’d be looking for, those things that the photographers didn’t originally edit. My dad’s Vietnam book included a great portion of the bits that no one wanted to see at the time. [The news outlets of the day] just wanted the bangers, but that book revealed a wider picture. That included formerly unseen images of Vietnamese society and the effects of war that have become more interesting now. It’s a similar thing with Ali. You want to see a bit more, you want to go in and see how he eats, how he trains, what’s he like. You used to call it a ‘color’ story in journalism.”