1
00:00:28,600 --> 00:00:31,360
Yeah, I'm in Africa.
Yeah, Africa's my home.

2
00:00:31,400 --> 00:00:34,080
Damn America and what America thinks.

3
00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:37,840
I live in America, but Africa's
the home of the Black man.

4
00:00:37,880 --> 00:00:39,880
I was a slave 400 years ago

5
00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:42,920
and I'm going back home to fight
among my brothers! Yeah!

6
00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:46,040
'For these two African-Americans

7
00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:49,641
'to come home was
of great, great significance.

8
00:00:49,681 --> 00:00:52,041
'Because of Hollywood and TV

9
00:00:52,081 --> 00:00:55,641
'a lot of us
had been taught to hate Africa.'

10
00:00:55,681 --> 00:00:59,641
Once, if you called a Black person
African they'd be ready to fight.

11
00:01:18,001 --> 00:01:22,921
'When I get to Africa we'll get
it on because we don't get along!'

12
00:01:22,961 --> 00:01:24,842
I'm gonna eat him up!

13
00:01:24,882 --> 00:01:29,442
Too much speed for him!
Too fast! Too fast!

14
00:01:29,482 --> 00:01:33,682
I'm gonna retire the
heavyweight champion of the world!

15
00:01:33,722 --> 00:01:36,282
I'm gonna retire
the heavyweight champion!

16
00:01:36,322 --> 00:01:39,642
September 25th
the world'll be stunned!

17
00:01:39,682 --> 00:01:41,362
Tell 'em, Ali!

18
00:01:41,442 --> 00:01:44,602
If you think the world was surprised
when Nixon resigned

19
00:01:44,642 --> 00:01:47,242
wait till I kick Foreman's behind!

20
00:02:22,363 --> 00:02:25,923
'An 18-year-old amateur
champion with a charming smile

21
00:02:25,963 --> 00:02:29,323
'took a physical examination
for his first professional fight.'

22
00:02:32,843 --> 00:02:34,523
It won't be an easy fight

23
00:02:34,563 --> 00:02:38,123
but my plan of attack
on a fighter like Alex Miteff

24
00:02:38,163 --> 00:02:40,084
would be two fast left jabs,

25
00:02:40,124 --> 00:02:43,124
a rapid right cross
and a left hook.

26
00:02:43,164 --> 00:02:45,964
'But in the Belgian Congo,

27
00:02:46,004 --> 00:02:49,644
'freedom was followed
by rioting and an army mutiny.

28
00:02:50,724 --> 00:02:54,364
'For months,
the political pattern kept changing

29
00:02:54,404 --> 00:02:57,444
'until pro-Red
Premier Lumumba was seized

30
00:02:57,484 --> 00:03:00,644
'by the forces
of strongman Colonel Mobutu.'

31
00:03:03,164 --> 00:03:06,164
After watching Mike DeJohn
and Eddie Machen,

32
00:03:06,204 --> 00:03:08,284
I would rate myself number two.

33
00:03:11,044 --> 00:03:13,564
I'm out to break
Floyd Patterson's record

34
00:03:13,604 --> 00:03:17,765
and this being my 20th birthday,
today, January 17th,

35
00:03:17,805 --> 00:03:21,605
that leaves me exactly one year
to reach my goal.

36
00:03:23,885 --> 00:03:28,485
People do say I'm cocky,
some say I need a good whuppin',

37
00:03:28,525 --> 00:03:30,605
some say I talk too much,

38
00:03:30,645 --> 00:03:33,405
but anything that I say,
I'm willing to back up.

39
00:03:34,485 --> 00:03:36,445
The other night I predicted

40
00:03:36,485 --> 00:03:40,245
that I would knock out Banks
in four rounds and I did.

41
00:03:42,325 --> 00:03:44,205
I knocked out Don Warner

42
00:03:44,245 --> 00:03:47,285
and I just annihilated
George Logan in four rounds.

43
00:03:58,566 --> 00:04:02,126
'Close your mouth
and keep it closed.'

44
00:04:02,166 --> 00:04:04,886
- That's impossible.
- Keep it closed.

45
00:04:04,926 --> 00:04:07,846
I'm the greatest
and I'm knocking out all bums.

46
00:04:07,886 --> 00:04:10,246
And if you get too smart
I'll knock you out.

47
00:04:16,006 --> 00:04:19,406
'You'd take him on
before the fight?'

48
00:04:19,446 --> 00:04:21,326
Beat him like I'm his daddy.

49
00:04:21,366 --> 00:04:23,486
I saw Sonny Liston a few days ago.

50
00:04:23,526 --> 00:04:25,446
Ain't he ugly?

51
00:04:29,486 --> 00:04:31,767
I'm young, I'm handsome,

52
00:04:31,847 --> 00:04:35,247
I'm fast, I'm pretty
and can't possibly be beat.

53
00:04:35,287 --> 00:04:38,327
Cassius Clay
goes into the record book

54
00:04:38,367 --> 00:04:41,247
with Corbett, Tunney and Braddock,

55
00:04:41,287 --> 00:04:45,767
bringing off another great upset
in heavyweight history.

56
00:04:45,807 --> 00:04:50,327
It is befitting that I leave
the game just like I came in,

57
00:04:50,367 --> 00:04:53,967
beating a big bad monster
who knocks out everybody

58
00:04:54,007 --> 00:04:55,887
and no one can whup him.

59
00:04:55,927 --> 00:04:59,367
When little Cassius Clay
stopped Sonny Liston,

60
00:04:59,407 --> 00:05:02,847
the man who annihilated
Floyd Patterson twice.

61
00:05:02,887 --> 00:05:04,767
He was gonna kill me!

62
00:05:04,807 --> 00:05:06,887
But he hit harder than George.

63
00:05:06,927 --> 00:05:09,808
His reach is longer,
he's a better boxer

64
00:05:09,848 --> 00:05:14,768
and I'm better now than when you saw
that kid running from Sonny Liston.

65
00:05:14,808 --> 00:05:17,408
I'm experienced now, professional.

66
00:05:17,448 --> 00:05:21,888
Jaw's been broke, been knocked down
a couple of times, I'm bad!

67
00:05:21,928 --> 00:05:25,008
Been chopping trees,
I done something new.

68
00:05:25,048 --> 00:05:28,208
- I wrestled with an alligator.

69
00:05:28,248 --> 00:05:31,688
That's right,
I have wrestled with an alligator!

70
00:05:31,728 --> 00:05:36,808
I tussled with a whale. I handcuffed
lightning, thrown thunder in jail!

71
00:05:36,848 --> 00:05:41,208
That's bad!
Only last week I murdered a rock!

72
00:05:41,248 --> 00:05:44,888
Injured a stone!
Hospitalised a brick!

73
00:05:44,928 --> 00:05:48,289
- I'm so mean I make medicine sick!
- Bad dude!

74
00:05:48,329 --> 00:05:50,089
Bad, fast!

75
00:05:50,129 --> 00:05:53,769
Fast! Fast! Last night,
cut the light off in my bedroom,

76
00:05:53,809 --> 00:05:56,889
hit the switch and was in the bed
before the room was dark!

77
00:05:56,929 --> 00:05:58,889
- Incredible.
- Fast!

78
00:05:58,929 --> 00:06:03,049
You, George Foreman, all you chumps
are gonna bow when I whup him!

79
00:06:03,089 --> 00:06:07,649
All of you! I know you got him picked
but the man's in trouble!

80
00:06:07,689 --> 00:06:10,329
I'm gonna show you how great I am!

81
00:06:10,369 --> 00:06:14,249
I think Ali was scared.
I think he was scared even then.

82
00:06:14,289 --> 00:06:17,809
He knew he was gonna be very scared
as he got closer to the fight.

83
00:06:17,849 --> 00:06:20,089
You know the way George fights.

84
00:06:20,129 --> 00:06:23,290
George comes out...
"I made him the mummy!"

85
00:06:26,050 --> 00:06:31,050
'With his ego he could tell
himself he would dominate Foreman,

86
00:06:31,090 --> 00:06:36,250
'make a fool of him, that Foreman
would never lay a glove on him.'

87
00:06:36,290 --> 00:06:39,930
But in fact, in his sleep
or wherever his private moment came

88
00:06:39,970 --> 00:06:45,130
he knew that he had not done as well
against two fighters particularly,

89
00:06:45,170 --> 00:06:49,170
Joe Frazier and Ken Norton,
whom Foreman had demolished.

90
00:06:49,210 --> 00:06:53,050
Down goes Frazier!
Down goes Frazier!

91
00:06:53,090 --> 00:06:57,090
The heavyweight champion
is taking the mandatory eight count

92
00:06:57,130 --> 00:06:59,530
and Foreman is as poised as can be!

93
00:06:59,570 --> 00:07:01,891
Foreman is going about his job!

94
00:07:01,931 --> 00:07:06,091
'He had an overpowering
intensity when he punched.

95
00:07:06,131 --> 00:07:09,171
'Foreman won
by knocking Joe Frazier out

96
00:07:09,211 --> 00:07:12,131
'and knocked him down
something like seven times.

97
00:07:12,171 --> 00:07:15,371
'Then he destroyed Ken Norton
in two rounds.

98
00:07:16,291 --> 00:07:20,851
'The word "murderous" does not
quite apply, Foreman was awesome.'

99
00:07:20,891 --> 00:07:23,611
This chump has got everybody scared.

100
00:07:23,651 --> 00:07:27,691
Scared of what?
There's nothing to be scared of.

101
00:07:28,971 --> 00:07:30,931
Scared of what?

102
00:07:33,331 --> 00:07:37,491
How many fellas in here
picks George? Be truthful, be men.

103
00:07:37,531 --> 00:07:39,132
Tell the truth.

104
00:07:39,172 --> 00:07:42,292
- John, raise your hand.

105
00:07:45,292 --> 00:07:47,092
Got George?

106
00:07:47,132 --> 00:07:49,292
You got George. Tell the truth.

107
00:07:49,332 --> 00:07:51,772
You! You, fella. Yeah.

108
00:07:51,812 --> 00:07:54,892
No pick? I just wanna know.
You got George...

109
00:07:57,572 --> 00:08:00,972
The time may have come
to say goodbye to Muhammad Ali,

110
00:08:01,012 --> 00:08:05,572
because very honestly I don't think
he can beat George Foreman.

111
00:08:05,612 --> 00:08:09,612
Howard Cosell, you told everybody
I don't have a chance.

112
00:08:09,652 --> 00:08:12,652
Told 'em I don't have
nothing but a prayer.

113
00:08:12,692 --> 00:08:16,773
Well, chump, all I need is a prayer
because if that reaches the right man

114
00:08:16,813 --> 00:08:20,413
not only will George Foreman fall
but mountains will fall!

115
00:08:20,453 --> 00:08:22,773
Maybe he can pull off a miracle,

116
00:08:22,813 --> 00:08:25,173
but against George Foreman?

117
00:08:25,213 --> 00:08:27,973
So young, so strong, so fearless?

118
00:08:28,013 --> 00:08:32,013
Against George Foreman,
who does away with his opponents

119
00:08:32,053 --> 00:08:35,213
one after another
in less than three rounds?

120
00:08:35,253 --> 00:08:37,893
It's hard for me
to conjure with that.

121
00:08:37,933 --> 00:08:42,173
You always say "Muhammad, you're not
the same man you were 10 years ago."

122
00:08:42,213 --> 00:08:43,693
I asked your wife

123
00:08:43,733 --> 00:08:46,933
and she told me you're not the same
man you was two years ago!

124
00:08:46,973 --> 00:08:51,333
After this fight
I suspect Ali will retire.

125
00:08:51,413 --> 00:08:53,534
And through all of the years

126
00:08:53,574 --> 00:08:57,774
my own memories of him
will be as a fighter,

127
00:08:57,814 --> 00:09:02,974
and as the strange and curious
and gregarious and engaging

128
00:09:03,014 --> 00:09:09,294
and sometimes cruel,
and sometimes family man that he is.

129
00:09:09,334 --> 00:09:13,334
I'm gonna let everybody know
that that thing on your head

130
00:09:13,374 --> 00:09:16,654
is a phoney
and it comes from the tail of a pony.

131
00:09:16,694 --> 00:09:18,894
A stolen bicycle.

132
00:09:18,934 --> 00:09:22,774
He had a bicycle
and he went to Columbia Gym.

133
00:09:22,814 --> 00:09:27,854
There was something going on up there
and he left his bike parked outside.

134
00:09:27,894 --> 00:09:30,775
So when he came out
someone had stolen it

135
00:09:30,815 --> 00:09:33,295
and he went inside and he was crying

136
00:09:33,335 --> 00:09:37,535
and he told the policeman there,
his name was Joe Martin,

137
00:09:37,575 --> 00:09:39,655
that someone stole his bike.

138
00:09:39,695 --> 00:09:44,975
And Joe Martin, he also taught the
little boys how to box in the evening

139
00:09:45,015 --> 00:09:48,935
so he asked would he be interested
in learning how to box

140
00:09:48,975 --> 00:09:53,495
and he told him yes, because if he
ever found out who stole his bike

141
00:09:53,535 --> 00:09:57,295
he wanted to know how to fight
so he could beat them up.

142
00:09:57,335 --> 00:10:00,895
An overhand right
sends Sonny to the canvas!

143
00:10:00,975 --> 00:10:04,615
Referee Jersey Joe Walcott is trying
to get Ali to a neutral corner.

144
00:10:04,655 --> 00:10:07,016
Ali yelling at Liston to get up...

145
00:10:07,056 --> 00:10:09,936
- Anchor punch.
- Which fight?

146
00:10:09,976 --> 00:10:12,256
I call it the anchor punch.

147
00:10:12,296 --> 00:10:16,016
- The one Stepin Fetchit helped with?
- Yeah, man.

148
00:10:16,936 --> 00:10:18,816
People couldn't see it,

149
00:10:18,856 --> 00:10:23,216
it was so fast Sports Illustrated
got a slow-motion camera,

150
00:10:23,256 --> 00:10:27,776
they clocked the punch and the punch
flew at 4/100ths of a second.

151
00:10:27,816 --> 00:10:30,136
You can break a second
down to 100 pieces.

152
00:10:30,176 --> 00:10:34,176
When people win a ski race
they say one and 16/100ths,

153
00:10:34,256 --> 00:10:36,336
one and 32/100ths of a second,

154
00:10:36,376 --> 00:10:40,936
so you break a second into 100 pieces
so, you know...that's quick,

155
00:10:40,976 --> 00:10:45,497
they got a machine that goes,
like, fr-r-t, real quick, fr-r-t,

156
00:10:45,537 --> 00:10:48,137
and it counts real quick, real quick.

157
00:10:48,177 --> 00:10:51,777
And by the time that thing
hit four that's how quick,

158
00:10:51,817 --> 00:10:54,977
from the time the punch started
to where it landed

159
00:10:55,017 --> 00:10:59,457
was 4/100ths of a second,
an eye blink, like a camera flash.

160
00:10:59,497 --> 00:11:01,577
That's 4/100ths of a second.

161
00:11:01,617 --> 00:11:05,137
When I hit Sonny Liston
all those people blinked,

162
00:11:05,177 --> 00:11:07,057
so they didn't see it.

163
00:11:07,097 --> 00:11:09,417
- I swear!

164
00:11:09,457 --> 00:11:13,577
If you watch the film close,
keep your eyes real close...

165
00:11:13,617 --> 00:11:15,737
- Keep looking.

166
00:11:15,777 --> 00:11:18,017
I'm getting ready to hit him.

167
00:11:18,057 --> 00:11:22,618
You got to hold your eyes and wait
or you won't see it, man!

168
00:11:22,658 --> 00:11:25,698
Ali was a beautiful...specimen,

169
00:11:25,738 --> 00:11:27,458
a fighting machine.

170
00:11:27,498 --> 00:11:32,818
He was handsome,
he was articulate, he was funny,

171
00:11:33,658 --> 00:11:35,738
charismatic.

172
00:11:35,778 --> 00:11:38,298
And was whuppin' ass too.

173
00:11:38,338 --> 00:11:42,058
'Deposed champion
Cassius Clay, at court in Houston,

174
00:11:42,098 --> 00:11:45,098
'is found guilty of violating
Selective Service laws

175
00:11:45,138 --> 00:11:47,218
'by refusing to be inducted.

176
00:11:47,258 --> 00:11:50,978
'He is sentenced to five years
in prison and fined $10,000.'

177
00:11:51,018 --> 00:11:54,178
'The way he fused
politics and sports.

178
00:11:54,218 --> 00:11:58,979
'Very few Black athletes had ever
talked the way Muhammad Ali talked

179
00:11:59,019 --> 00:12:02,619
'without fear of something
happening to their careers.'

180
00:12:02,659 --> 00:12:05,739
'..as a Moslem minister
made him exempt...'

181
00:12:05,779 --> 00:12:09,939
'He was already very unpopular
with mainstream Americans

182
00:12:09,979 --> 00:12:13,059
'because he had joined
the Nation of Islam,

183
00:12:13,099 --> 00:12:16,939
'which was perceived as
a radical Black separatist group.'

184
00:12:16,979 --> 00:12:20,379
On top of that,
when he was called for induction

185
00:12:20,419 --> 00:12:22,979
he refused to take the step forward.

186
00:12:23,019 --> 00:12:25,579
He absolutely infuriated America.

187
00:12:25,619 --> 00:12:29,499
Muhammad Ali said,
"No Viet Cong ever called me nigger."

188
00:12:29,539 --> 00:12:32,059
The king is going home
to get his throne.

189
00:12:32,099 --> 00:12:35,419
From root to fruit,
that's where everything started at.

190
00:12:35,459 --> 00:12:38,100
This is God's act
and you're part of it.

191
00:12:38,140 --> 00:12:40,540
This is no Hollywood set,
this is real.

192
00:12:40,620 --> 00:12:42,700
Hollywood set up these scenes,

193
00:12:42,740 --> 00:12:45,180
have somebody in the movies
playing his life.

194
00:12:45,220 --> 00:12:47,220
We don't pick up a script.

195
00:12:47,260 --> 00:12:49,180
We get up in the morning,

196
00:12:49,220 --> 00:12:52,060
sometimes we feel good,
sometimes bad,

197
00:12:52,100 --> 00:12:54,460
but we go through it with feeling.

198
00:12:54,500 --> 00:12:58,900
'Muhammad Ali's a prophet, he gonna
be a fisherman for Elijah Muhammad.

199
00:12:58,940 --> 00:13:03,540
'This is only a stop, look and
listen sign he's doing, fighting.'

200
00:13:04,340 --> 00:13:07,260
We been fightin' ever since we met.

201
00:13:07,300 --> 00:13:11,540
We beat Uncle Sam, come out
of the garage and beat number two.

202
00:13:11,580 --> 00:13:15,221
First man ever did it. Rest of 'em
they put out of the country.

203
00:13:18,541 --> 00:13:21,421
'This is God's act,
we just actors in it.

204
00:13:21,461 --> 00:13:25,061
'If Jesus was here
everybody'd want his autograph

205
00:13:25,101 --> 00:13:27,021
'and they'd be filming him.

206
00:13:27,061 --> 00:13:30,901
'This is a sport,
that's why you walking, talk to him.'

207
00:13:30,941 --> 00:13:34,901
I think Muhammad is a prophet.
How you gonna beat God's son?

208
00:13:35,661 --> 00:13:39,421
Anybody who loves poor people
and little people gotta be a prophet.

209
00:13:39,461 --> 00:13:42,501
He was champion of the world,
had a table full of food.

210
00:13:42,541 --> 00:13:47,261
Had a house for his mother, one for
him and he told 'em to shove it.

211
00:13:47,301 --> 00:13:52,902
If he couldn't love his god,
what do you think he is...mister?

212
00:14:06,622 --> 00:14:10,862
'Ali trained for the Foreman
fight at Deer Lake, Pennsylvania.

213
00:14:10,902 --> 00:14:13,462
'He trained very hard
for that fight,

214
00:14:13,502 --> 00:14:16,182
'and had very good sparring partners.

215
00:14:16,222 --> 00:14:18,502
'Larry Holmes was one of them.

216
00:14:18,582 --> 00:14:23,102
'I was struck with how well
he actually handled Ali

217
00:14:23,142 --> 00:14:25,742
'in their sparring sessions.

218
00:14:25,782 --> 00:14:28,783
'He dominated Ali.
That wasn't uncommon.

219
00:14:28,823 --> 00:14:33,343
'Ali would often not show his best
stuff with sparring partners,

220
00:14:33,383 --> 00:14:35,463
'but would work on his weaknesses.

221
00:14:35,503 --> 00:14:38,903
'He'd go against the ropes
and let people pummel him,

222
00:14:38,943 --> 00:14:42,183
'very heavy hitters,
he'd let them bang away at him.

223
00:14:42,223 --> 00:14:46,423
'As if he was training his body to
receive these messages of punishment

224
00:14:46,463 --> 00:14:49,983
'and absorb them faster than other
fighters could absorb them.'

225
00:14:52,623 --> 00:14:58,223
'This is in Africa because
they came up with $10 million.'

226
00:14:58,263 --> 00:15:00,663
$5 million for George Foreman,

227
00:15:00,703 --> 00:15:02,543
$5 million for me.

228
00:15:02,583 --> 00:15:06,664
England was trying to get it.
A promoter said America was trying,

229
00:15:06,704 --> 00:15:09,704
but none could surpass
the $5 million mark.

230
00:15:09,744 --> 00:15:11,984
The dream is becoming a reality.

231
00:15:12,024 --> 00:15:15,024
'Don King
went to George Foreman

232
00:15:15,064 --> 00:15:17,344
'and got him to sign an agreement

233
00:15:17,384 --> 00:15:22,464
'saying that if King could deliver
$5 million, Foreman would fight Ali.

234
00:15:22,504 --> 00:15:26,184
'Then King went to Ali
and made the same deal,

235
00:15:26,224 --> 00:15:28,944
'so Don King now had both fighters,

236
00:15:28,984 --> 00:15:31,864
'their signatures
on a piece of paper.

237
00:15:31,904 --> 00:15:34,664
'What he didn't have
was $10 million.'

238
00:15:34,704 --> 00:15:38,624
..a festival to complement
this great sporting event,

239
00:15:38,664 --> 00:15:41,544
the greatest sporting event
in history.

240
00:15:41,584 --> 00:15:44,585
- Of all time!
- All time, as the champ says.

241
00:15:44,625 --> 00:15:46,585
Greatest event of all time!

242
00:15:46,625 --> 00:15:51,105
Bigger than Evel Knievel and
the Kentucky Derby on the same day.

243
00:15:51,145 --> 00:15:55,385
The president of Zaire was willing
to put $10 million

244
00:15:55,425 --> 00:16:00,745
of his country's own very scarce,
hard-earned currency on the line,

245
00:16:00,785 --> 00:16:03,745
not for any
short-term economic reason

246
00:16:03,785 --> 00:16:07,305
but because he felt
that the fight would be good

247
00:16:07,345 --> 00:16:12,105
in terms of promoting Zaire and also
in terms of promoting himself,

248
00:16:12,185 --> 00:16:14,025
and as Ali said at the time,

249
00:16:14,105 --> 00:16:17,425
countries go to war
to get their names on the map

250
00:16:17,465 --> 00:16:20,386
and wars cost
a lot more than $10 million.

251
00:16:20,426 --> 00:16:24,746
Some of the most dynamic
performers from Afro-America

252
00:16:24,786 --> 00:16:29,306
will appear at the stadium in
Kinshasa on the 20th, 21st and 22nd,

253
00:16:29,346 --> 00:16:31,866
with this theatrical release.

254
00:16:31,906 --> 00:16:35,466
It will be James Brown,
soul brother number one...

255
00:16:35,506 --> 00:16:39,266
- Is he playing?
- Yes, James Brown will be there.

256
00:16:39,306 --> 00:16:42,306
We will have BB King, The Spinners...

257
00:16:42,346 --> 00:16:48,506
This is the first assembly in history
where the top-notch Blacks of America

258
00:16:48,546 --> 00:16:53,346
and the people of Africa had
something together, all on a level,

259
00:16:53,386 --> 00:16:56,866
we're all meeting and learning more
about each other,

260
00:16:56,906 --> 00:17:01,067
the first assembly among American
Black men and Africans in history

261
00:17:01,147 --> 00:17:02,987
and it's a big honour.

262
00:17:03,027 --> 00:17:04,987
Plus I gotta whup George!

263
00:17:05,827 --> 00:17:07,867
'Got to whup George!'

264
00:17:07,907 --> 00:17:11,347
We're gonna rumble in the jungle!

265
00:17:11,387 --> 00:17:13,467
Come on, come on.

266
00:17:17,987 --> 00:17:20,467
Speak up, boy. Go ahead.

267
00:17:22,547 --> 00:17:25,147
- Good boy.

268
00:17:25,187 --> 00:17:26,907
Get down.

269
00:17:27,987 --> 00:17:29,867
- Quiet.
- George?

270
00:17:29,907 --> 00:17:33,707
Is this fight against Ali
the toughest of your career?

271
00:17:39,108 --> 00:17:42,188
Could be, could be. I doubt it.

272
00:17:42,268 --> 00:17:46,668
This is Muhammad Ali, September 10th
at New York City airport,

273
00:17:46,708 --> 00:17:50,868
en route to Zaire to reclaim
the heavyweight title of the world.

274
00:17:50,908 --> 00:17:54,588
Champ, what would you like to say
to the children of the world?

275
00:17:54,628 --> 00:18:00,228
I'd like to say, mainly where they
understand English in America,

276
00:18:00,268 --> 00:18:04,868
to...live a clean life,
stay off the dope.

277
00:18:04,908 --> 00:18:07,188
It's tearing the country up.

278
00:18:07,228 --> 00:18:11,748
Also, if they wanna be like me,
I'm going to whup George Foreman,

279
00:18:11,789 --> 00:18:14,869
and when they see this
I will have beaten him.

280
00:18:14,909 --> 00:18:17,669
Tell them to quit eating
so much candy,

281
00:18:17,709 --> 00:18:21,789
I have three rotten teeth
and I had to have one of 'em pulled,

282
00:18:21,829 --> 00:18:24,109
I can't chew my food like I should.

283
00:18:24,149 --> 00:18:28,789
Eat natural foods
because we must whup Mr Tooth Decay.

284
00:18:28,829 --> 00:18:31,429
I got one right there and one there.

285
00:18:31,469 --> 00:18:36,309
Ali told us he's going to use part
of his money to build a hospital.

286
00:18:36,349 --> 00:18:41,509
Do you intend to use part of your
money for something, a project?

287
00:18:42,429 --> 00:18:45,949
He may think
he may have to be in the hospital.

288
00:18:45,989 --> 00:18:48,149
I want the man!

289
00:18:48,189 --> 00:18:52,670
When I get to Africa we gonna
get it on because we don't get along!

290
00:18:52,710 --> 00:18:55,150
I don't like him, he talks too much.

291
00:18:55,190 --> 00:18:58,430
- Beg your pardon?
- You would continue boxing

292
00:18:58,470 --> 00:19:01,150
- even if you lose?
- I beg your pardon?

293
00:19:01,190 --> 00:19:04,350
- You don't think about losing?

294
00:19:04,390 --> 00:19:07,510
No. But thank you.
Nice talking to you.

295
00:19:08,790 --> 00:19:11,430
Flying over the Sahara desert.

296
00:19:11,470 --> 00:19:16,910
An African airline with all African
stewardesses, all African pilots.

297
00:19:16,950 --> 00:19:20,470
This is the first free feeling
I had in a long time.

298
00:19:20,510 --> 00:19:24,990
Ain't this something, flying in
an airplane with Black pilots?

299
00:19:25,030 --> 00:19:29,231
All Black crew? This is strange
to the American Negro.

300
00:19:29,271 --> 00:19:31,351
We never dreamed of this!

301
00:19:31,391 --> 00:19:36,231
Every time we watch TV they show us
Tarzan and the natives and jungles,

302
00:19:36,271 --> 00:19:41,031
they never told us that Africans
were more intelligent than we are.

303
00:19:41,071 --> 00:19:44,911
They speak English,
French and African.

304
00:19:44,951 --> 00:19:47,271
We can't even speak English good.

305
00:20:02,031 --> 00:20:04,752
Ain't this beautiful? I'm free!

306
00:20:04,792 --> 00:20:06,472
Fantastic!

307
00:20:06,512 --> 00:20:08,112
I'm free.

308
00:20:08,152 --> 00:20:09,992


309
00:20:10,032 --> 00:20:11,912


310
00:20:13,232 --> 00:20:17,112

and where your place in life is

311
00:20:17,152 --> 00:20:19,672


312
00:20:20,952 --> 00:20:22,952


313
00:20:22,992 --> 00:20:24,912


314
00:20:24,952 --> 00:20:26,592


315
00:20:26,632 --> 00:20:28,672


316
00:20:29,992 --> 00:20:31,552


317
00:20:37,872 --> 00:20:40,112
'It was a great joy

318
00:20:40,152 --> 00:20:44,393
'to see that the championship
was going to happen in Africa.

319
00:20:44,473 --> 00:20:46,993
'People were so happy.

320
00:20:47,033 --> 00:20:51,193
'At last the world was
paying attention to our continent.

321
00:20:51,233 --> 00:20:54,553
'Yes, we knew Muhammad Ali
as a boxer,

322
00:20:54,593 --> 00:20:58,313
'but more importantly
for his political stance.

323
00:20:58,353 --> 00:21:04,233
'When we saw that America was at war
with a Third World country, Vietnam,

324
00:21:04,273 --> 00:21:09,193
'and that one of the children
of the United States said

325
00:21:09,233 --> 00:21:13,553
'"Me? You want me to go
and fight against the Viet Cong?"

326
00:21:13,593 --> 00:21:17,793
'"Why should I fight against them?
They haven't hurt me."

327
00:21:17,833 --> 00:21:23,394
'And for us, it was extraordinary to
see that in the America of that time

328
00:21:23,434 --> 00:21:26,514
'someone could take such a position.

329
00:21:26,594 --> 00:21:31,354
'He may have lost his title,
he may have lost millions of dollars

330
00:21:31,394 --> 00:21:35,154
'but he gained
the esteem of millions of Africans.'

331
00:21:35,194 --> 00:21:38,994
Ali! Ali! Ali!

332
00:21:42,594 --> 00:21:45,314
What is your population?

333
00:21:47,594 --> 00:21:50,514
- 22 million.
- 22 million?

334
00:21:50,554 --> 00:21:54,394
- 22 million.
- How many George Foreman fans here?

335
00:21:56,555 --> 00:21:59,675
- We don't know, we don't know.

336
00:21:59,715 --> 00:22:03,995
- How many Muhammad Ali?
- So many we cannot count them.

337
00:22:05,955 --> 00:22:11,755
'George Foreman?
We had heard he was a world champion.

338
00:22:11,795 --> 00:22:17,275
'We thought he was white, then
we realised he was black, like Ali.

339
00:22:17,315 --> 00:22:21,915
'But still, for us,
Foreman represented America.

340
00:22:21,955 --> 00:22:25,195
'He arrived with a dog,
a German shepherd,

341
00:22:25,235 --> 00:22:28,075
'which immediately offended Africans

342
00:22:28,115 --> 00:22:32,075
'since the Belgians
had used them as police dogs.'

343
00:22:32,115 --> 00:22:35,396
Ali said you're
the out-of-towner here.

344
00:22:35,436 --> 00:22:40,356
Africa is the cradle of civilisation,
everybody's home is Africa.

345
00:23:27,877 --> 00:23:31,997
OK, fine.
So, they're leaving tomorrow...

346
00:23:32,037 --> 00:23:36,957
Typhoid. How do you spell typhoid?
Is that all that we're giving?

347
00:23:36,997 --> 00:23:42,237
Who do you want to be
your beneficiary in case of anything?

348
00:23:42,277 --> 00:23:45,437
'You need
a ticket to get on the plane.'

349
00:23:45,477 --> 00:23:49,958
Let me see some hands of the 51
who don't have airline tickets.

350
00:23:49,998 --> 00:23:54,598
Hi! You know who we are, don't you?

351
00:23:55,718 --> 00:24:01,158
I'm Lola Love, I'm with the dancers
of the James Brown show, revue.

352
00:24:04,278 --> 00:24:08,238
Zai-ere, or Zare,
or whatever, you know?

353
00:24:08,278 --> 00:24:10,758
Yeah, when are gonna get to Zee-air?

354
00:24:10,798 --> 00:24:13,318
- Who?
- Mobutu land.

355
00:24:14,838 --> 00:24:18,478
We're gonna fly in zee-air
till we get to Zaire.

356
00:24:18,518 --> 00:24:20,598
That's right!

357
00:24:23,758 --> 00:24:26,159


358
00:24:26,199 --> 00:24:28,759


359
00:24:28,799 --> 00:24:30,759


360
00:24:30,799 --> 00:24:33,239


361
00:24:33,279 --> 00:24:36,359


362
00:24:36,399 --> 00:24:38,799

and live those dreams

363
00:24:38,839 --> 00:24:40,999


364
00:24:41,039 --> 00:24:42,919


365
00:24:42,959 --> 00:24:47,279


366
00:24:47,319 --> 00:24:50,839


367
00:24:51,399 --> 00:24:53,919


368
00:24:53,959 --> 00:24:55,639


369
00:24:55,679 --> 00:25:00,159


370
00:25:02,079 --> 00:25:05,760


371
00:25:05,800 --> 00:25:08,440


372
00:25:08,800 --> 00:25:11,360


373
00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:13,520


374
00:25:13,560 --> 00:25:16,600

to prove myself

375
00:25:16,640 --> 00:25:18,960


376
00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:21,560


377
00:25:21,640 --> 00:25:23,840


378
00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:28,000

turning inside out

379
00:25:28,040 --> 00:25:32,000


380
00:25:32,040 --> 00:25:33,720


381
00:25:33,760 --> 00:25:36,200


382
00:25:36,240 --> 00:25:38,760


383
00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:40,961


384
00:25:41,001 --> 00:25:44,241


385
00:25:44,281 --> 00:25:47,281


386
00:25:47,321 --> 00:25:49,521


387
00:25:51,961 --> 00:25:53,841


388
00:25:54,601 --> 00:25:58,441
The plane is not coming in at six,
it's now coming in between 10 and 11,

389
00:25:58,481 --> 00:26:02,521
so you don't have to have those
trucks up to the airport that early.

390
00:26:02,561 --> 00:26:06,321
- Where's James Brown...?
- James Brown is on his way.

391
00:26:06,361 --> 00:26:09,161
BB King... They ain't nowhere around!

392
00:26:18,362 --> 00:26:21,642
Six, fifth and fourth are done.
Elevators are working.

393
00:26:21,682 --> 00:26:24,202
There's no air conditioning at all?

394
00:26:24,242 --> 00:26:28,042
80%'s out. The circuits are in
but it doesn't work.

395
00:26:28,082 --> 00:26:31,682
What do you mean, 80%?
What floor is out?

396
00:26:31,722 --> 00:26:33,882
I have sixth, fifth and fourth.

397
00:26:33,922 --> 00:26:36,242
I understand, but what about...

398
00:26:36,282 --> 00:26:39,642
It's individual
air conditioning controls...

399
00:26:39,682 --> 00:26:42,602
What apartments
have air conditioning?

400
00:26:42,642 --> 00:26:45,922
How many beds
can we move people into tonight?

401
00:26:45,962 --> 00:26:48,442
- Four. Four rooms.
- Just eight people?

402
00:26:48,482 --> 00:26:49,962
Yeah.

403
00:26:51,362 --> 00:26:53,602


404
00:26:53,642 --> 00:26:56,163

where the heart's at, yeah

405
00:26:56,203 --> 00:26:58,043


406
00:26:58,083 --> 00:27:00,163


407
00:27:00,203 --> 00:27:02,083


408
00:27:02,123 --> 00:27:03,803


409
00:27:04,683 --> 00:27:07,163


410
00:27:07,203 --> 00:27:09,203


411
00:27:09,243 --> 00:27:11,683


412
00:27:11,723 --> 00:27:13,083


413
00:27:13,723 --> 00:27:15,243


414
00:27:16,283 --> 00:27:17,923


415
00:27:17,963 --> 00:27:20,603


416
00:27:21,683 --> 00:27:23,563
Hello, bubba!

417
00:27:24,483 --> 00:27:26,363
How you doin'?

418
00:27:29,883 --> 00:27:33,164
Ready to dance? I got ants
in my pants, I gotta dance.

419
00:27:36,684 --> 00:27:39,604
'The fight was held in Zaire,
the former Belgian Congo.

420
00:27:39,644 --> 00:27:42,564
'Kinshasa was the capital
on the banks of the Congo,

421
00:27:42,604 --> 00:27:45,444
'this was just before
the rainy season.'

422
00:27:45,484 --> 00:27:48,244
Up to the north
was the flickering of storms,

423
00:27:48,284 --> 00:27:51,564
and it was important to the promoters

424
00:27:51,604 --> 00:27:54,524
that this fight get in
before the storms occurred,

425
00:27:54,564 --> 00:27:58,124
because once the rainy season comes
you can't do anything.

426
00:27:58,164 --> 00:28:02,124
The Congo had such a wonderful name,
Conradian and all that.

427
00:28:02,164 --> 00:28:04,884
To call it Zaire
didn't have quite the majesty,

428
00:28:04,924 --> 00:28:06,884
but there it was, the Congo.

429
00:28:28,245 --> 00:28:30,685
'Mobutu was everywhere.

430
00:28:30,725 --> 00:28:33,165
'He was the equivalent of Stalin.'

431
00:28:33,205 --> 00:28:35,445
'You saw his picture everywhere.'

432
00:28:35,485 --> 00:28:39,365
Part of the vanity of dictators,
with the exception of Mussolini,

433
00:28:39,405 --> 00:28:42,245
who was half ugly
and half attractive,

434
00:28:42,285 --> 00:28:46,846
most dictators are unbelievably ugly
or plain - Franco, Hitler...

435
00:28:51,366 --> 00:28:55,966
'Mobutu looked the archetype,
the epitome of a closet sadist.

436
00:28:56,006 --> 00:28:59,766
'Sort of guy, if you meet him
in a bar, you think, "Oh, my God!

437
00:28:59,806 --> 00:29:03,486
'"Who are the poor women
who are associated with this fella?"

438
00:29:09,766 --> 00:29:14,086
'And since Mobutu was
an extraordinarily practical man,

439
00:29:14,126 --> 00:29:18,046
'down under the stadium,
which seated 100,000 people,

440
00:29:18,086 --> 00:29:21,246
'were detention pens
and rooms and chambers

441
00:29:21,286 --> 00:29:25,967
'where you could imprison as many
as a couple of thousand people.

442
00:29:26,007 --> 00:29:30,847
'Before the fight came, the criminal
rate in Zaire began to go up.'

443
00:29:30,887 --> 00:29:35,887
A few white foreigners
had been killed, driving their cars.

444
00:29:35,927 --> 00:29:41,087
And Mobutu decided that this would be
a disaster in terms of publicity,

445
00:29:41,127 --> 00:29:48,047
so on a given day he had a thousand
of the leading criminals in Kinshasa

446
00:29:48,087 --> 00:29:53,847
rounded up and put in this stadium,
down in the detention pens.

447
00:29:53,887 --> 00:29:58,647
'And then the legend has it, and I
suspect the legend may even be true,

448
00:29:58,687 --> 00:30:02,328
'that he had 100
taken at random and killed them.

449
00:30:02,368 --> 00:30:05,128
'And the reason was
a particularly simple one

450
00:30:05,168 --> 00:30:07,248
'from Mobutu's point of view.'

451
00:30:07,288 --> 00:30:11,688
Career criminals have connections who
protect them when they're in trouble,

452
00:30:11,728 --> 00:30:15,368
and by making this kill
of 100 out of 1,000 arbitrarily,

453
00:30:15,408 --> 00:30:20,088
Mobutu was saying "Your connections
are worth nothing. I am Jehovah.

454
00:30:20,128 --> 00:30:24,768
'"I will blast you out of existence
if you fool around with me."'

455
00:30:32,368 --> 00:30:37,048
'He made his point, Kinshasa was
one of the safest cities in Africa,

456
00:30:37,088 --> 00:30:41,249
'in all the world, while the foreign
press was there for the fight.'

457
00:30:54,809 --> 00:30:59,369
'To me, the drum was the communicator
since the beginning of time,

458
00:30:59,409 --> 00:31:02,609
'I'm sure it was
the first message ever sent.

459
00:31:02,649 --> 00:31:05,809
'The beat today
and the beats centuries ago

460
00:31:05,849 --> 00:31:09,089
'are the only thing
that's kept us together.'

461
00:31:13,969 --> 00:31:18,650
We had this thing, when we hurt,
we sung for trial and tribulation,

462
00:31:18,690 --> 00:31:21,450
and for relief, we sung songs to God

463
00:31:21,490 --> 00:31:25,170
and this music that you hear today
is the same songs

464
00:31:25,210 --> 00:31:30,050
that have been made popular around
the world without any volition.

465
00:31:30,970 --> 00:31:32,410
Oh!

466
00:32:05,171 --> 00:32:07,531
'So anybody who knows anything

467
00:32:07,571 --> 00:32:11,371
'about the rhythm and the blues
as they're so-called,

468
00:32:11,411 --> 00:32:13,531
'should know about Africa.'

469
00:32:14,251 --> 00:32:16,811


470
00:32:22,091 --> 00:32:24,891


471
00:32:24,931 --> 00:32:26,811


472
00:32:29,371 --> 00:32:31,972


473
00:32:35,012 --> 00:32:40,092


474
00:32:44,692 --> 00:32:47,892


475
00:32:50,812 --> 00:32:55,892

I'd ever seen

476
00:33:01,892 --> 00:33:06,092
The music I listen to, in most white
people's houses, I don't hear this,

477
00:33:06,132 --> 00:33:08,213
because your culture wouldn't...

478
00:33:08,253 --> 00:33:12,533
Your woman doesn't leave you
and slip away like our women,

479
00:33:12,573 --> 00:33:15,493
because you had money
to keep your woman.

480
00:33:15,533 --> 00:33:19,973
Your songs are like, "And the train
comes around that mountain,

481
00:33:20,013 --> 00:33:23,933
"In the Folsom Prison,
in the Folsom Prison".

482
00:33:23,973 --> 00:33:26,493
You know, "Y'all come, y'all come."

483
00:33:26,533 --> 00:33:30,373
Chinese got diddly music,
"Pleen ting tang tong ting."

484
00:33:30,413 --> 00:33:34,733
I don't want that and he understands.
Everybody's got their culture.

485
00:33:34,773 --> 00:33:39,853
So we're not saying we hate you
or we're never talking to you again

486
00:33:39,893 --> 00:33:42,493
and doing business, we don't do that.

487
00:33:42,533 --> 00:33:45,894
We're saying
that we want to be independent.

488
00:33:45,934 --> 00:33:47,654


489
00:33:47,694 --> 00:33:49,174


490
00:33:49,214 --> 00:33:51,054


491
00:33:55,414 --> 00:34:01,814

is gonna happen to me

492
00:34:09,454 --> 00:34:13,014
'The great place
to visit in Kinshasa

493
00:34:13,054 --> 00:34:15,734
'was a compound
about 20 miles up the Congo.

494
00:34:15,774 --> 00:34:19,374
'A place called Enseli,
a presidential palace.

495
00:34:19,414 --> 00:34:23,735
'That was where we saw Foreman,
who seemed incredible.'

496
00:34:23,775 --> 00:34:27,495
I'd seen him fight before,
I saw him destroy Frazier

497
00:34:27,535 --> 00:34:31,695
and the thing I always remembered
was that the beaten fighter,

498
00:34:31,735 --> 00:34:34,655
even a man as powerful
and big as Frazier,

499
00:34:34,695 --> 00:34:37,615
and he was very much favoured
to win that,

500
00:34:37,655 --> 00:34:40,255
suddenly becomes the size of a pygmy.

501
00:34:40,295 --> 00:34:42,935
They just diminish in size,

502
00:34:42,975 --> 00:34:47,255
and Foreman suddenly became
this gigantic figure.

503
00:34:49,295 --> 00:34:53,135
'And he had a trainer, Dick Sadler,
tiny by comparison,

504
00:34:53,175 --> 00:34:58,055
'and Sadler would hang on to this
heavy bag while Foreman would hit it.

505
00:34:58,095 --> 00:35:01,496
'Sadler would have been
picked off his feet.'

506
00:35:03,056 --> 00:35:05,176
'Foreman hitting the bag

507
00:35:05,216 --> 00:35:09,936
'is one of the more prodigious sights
I've had in my life.

508
00:35:09,976 --> 00:35:14,416
'Of all the people I've seen hit
heavy bags, including Sonny Liston,

509
00:35:14,456 --> 00:35:16,856
'no one hit it the way Foreman did.'

510
00:35:16,896 --> 00:35:21,136
At the end of 15 minutes
of pounding the heavy bag,

511
00:35:21,176 --> 00:35:25,536
there'd be a hole,
not a hole but a huge dent,

512
00:35:25,576 --> 00:35:29,896
the size of half a small watermelon
in that tremendous bag,

513
00:35:29,936 --> 00:35:33,416
and Foreman used to use
the biggest heavy bag around.

514
00:35:33,456 --> 00:35:37,817
'What would be interesting is Ali,
who would train after Foreman,

515
00:35:37,857 --> 00:35:41,937
'would pass this large hall
where the training took place

516
00:35:41,977 --> 00:35:45,217
'and he never looked at Foreman
hitting the heavy bag.

517
00:35:45,257 --> 00:35:48,577
'He just walked right by
as if Foreman didn't exist.

518
00:35:48,617 --> 00:35:50,777
'If you were gonna fight the man

519
00:35:50,817 --> 00:35:54,497
'you didn't want to see him
hitting that heavy bag.'

520
00:35:54,537 --> 00:35:57,297
I'm a speed demon!
I'm a brain fighter!

521
00:35:57,337 --> 00:35:59,497
I'm scientific! I'm artistic!

522
00:35:59,537 --> 00:36:01,457
I plan my strategy!

523
00:36:02,377 --> 00:36:04,577
He's the bull, I'm the matador!

524
00:36:06,937 --> 00:36:08,937
He's scared to death.

525
00:36:09,257 --> 00:36:11,337
He's scared to death!

526
00:36:13,417 --> 00:36:16,418
He wish he could
get out of the whole thing!

527
00:36:16,458 --> 00:36:20,138
He wish he could get out of the whole
thing! The man is frightened!

528
00:36:20,178 --> 00:36:24,018
He's meetin' his master,
his teacher, his idol!

529
00:36:24,058 --> 00:36:26,378
- Time!
- Is that all?

530
00:36:28,418 --> 00:36:31,778
When I talk and work I'm in shape,
it's all I do.

531
00:36:32,898 --> 00:36:36,098
'Ali announced
he was gonna dance.

532
00:36:36,138 --> 00:36:38,258
'He spoke about it all the time.

533
00:36:38,298 --> 00:36:41,178
'Every interview
in that period he'd say

534
00:36:41,218 --> 00:36:45,338
'"How is Foreman going to get
near to me? I'm going to dance!

535
00:36:45,378 --> 00:36:50,098
'"I'm going to dance and dance! He'll
look foolish trying to find me.'

536
00:36:50,138 --> 00:36:52,659
"And as he gropes his way forward

537
00:36:52,699 --> 00:36:56,539
"in this storm of blindness
at the speed of my dancing

538
00:36:56,579 --> 00:36:58,659
"I will strike him with my jab!

539
00:36:58,699 --> 00:37:01,619
"Poo! Poo! Poo!"
he would go and so forth.

540
00:37:01,659 --> 00:37:05,379
We heard this over and over
and Foreman heard it too.

541
00:37:06,779 --> 00:37:10,699
'Foreman was working now on
what's called cutting off the ring.

542
00:37:10,779 --> 00:37:12,939
'This essentially just means

543
00:37:12,979 --> 00:37:17,139
'cornering your opponent
against the ropes or in a corner.

544
00:37:17,179 --> 00:37:21,579
'It's an art, a balletic art,
you have to have very good footwork.

545
00:37:21,619 --> 00:37:23,859
'Foreman's footwork,
he was a big man,

546
00:37:23,899 --> 00:37:27,059
'but his footwork was better
than anyone had expected.

547
00:37:27,099 --> 00:37:29,300
'He worked with very fast fighters,

548
00:37:29,340 --> 00:37:32,300
'smaller than himself,
who certainly could dance

549
00:37:32,340 --> 00:37:34,420
'and he worked on cornering them.

550
00:37:34,460 --> 00:37:37,780
'And the combination
of watching the heavy bag

551
00:37:37,820 --> 00:37:40,580
'and watching Foreman
cut off the ring

552
00:37:40,620 --> 00:37:43,820
'made most fight writers,
myself included,

553
00:37:43,860 --> 00:37:46,460
'pessimistic about Ali's chances.'

554
00:38:20,741 --> 00:38:24,901
The guy threw up his elbows
to protect himself from Foreman

555
00:38:24,941 --> 00:38:27,541
and Foreman walked into his elbow.

556
00:38:27,581 --> 00:38:29,581
That's how he got cut in the eye?

557
00:38:38,541 --> 00:38:39,661
What else can happen?

558
00:38:42,381 --> 00:38:45,142
I saw the man's cut
and this man cannot fight.

559
00:38:45,182 --> 00:38:48,342
This man cannot fight
for a world championship...

560
00:38:48,382 --> 00:38:51,982
- You're not a doctor.
- I don't give a damn. I know what...

561
00:38:52,022 --> 00:38:55,782
The Zaireans kicked us out
and they did not want us around,

562
00:38:55,822 --> 00:38:59,742
and they want the fight to go on,
that's all there is to it.

563
00:38:59,782 --> 00:39:02,702
He won't fight with that eye,
he's not dumb.

564
00:39:02,742 --> 00:39:04,462
He's not that dumb?

565
00:39:04,502 --> 00:39:07,062
That's all you want is a fight.

566
00:39:07,102 --> 00:39:08,942
Excuse me, gentlemen.

567
00:39:14,422 --> 00:39:19,422
I respectfully ask are the fighters
remaining here because they want to

568
00:39:19,462 --> 00:39:22,703
or has the government
requested they remain?

569
00:39:29,503 --> 00:39:33,583
Mr Sadler told me
to convey to the press

570
00:39:33,623 --> 00:39:35,583
that it is just an accident.

571
00:39:35,623 --> 00:39:39,423
They will be contacting
the promoters of the fight

572
00:39:39,463 --> 00:39:43,143
and it is possible
that we may have to delay the fight

573
00:39:43,183 --> 00:39:46,543
and he will let the press know
as soon as possible.

574
00:39:46,583 --> 00:39:49,063
Did they have to stitch Foreman?

575
00:39:49,103 --> 00:39:52,023
They had to stitch him.
Holy shit, man.

576
00:39:52,063 --> 00:39:54,023
So how long is the delay?

577
00:39:54,063 --> 00:39:58,424
It'll take a day to get
any intelligence, this just happened.

578
00:39:58,464 --> 00:40:00,544
Then we can make a decision.

579
00:40:00,584 --> 00:40:02,504
How does George feel?

580
00:40:02,544 --> 00:40:06,624
Like anybody, he's only human.
How would any individual feel?

581
00:40:06,664 --> 00:40:09,304
Does he want it postponed?

582
00:40:09,344 --> 00:40:11,224
Who? Why should he?

583
00:40:11,264 --> 00:40:15,824
- Should he go ahead with it?
- Why should he make any decision?

584
00:40:15,904 --> 00:40:18,504
Who knows what another man thinks?

585
00:40:18,544 --> 00:40:22,504
How could I truthfully tell you
what you would think?

586
00:40:22,544 --> 00:40:26,824
A man may have mixed emotions,
I couldn't speak for George,

587
00:40:26,864 --> 00:40:30,504
I can only speak for Dick Sadler,
not for somebody else.

588
00:40:30,584 --> 00:40:32,584
I'm not that intelligent,

589
00:40:32,624 --> 00:40:37,665
I don't have that knowledge, that
ability to speak another man's mind.

590
00:40:37,705 --> 00:40:39,705
He never discussed it to me,

591
00:40:39,745 --> 00:40:42,905
and a person's mind
change from time to time.

592
00:40:42,945 --> 00:40:46,185
- The decision is yours...
- It is mine to make

593
00:40:46,265 --> 00:40:50,785
and I haven't made any...
I don't have any decisions to make.

594
00:40:50,825 --> 00:40:53,905
Let's get this show
on the road.

595
00:40:53,945 --> 00:40:57,385
This meeting is called to order.
Here, here.

596
00:40:57,425 --> 00:41:02,225
The delay won't have
any effect on the fight at all.

597
00:41:02,265 --> 00:41:05,705
There hasn't been...
there will not be a delay.

598
00:41:05,745 --> 00:41:07,865
The fight will be rescheduled

599
00:41:07,905 --> 00:41:12,146
but when it happens it'll be
actually intended for that time.

600
00:41:12,186 --> 00:41:15,426
Fate intended it for another time.
There is no delay.

601
00:41:15,466 --> 00:41:18,946
How does
Ali feel about it?

602
00:41:18,986 --> 00:41:22,586
If there ever has been
any disappointments in sports,

603
00:41:22,626 --> 00:41:26,346
setbacks or rainy days
that stopped a ball game, anything,

604
00:41:26,426 --> 00:41:28,626
this is the worst of all time.

605
00:41:28,666 --> 00:41:32,706
'Muhammad went through
a bad couple of hours

606
00:41:32,746 --> 00:41:37,106
'and wanted to move the whole fight
back to the United States,

607
00:41:37,186 --> 00:41:41,946
'then he said "Bring Joe Frazier
over and I'll fight him again

608
00:41:41,986 --> 00:41:45,186
'"and instead of each of us
getting $5 million,

609
00:41:45,226 --> 00:41:48,706
'"I'll take $3 million
and Joe can take $1 million."

610
00:41:48,746 --> 00:41:52,667
'Then he realised
nothing could be done about it

611
00:41:52,707 --> 00:41:57,747
'except stay in Zaire an extra
six weeks and make the best of it.'

612
00:41:57,787 --> 00:42:02,147
Now I gotta wait. He'll get his
whupping but I just have to wait.

613
00:42:02,187 --> 00:42:06,307
Boy, I was ready!
I was gonna upset the world again!

614
00:42:06,347 --> 00:42:10,987
The whole world was gonna
crawl and bow the next morning!

615
00:42:11,027 --> 00:42:15,187
I was gonna defeat that big
indestructible George Foreman,

616
00:42:15,227 --> 00:42:16,947
gonna rip him up!

617
00:42:17,067 --> 00:42:19,827
I'm gonna get him
for a sparring partner.

618
00:42:20,907 --> 00:42:24,307
My dream's all messed up
for six more weeks.

619
00:42:25,707 --> 00:42:28,628
The man's in trouble,
the man is scared.

620
00:42:28,668 --> 00:42:31,988
- He's in my country to start with!

621
00:42:35,148 --> 00:42:39,228
He's in my country.
You wanna see some of my country?

622
00:42:39,268 --> 00:42:41,348
Ali, boma ye!

623
00:42:41,388 --> 00:42:45,788
Ali, boma ye!
Ali, boma ye!

624
00:42:45,828 --> 00:42:50,308
Can you picture 100,000?
Can you picture 100,000?

625
00:42:50,348 --> 00:42:55,748
How you say it?
Ali, boma ye, Ali, boma ye!

626
00:42:55,788 --> 00:42:57,588
Ali, boma ye!

627
00:42:57,628 --> 00:43:01,188
When I hear them brothers
howling like that, whoo!

628
00:43:01,228 --> 00:43:03,108
I get my soul and spirit,

629
00:43:03,148 --> 00:43:07,229
100,000 African brothers
hollering "Ali, eat boma!"

630
00:43:07,309 --> 00:43:09,109
And I'm gonna... Ooh!

631
00:43:09,149 --> 00:43:13,269
I'm tired, can't take it no more,
let me get out of here.

632
00:43:13,309 --> 00:43:17,269
I wanna... I'm going to my room,
I'll talk to you later.

633
00:43:23,229 --> 00:43:24,869
I said I'm gone!

634
00:43:28,829 --> 00:43:30,669


635
00:43:32,109 --> 00:43:33,989


636
00:43:35,429 --> 00:43:37,589


637
00:43:39,309 --> 00:43:41,189


638
00:43:43,470 --> 00:43:45,350


639
00:43:46,790 --> 00:43:48,590


640
00:43:50,710 --> 00:43:51,750


641
00:43:54,750 --> 00:43:56,630


642
00:43:58,950 --> 00:44:02,310
'Black acts in America
have not learned

643
00:44:02,350 --> 00:44:06,590
'that once their record
is off the charts they're finished.'

644
00:44:06,630 --> 00:44:10,830
I heard a speech by Jesse Jackson,
saying we must recognise

645
00:44:10,870 --> 00:44:14,470
that we're only useful
as long as we're necessary.

646
00:44:14,510 --> 00:44:19,351
So they don't realise that your
strength comes from your community.

647
00:44:19,391 --> 00:44:22,231
And you have to deal
from your strength.

648
00:44:22,271 --> 00:44:25,591
In dealing from your strength
you got somebody

649
00:44:25,671 --> 00:44:28,591
so if somebody
wants to hurt James Brown,

650
00:44:28,631 --> 00:44:31,671
somebody gonna raise a voice
and say "why?"

651
00:44:31,711 --> 00:44:35,071
You got soldiers,
somebody that's concerned.

652
00:44:35,111 --> 00:44:39,871
But as an individual, no matter
how big you get, you still a nigger.

653
00:44:39,911 --> 00:44:44,191
You don't care how much money
you get. You are still a nigger.

654
00:44:44,271 --> 00:44:46,351
When you become unnecessary.

655
00:44:46,391 --> 00:44:47,831


656
00:44:49,071 --> 00:44:51,191


657
00:44:53,271 --> 00:44:55,151


658
00:44:56,512 --> 00:44:58,752


659
00:44:59,312 --> 00:45:02,952
Do unto others as you would have them
to do unto you.

660
00:45:02,992 --> 00:45:05,072
Would you ask somebody to lynch you

661
00:45:05,112 --> 00:45:10,112
and tell you where to go and how
to look, then refuse to pay you?

662
00:45:10,152 --> 00:45:13,072
Would you ask somebody
to take advantage of your woman

663
00:45:13,112 --> 00:45:15,192
and you can't even speak to his?

664
00:45:15,232 --> 00:45:19,232
Would you like to pay taxes for
something that you never received?

665
00:45:19,272 --> 00:45:22,672
Do unto others as you would have
somebody do unto you.

666
00:45:22,712 --> 00:45:26,072
And I don't have to use
the word "FM" backwards.

667
00:45:31,592 --> 00:45:34,993
We left Africa in shackles,
fetters and chains.

668
00:45:35,033 --> 00:45:38,713
We're coming back
in an aura of splendour and glory.

669
00:45:38,753 --> 00:45:43,913
The champions are here, champions of
the sports world and the music world,

670
00:45:43,993 --> 00:45:48,153
so put 'em together and we got
one champion that's so intermingled

671
00:45:48,193 --> 00:45:50,593
that we're fused into one entity.

672
00:45:50,633 --> 00:45:54,313
The brother said something there!
Yeah!

673
00:45:54,353 --> 00:45:56,273
Don King put this together.

674
00:45:56,313 --> 00:45:59,713
It was not a colour put it together,
you understand?

675
00:45:59,753 --> 00:46:01,833
I'd like to call him the Messiah.

676
00:46:01,873 --> 00:46:04,873
'This fight
came into existence

677
00:46:04,913 --> 00:46:08,753
'because of Don King's
desire to break out of the pack.

678
00:46:08,793 --> 00:46:14,274
'He was either going to become an
enormously prominent man, at least,

679
00:46:14,314 --> 00:46:17,594
'or go back to obscurity again
if it failed.'

680
00:46:17,634 --> 00:46:20,394
Oh, I'm so happy
to see you, my brothers.

681
00:46:20,434 --> 00:46:23,394
This is the Minister of Finance
of Zaire.

682
00:46:23,434 --> 00:46:27,194
Yes, I have met
the Minister of Finance. How are you?

683
00:46:27,234 --> 00:46:30,234
I appreciate your talent
and expertise.

684
00:46:30,274 --> 00:46:33,914
This is what it's all about.
I welcome you with love.

685
00:46:33,994 --> 00:46:38,314
We must deal with it as such,
but with love, not with hostility.

686
00:46:38,354 --> 00:46:40,714
You know, just but with love.

687
00:46:40,794 --> 00:46:42,594
Bravo, Mr King!

688
00:46:42,634 --> 00:46:44,314
My brother!

689
00:46:44,354 --> 00:46:47,875
'King had
this huge air of welcome.

690
00:46:47,915 --> 00:46:52,075
'Rarely has anyone ever been welcomed
the way King could do it.'

691
00:46:52,115 --> 00:46:53,995
'A joy came off him.'

692
00:46:54,035 --> 00:46:57,515
I knew his reputation,
how he'd been in jail,

693
00:46:57,555 --> 00:47:00,075
how he was thoroughly untrustworthy

694
00:47:00,115 --> 00:47:02,875
but nonetheless
he made you feel good.

695
00:47:02,915 --> 00:47:05,355
Don't leave! I need your strength!

696
00:47:05,395 --> 00:47:07,275
He was startling looking.

697
00:47:07,315 --> 00:47:11,715
Writers found different ways
to describe this uprush of hair.

698
00:47:11,755 --> 00:47:15,515
Some would say that he'd stuck
his thumb into an electric socket.

699
00:47:15,555 --> 00:47:18,075
Falling through an elevator shaft.

700
00:47:18,115 --> 00:47:20,395
'The fight was postponed.

701
00:47:20,435 --> 00:47:25,196
'Don King turned up and it seemed
maybe the fight wouldn't happen.'

702
00:47:25,236 --> 00:47:27,716
Nothing as big as this
ever runs smoothly,

703
00:47:27,756 --> 00:47:30,356
anything worthwhile
is worth fighting for.

704
00:47:30,396 --> 00:47:33,396
If you think
about what Shakespeare said,

705
00:47:33,436 --> 00:47:35,516
"the sweet uses of adversity,

706
00:47:35,556 --> 00:47:40,476
"ugly and venomous like a toad yet
wears a precious jewel in his head."

707
00:47:40,556 --> 00:47:44,756
"Ugly and venomous like a toad
yet wears a precious jewel."

708
00:47:44,796 --> 00:47:48,636
How many fight promoters have tried
even one line of Shakespeare?

709
00:47:48,676 --> 00:47:52,356
I can relate to the denial
they are confronted with,

710
00:47:52,396 --> 00:47:57,916
the rat-infested hovels, sub-standard
tenements, overcrowded tenements.

711
00:47:57,956 --> 00:48:02,156
I've been a part of it.
I know about roaches and rats.

712
00:48:02,196 --> 00:48:04,277
When he started talkin' to me

713
00:48:04,317 --> 00:48:06,757
I can understand him
and he can understand me.

714
00:48:06,797 --> 00:48:09,717
So, when I do this here
he can understand.

715
00:48:09,757 --> 00:48:11,637
Now he will believe in me

716
00:48:11,677 --> 00:48:14,757
because he feels
that I have shared with him

717
00:48:14,797 --> 00:48:18,717
the same anguish and anxiety,
the same pain that he has felt.

718
00:48:18,797 --> 00:48:20,477
It's a big difference.

719
00:48:20,517 --> 00:48:23,397
What would happen
if you took a small part

720
00:48:23,437 --> 00:48:26,957
of the vast sums of money
being made from the fight

721
00:48:26,997 --> 00:48:29,597
and put it into something that was...

722
00:48:29,637 --> 00:48:33,197
that would help a number of people
rather than a few?

723
00:48:33,237 --> 00:48:35,437
This is my dream and desire,

724
00:48:35,477 --> 00:48:41,118
and I feel that I would need...
white counterparts to do this here.

725
00:48:41,158 --> 00:48:46,238
I would say let me engender a large
amount of money, if it's possible,

726
00:48:46,278 --> 00:48:50,878
and then don't just let the money
sit there and wither away and die

727
00:48:50,918 --> 00:48:55,558
but put it into the sun so it could
germinate, blossom and grow.

728
00:48:55,598 --> 00:48:58,038
'He's a remarkable man.

729
00:48:58,078 --> 00:49:02,078
'Don King is one of
the brightest people I've ever met,

730
00:49:02,118 --> 00:49:06,078
'he's one of the most
charismatic people I've ever met,

731
00:49:06,118 --> 00:49:10,398
'he's one of the hardest working
people I've ever met.'

732
00:49:10,438 --> 00:49:13,518
He is also totally amoral

733
00:49:13,598 --> 00:49:19,999
and I can't think of a man who has
done more to demoralise fighters,

734
00:49:20,039 --> 00:49:25,679
exploit from fighters and ruin
fighters' careers than Don King.

735
00:49:25,719 --> 00:49:27,839
But you have to give him his due

736
00:49:27,879 --> 00:49:32,639
for what he did to make Muhammad Ali
versus George Foreman in Zaire.

737
00:49:32,679 --> 00:49:35,839
And nobody does anything for nothing.

738
00:49:36,479 --> 00:49:38,159
You understand that?

739
00:49:38,199 --> 00:49:41,199
Fight or no fight,
what business are we in?

740
00:49:41,239 --> 00:49:43,639
- Music!
- I was starting to wonder.

741
00:49:43,679 --> 00:49:45,519
I felt like
we've been in the fight business.

742
00:50:17,640 --> 00:50:19,720


743
00:50:20,040 --> 00:50:21,920


744
00:50:23,520 --> 00:50:25,720


745
00:50:26,440 --> 00:50:29,040


746
00:50:30,120 --> 00:50:32,401


747
00:50:32,761 --> 00:50:34,841


748
00:50:35,281 --> 00:50:38,081


749
00:50:39,721 --> 00:50:42,321


750
00:50:43,321 --> 00:50:45,961


751
00:50:47,121 --> 00:50:49,881


752
00:50:50,881 --> 00:50:53,201


753
00:50:53,241 --> 00:50:54,761


754
00:50:54,801 --> 00:50:59,681


755
00:51:09,682 --> 00:51:12,162


756
00:51:12,802 --> 00:51:15,522


757
00:51:17,042 --> 00:51:19,562


758
00:51:20,722 --> 00:51:23,162


759
00:51:23,202 --> 00:51:25,122


760
00:51:25,162 --> 00:51:29,842


761
00:51:40,082 --> 00:51:43,282
I'm gonna play me
some soul music, man.

762
00:51:44,762 --> 00:51:48,323
The Spinners...to James Brown.

763
00:51:48,403 --> 00:51:50,923
-
-

764
00:51:51,203 --> 00:51:53,123
-
-

765
00:51:53,163 --> 00:51:56,563
-
-

766
00:51:56,603 --> 00:51:59,443
Ali! Ali!

767
00:51:59,483 --> 00:52:01,883


768
00:52:01,923 --> 00:52:04,283
-
-

769
00:52:04,323 --> 00:52:06,163


770
00:52:06,203 --> 00:52:09,003
-
- I'm ready.

771
00:52:09,043 --> 00:52:11,123
-
-

772
00:52:11,683 --> 00:52:12,963
-
-

773
00:52:13,443 --> 00:52:14,843
-
-

774
00:52:15,243 --> 00:52:17,123
-
-

775
00:52:17,203 --> 00:52:18,923
-
-

776
00:52:19,283 --> 00:52:20,323
-
-

777
00:52:20,803 --> 00:52:22,243
-
-

778
00:52:22,683 --> 00:52:24,364
-
-

779
00:53:12,325 --> 00:53:14,285
Sucker, you ain't nothin'!

780
00:53:14,325 --> 00:53:16,005
You're too ugly!

781
00:53:16,045 --> 00:53:18,885
You don't represent
us coloured folks.

782
00:53:18,925 --> 00:53:21,525
These Africans make all of us ugly.

783
00:53:22,605 --> 00:53:24,245
Sucker, look at you!

784
00:53:26,245 --> 00:53:28,365
You out, sucker.

785
00:53:31,565 --> 00:53:33,765
Ali, the government!

786
00:53:33,805 --> 00:53:35,965
Ali, the government!

787
00:53:36,005 --> 00:53:38,126
Ali, the government!

788
00:53:38,366 --> 00:53:40,566
Ali, the government!

789
00:53:40,606 --> 00:53:42,366
That mean kill him!

790
00:53:42,406 --> 00:53:46,286
When I walk
down the street kids follow me

791
00:53:46,326 --> 00:53:49,126
screaming "George Foreman, bumba yu"

792
00:53:49,166 --> 00:53:51,046
er, "boma ye", yeah.

793
00:53:51,086 --> 00:53:54,486
And that hasn't...
I don't think that's so nice.

794
00:53:54,526 --> 00:53:58,686
I'd like, if they have anything
to say about me they could say

795
00:53:58,726 --> 00:54:03,526
"George Foreman loves Africa"
or "George Foreman loves being here"

796
00:54:03,566 --> 00:54:07,086
not "George Foreman, kill him,"
I don't like that.

797
00:54:07,126 --> 00:54:09,446
Boma ye!
Boma ye!

798
00:54:10,606 --> 00:54:13,846
George Foreman.
Boma ye! Boma ye!

799
00:54:18,367 --> 00:54:21,287
- There he is!
- Boma ye!

800
00:54:21,327 --> 00:54:23,367
Sucker, you wasn't nothing!

801
00:54:23,407 --> 00:54:25,567
Even they understand English.

802
00:54:25,607 --> 00:54:29,407
'We were all for Muhammad Ali.

803
00:54:29,447 --> 00:54:32,167
'Foreman? We didn't know him.

804
00:54:34,687 --> 00:54:37,487
'Foreman said "Why?

805
00:54:37,527 --> 00:54:40,447
'"I'm black,
blacker than Muhammad Ali.

806
00:54:40,487 --> 00:54:42,567
'"Why all this bias?"

807
00:54:43,807 --> 00:54:46,887
'Yes, Muhammad Ali, he was lighter,

808
00:54:46,927 --> 00:54:50,407
'but he was a real person,
he was genuine.

809
00:54:50,447 --> 00:54:54,328
'Muhammad Ali could have been
even lighter-skinned

810
00:54:54,368 --> 00:54:57,568
'but for us
he was defending the good cause,

811
00:54:57,608 --> 00:55:00,368
'for Africans and the whole world.'

812
00:55:00,408 --> 00:55:02,248
Watch this, seven punches.

813
00:55:03,448 --> 00:55:05,848
I'm gonna fight for the prestige,

814
00:55:05,888 --> 00:55:08,928
not for me
but to uplift my little brothers

815
00:55:08,968 --> 00:55:12,808
who are sleeping
on concrete floors today in America.

816
00:55:12,848 --> 00:55:16,208
Black people living on welfare,
who can't eat,

817
00:55:16,248 --> 00:55:21,448
Black people who don't know no
knowledge of themselves or no future.

818
00:55:21,488 --> 00:55:26,088
I wanna win my title and walk down
the alleys with the wine-heads,

819
00:55:26,128 --> 00:55:29,488
walk with the dope addicts,
the prostitutes.

820
00:55:29,528 --> 00:55:33,849
I could help people, show 'em films,
take this documentary,

821
00:55:33,889 --> 00:55:37,449
and help uplift my people
in Louisville, Kentucky;

822
00:55:37,489 --> 00:55:40,649
Indianapolis, Indiana;
Cincinnati, Ohio;

823
00:55:40,689 --> 00:55:44,089
go through Tennessee, Florida
and Mississippi

824
00:55:44,129 --> 00:55:48,609
and show Black Africans who didn't
know this was their country,

825
00:55:48,649 --> 00:55:52,329
"You look like your brothers
in Alabama, in Georgia.

826
00:55:52,369 --> 00:55:54,769
"They never knew you was over here."

827
00:55:54,809 --> 00:55:57,649
God is blessing me
and it was an accident

828
00:55:57,689 --> 00:55:59,769
to help get to all these people

829
00:55:59,809 --> 00:56:04,489
and show them films I haven't seen!
I'm well and I haven't seem them!

830
00:56:04,529 --> 00:56:09,370
Now I can get all these films, you
governments can let me take pictures

831
00:56:09,410 --> 00:56:12,730
and I can take
all this back to America!

832
00:56:12,810 --> 00:56:17,370
But - it's good to be a winner,
all I've got to do is whup Foreman.

833
00:56:17,410 --> 00:56:21,090
I realise how unfortunate
and uncomfortable it is

834
00:56:21,130 --> 00:56:23,690
for you guys to have travelled so far

835
00:56:23,730 --> 00:56:25,730
and expecting so much

836
00:56:25,770 --> 00:56:27,810
and getting so little.

837
00:56:27,850 --> 00:56:30,450
'George Foreman
was a phenomenon.

838
00:56:30,490 --> 00:56:32,970
'He was almost like a physical guru.

839
00:56:33,010 --> 00:56:36,690
'He almost never spoke
but it was always arresting.

840
00:56:36,730 --> 00:56:41,810
'You never quite knew what he meant,
it might be deep or non-responsive.

841
00:56:41,850 --> 00:56:45,691
'He was Negritude.
He was this huge Black force.'

842
00:56:45,731 --> 00:56:49,811
Because of this I had expected
Muhammad Ali to be here today.

843
00:56:49,851 --> 00:56:54,571
I was gonna hit him in his mouth
to give you some entertainment.

844
00:56:54,611 --> 00:56:58,691
Now when I go in the ring,
you see what kind of mind I got now?

845
00:56:59,771 --> 00:57:01,891
Oh! Oh!

846
00:57:01,931 --> 00:57:04,011
I just got to pound him.

847
00:57:04,051 --> 00:57:05,931
I'm not gonna even realise...

848
00:57:05,971 --> 00:57:09,371
I might look at his face
and say, "How'd I do that?"

849
00:57:09,411 --> 00:57:14,251
Allah, God, I'm his tool. God got
in me on purpose for my people.

850
00:57:14,291 --> 00:57:17,531
God has made this man
look like a little kid.

851
00:57:17,571 --> 00:57:22,212
His so-called right hand ain't
nothing now, I don't even feel 'em!

852
00:57:22,252 --> 00:57:26,452
I walk right in and take my shots
because I have God in my mind.

853
00:57:26,492 --> 00:57:31,332
I'm thinking of my people being free
and I can help with just one fight.

854
00:57:31,372 --> 00:57:35,452
He looks little in comparison
to what I'm getting from it!

855
00:57:35,492 --> 00:57:38,092
But if I think about just me...

856
00:57:38,132 --> 00:57:41,652
George Foreman knocked out
Joe Frazier like he was God.

857
00:57:41,692 --> 00:57:43,772
He knocked out Ken Norton.

858
00:57:43,812 --> 00:57:46,732
And the white press,
the power structure

859
00:57:46,772 --> 00:57:49,092
rank me to get tired in five or six,

860
00:57:49,132 --> 00:57:53,212
then I go in like Norton
and the rest of them and get scared.

861
00:57:53,252 --> 00:57:54,772
But my God controls the universe.

862
00:58:05,213 --> 00:58:09,293
'I was interested
in people called "féticheurs".

863
00:58:09,373 --> 00:58:12,053
'They are witches, soothsayers,

864
00:58:12,093 --> 00:58:14,893
'and in Western Africa
almost everybody has one.

865
00:58:14,933 --> 00:58:17,613
'They go to a witch doctor
the way we would go to a dentist.'

866
00:58:20,333 --> 00:58:23,973
Muhammad Ali had been
to Mobutu's féticheur.

867
00:58:26,253 --> 00:58:28,133
And...

868
00:58:29,053 --> 00:58:31,293
He had said that...

869
00:58:31,333 --> 00:58:35,373
The féticheur had said
that a woman with trembling hands

870
00:58:35,413 --> 00:58:37,854
would somehow get to Foreman.

871
00:58:37,894 --> 00:58:39,774
A succubus.

872
00:58:39,814 --> 00:58:42,454
'And that impressed me enormously.'

873
00:59:46,935 --> 00:59:52,496
'The heavyweight
championship produces an excitement

874
00:59:52,536 --> 00:59:55,696
'that's unlike
almost any other spectacle.

875
00:59:55,736 --> 00:59:58,416
'It's almost physically unendurable

876
00:59:58,456 --> 01:00:01,936
'to wait for that bell
to ring for the first round.

877
01:00:02,016 --> 01:00:05,776
'In 1974 in Zaire, the fight started
at four in the morning,

878
01:00:05,816 --> 01:00:09,096
'in order that it could be shown
on TV in America

879
01:00:09,136 --> 01:00:11,416
'at a reasonable hour like 10.'

880
01:00:11,456 --> 01:00:14,096
Boma ye! Boma ye!

881
01:00:14,136 --> 01:00:18,656
'Before the fight,
I saw a scene that was incomparable.

882
01:00:18,696 --> 01:00:21,616
'Ali's dressing room
was like a morgue.'

883
01:00:21,656 --> 01:00:23,736
It was like The Last Supper.

884
01:00:24,736 --> 01:00:27,456
And at a certain point Ali said,

885
01:00:27,496 --> 01:00:30,457
"Why is everyone...

886
01:00:31,897 --> 01:00:33,777
"so unhappy?

887
01:00:33,817 --> 01:00:36,377
"What is the matter with all of you?"

888
01:00:36,417 --> 01:00:41,897
The sense was that we were watching
a man who was going out to be...

889
01:00:41,937 --> 01:00:44,137
going out to the gallows.

890
01:00:44,177 --> 01:00:48,817
They all believed he was gonna get
defeated and they were terrified.

891
01:00:48,857 --> 01:00:51,217
They thought that with his pride

892
01:00:51,257 --> 01:00:54,377
he would take one of the world's
worst beatings ever

893
01:00:54,417 --> 01:00:56,217
and he wouldn't give up.

894
01:00:56,257 --> 01:01:00,097
And he was gonna be destroyed.
Killed or maimed, they knew not what.

895
01:01:00,137 --> 01:01:02,457
But they were deeply frightened,

896
01:01:02,497 --> 01:01:07,418
as if they were taking whatever fear
Ali might have had and absorbing it.

897
01:01:07,458 --> 01:01:09,978
After a while he looked at Bundini

898
01:01:10,018 --> 01:01:12,898
and said,
"We're gonna dance tonight."

899
01:01:12,938 --> 01:01:16,298
They said, "You're gonna dance!"

900
01:01:16,338 --> 01:01:19,898
Muhammad Ali was so funny
repeating this.

901
01:01:19,938 --> 01:01:22,938
"What am I gonna do?!"
They said, "Dance!"

902
01:01:22,978 --> 01:01:26,938
He said, "Yes!
And that man's gonna be bewildered!

903
01:01:26,978 --> 01:01:29,218
"I'm gonna dance and dance!"

904
01:01:29,258 --> 01:01:33,418
And they said, "You're gonna dance!"
I swear they were all crying.

905
01:01:33,458 --> 01:01:36,498
And he built them up to a degree

906
01:01:36,538 --> 01:01:38,698
so that for him
they became half-happy.

907
01:01:41,458 --> 01:01:43,739
Here comes the
Ali people out of the dressing room

908
01:01:43,779 --> 01:01:46,819
and all of the questions
will be answered.

909
01:01:46,859 --> 01:01:49,419
The awesome power of George Foreman

910
01:01:49,459 --> 01:01:53,099
against the varied boxing skills
of Muhammad Ali.

911
01:01:53,139 --> 01:01:55,659
It's age against youth.

912
01:01:55,699 --> 01:01:57,899
The experience of Muhammad Ali

913
01:01:57,939 --> 01:02:01,859
against the youth and brute force
and blinding speed.

914
01:02:01,899 --> 01:02:04,619
You can hear the band strike up
in the background

915
01:02:04,659 --> 01:02:06,739
as Ali moves to the ring.

916
01:02:06,779 --> 01:02:10,859
This is what Muhammad Ali lives for,
this is the man's life.

917
01:02:10,899 --> 01:02:13,139
This may be an historic event,

918
01:02:13,179 --> 01:02:17,379
Muhammad Ali coming into
the boxing ring for the last time.

919
01:02:17,419 --> 01:02:19,419
Should Muhammad Ali retire,

920
01:02:19,459 --> 01:02:23,220
this will be, what you're seeing now,
a very historic event.

921
01:02:23,260 --> 01:02:27,500
Here comes the heavyweight champion
of the world, George Foreman,

922
01:02:27,540 --> 01:02:29,620
jogging out!

923
01:02:29,660 --> 01:02:32,780
George Foreman
decked out in his red robes,

924
01:02:32,860 --> 01:02:34,940
coming in with his people.

925
01:02:34,980 --> 01:02:38,460
'No one in the press
ever saw Mobutu

926
01:02:38,500 --> 01:02:40,860
'and he didn't come to the fight.

927
01:02:40,900 --> 01:02:43,860
'He watched the fight
on closed circuit.

928
01:02:43,900 --> 01:02:45,940
'It was the only one in Zaire.

929
01:02:45,980 --> 01:02:49,020
'He was terribly afraid
of assassination.

930
01:02:49,060 --> 01:02:52,420
'This stadium
was a true arena for gladiators.

931
01:02:52,460 --> 01:02:57,941
'The floor you could not see beneath
the floor was covered with blood.

932
01:02:57,981 --> 01:03:02,581
'That blood had been washed away
but the effect was still there.'

933
01:03:02,621 --> 01:03:06,181
There was talk
about the possibility of rain,

934
01:03:06,221 --> 01:03:09,861
I don't think the weather could be
any more beautiful than it is.

935
01:03:09,901 --> 01:03:12,581
Ali is getting the people to chant!

936
01:03:12,621 --> 01:03:15,701
"Ali, boma ye,"
that means "Ali, kill him."

937
01:03:15,741 --> 01:03:20,941
'The atmosphere before
the bell rang for that first round

938
01:03:20,981 --> 01:03:24,341
'was as intense
as any I ever recall.'

939
01:03:24,381 --> 01:03:29,501
As they stare, Muhammad
Ali talking to George Foreman.

940
01:03:29,541 --> 01:03:31,661
Really staring at each other.

941
01:03:31,701 --> 01:03:35,342
Foreman looking serious,
Ali definitely talking.

942
01:03:35,382 --> 01:03:39,142
Look at the stare on Foreman.
Look at Ali give him the word.

943
01:03:39,182 --> 01:03:42,982
The stage is set, we're just about
ready to begin round one.

944
01:03:43,022 --> 01:03:45,182
The championship is at stake

945
01:03:45,222 --> 01:03:48,582
and $5 million will be paid
to both fighters.

946
01:03:48,622 --> 01:03:52,662
Ali ready, Foreman ready,
we're waiting for the bell.

947
01:03:54,222 --> 01:03:57,182
Here we go,
Ali quickly across the ring.

948
01:03:57,222 --> 01:04:01,302
Round one, Ali bouncing around,
shifting left to right.

949
01:04:01,342 --> 01:04:04,702
George moves slow,
Ali gets the first punch in,

950
01:04:04,742 --> 01:04:08,942
a light right-hand taken
on the forehead by the champion.

951
01:04:08,982 --> 01:04:11,462
Foreman moving slow, stalking.

952
01:04:11,502 --> 01:04:14,783
Ali looks like he's ready to go here.

953
01:04:14,823 --> 01:04:18,023
He's not staying away,
he's going after his man.

954
01:04:18,063 --> 01:04:22,743
Foreman cautious in the first round,
looking to drop that left hook.

955
01:04:27,223 --> 01:04:30,303
Foreman's locked his man
to the far corner.

956
01:04:30,343 --> 01:04:34,303
There's that left upper-cut
into the body of Muhammad Ali.

957
01:04:34,343 --> 01:04:37,823
Ali tries to hang on
to the head of George Foreman.

958
01:04:37,863 --> 01:04:41,143
Foreman dances...
Ali with a right-hand lead!

959
01:04:41,183 --> 01:04:44,823
Has Foreman slightly confused
with that right-hand lead,

960
01:04:44,863 --> 01:04:47,703
which I haven't seen
too many times before.

961
01:04:47,743 --> 01:04:52,024
A right-hand lead, where you throw
your right without countering,

962
01:04:52,064 --> 01:04:54,784
you throw it first, like a jab.

963
01:04:54,824 --> 01:04:59,104
That has to travel that extra
distance across the shoulders.

964
01:04:59,144 --> 01:05:03,944
'Professionals rarely use this
because it's so dangerous to throw

965
01:05:03,984 --> 01:05:06,344
'since you are open to a left hook.

966
01:05:06,384 --> 01:05:09,304
'Since fighters work in milliseconds

967
01:05:09,344 --> 01:05:13,104
'they can see a right coming
much faster than a jab.'

968
01:05:13,144 --> 01:05:16,424
Nobody had thrown a right-hand lead
at Foreman in two years,

969
01:05:16,464 --> 01:05:19,624
and none of his sparring partners,
for $50 a day,

970
01:05:19,664 --> 01:05:23,304
was going to start
throwing right-hand leads at him

971
01:05:23,344 --> 01:05:26,905
because it's a great insult
to a top professional.

972
01:05:26,945 --> 01:05:30,905
'It suggests he's slow enough
that you can hit him with it.'

973
01:05:30,945 --> 01:05:35,865
'Instead Ali figured out Foreman's
not expecting a right-hand lead.

974
01:05:35,905 --> 01:05:39,585
'"I'm gonna hit him with a right hand
and knock him out."

975
01:05:39,625 --> 01:05:44,545
'Ali threw 12 right hand leads, he
hadn't told anybody he was going to.'

976
01:05:44,585 --> 01:05:48,505
He may have debated whether to
up until the last moment.

977
01:05:48,545 --> 01:05:52,025
But he didn't knock Foreman down
or knock him out.

978
01:05:52,065 --> 01:05:54,105
Instead, Foreman went crazy.

979
01:05:54,145 --> 01:05:57,985
That punch
did no damage. That one did!

980
01:05:58,025 --> 01:06:01,225
Two wild right hands
taken on the head of Ali!

981
01:06:01,265 --> 01:06:04,626
A real strong right hand
just underneath the heart.

982
01:06:04,666 --> 01:06:07,426
Ali is taking some punishment now!

983
01:06:07,466 --> 01:06:09,746
Eight seconds left in the round.

984
01:06:09,786 --> 01:06:11,866
Bell rang.

985
01:06:12,506 --> 01:06:14,826
Ali went back to the corner...

986
01:06:14,866 --> 01:06:19,226
Finally the nightmare
he'd been awaiting in the ring

987
01:06:19,266 --> 01:06:21,506
had finally come to visit him.

988
01:06:21,546 --> 01:06:25,266
'He was in the ring
with a man he could not dominate,

989
01:06:25,306 --> 01:06:29,066
'who was stronger than him,
who was not afraid of him,

990
01:06:29,106 --> 01:06:33,186
'who'd try to knock him out,
and who punched harder than Ali,

991
01:06:33,226 --> 01:06:37,226
'and this man was determined
and unstoppable.

992
01:06:37,266 --> 01:06:39,986
'Ali had a look on his face
that I'll never forget.

993
01:06:40,026 --> 01:06:43,067
'It was the only time
I ever saw fear in Ali's eyes.'

994
01:06:43,107 --> 01:06:46,427
Ali looked as if
he looked into himself and said,

995
01:06:46,507 --> 01:06:48,707
"All right, this is the moment.

996
01:06:48,747 --> 01:06:51,507
"This is what
you've been waiting for.

997
01:06:51,547 --> 01:06:54,387
"This is...that hour.

998
01:06:55,347 --> 01:06:58,467
"Do you have the guts?"
And he kind of nodded,

999
01:06:58,507 --> 01:07:01,467
like, "Really got
to get it together, boy.

1000
01:07:01,507 --> 01:07:05,707
"You are gonna get it together...
you WILL get it together."

1001
01:07:05,747 --> 01:07:10,427
He nodded some more, as if he were
looking into the eyes of his maker,

1002
01:07:10,467 --> 01:07:14,507
and then turned to the crowd
and went "Ali, boma ye!"

1003
01:07:14,547 --> 01:07:18,587
and 100,000 people
all yelled back "Ali, boma ye!"

1004
01:07:18,627 --> 01:07:23,668
And this huge reverberation
of the crowd came back into the ring.

1005
01:07:23,708 --> 01:07:26,948
'Ali picked it up as if
"these are my people,

1006
01:07:26,988 --> 01:07:29,028
'"this is what I'm here for.

1007
01:07:29,068 --> 01:07:33,388
'"The time has come, I'm gonna find
a way to master this man."'

1008
01:07:33,428 --> 01:07:36,028
Ali tries
to tie him up.

1009
01:07:36,068 --> 01:07:38,748
No real damage done in that exchange.

1010
01:07:38,788 --> 01:07:43,628
'Foreman, like everyone,
had assumed that Ali would dance,

1011
01:07:43,668 --> 01:07:48,908
'and so Ali now went to the ropes
and went into the Rope-a-Dope.

1012
01:07:49,828 --> 01:07:53,868
'And a lot of people thought
that moment the fight was over.

1013
01:07:53,908 --> 01:07:58,429
'Especially on TV, it looked like
Foreman was killing a very weak Ali.'

1014
01:07:58,469 --> 01:08:00,349
You don't go to the ropes.

1015
01:08:00,389 --> 01:08:03,509
And there he was, leaning way back.

1016
01:08:03,549 --> 01:08:06,629
'I wrote about it, like a man
leaning out of his window

1017
01:08:06,669 --> 01:08:09,629
'trying to see
if there's something on his roof.'

1018
01:08:09,669 --> 01:08:11,549
And, you know, taking it.

1019
01:08:11,589 --> 01:08:13,829
Here were these great broadsides

1020
01:08:13,869 --> 01:08:17,469
and it looked like
he was being set up for the kill.

1021
01:08:17,509 --> 01:08:20,069
It happened so quickly
and so abruptly,

1022
01:08:20,109 --> 01:08:24,789
that I said, I shouted to Norman,
"The fix is in."

1023
01:08:24,829 --> 01:08:27,469
'He's supposed to go down
in the first or second.

1024
01:08:27,509 --> 01:08:30,069
'Ropes is halfway house
to the floor.'

1025
01:08:30,109 --> 01:08:32,829
'It just looked as though
he had to cave in.'

1026
01:08:32,869 --> 01:08:37,990
..some awkward but
very powerful hooks with both hands.

1027
01:08:38,030 --> 01:08:41,990
'They became so basic that
they were like two kids fighting.'

1028
01:08:43,590 --> 01:08:46,910
'For that round and the next round
and the next round

1029
01:08:46,990 --> 01:08:50,710
'Ali lay against the ropes,
and he kept talking to Foreman.

1030
01:08:50,750 --> 01:08:52,430
'It was extraordinary.

1031
01:08:52,470 --> 01:08:55,230
'You had to be close to see it.'

1032
01:08:55,270 --> 01:08:59,030
'And Foreman was throwing
these prodigious punches

1033
01:08:59,070 --> 01:09:01,950
'and Ali swung
like a man in the rigging.'

1034
01:09:01,990 --> 01:09:04,790
He'd go all the way back,
he'd slide out like that.

1035
01:09:04,830 --> 01:09:08,350
Occasionally, he'd get hit and he'd
say "George, you disappoint me.

1036
01:09:08,390 --> 01:09:12,671
"You don't hit as hard
as I thought you would, George,

1037
01:09:12,711 --> 01:09:15,231
"you're not breaking popcorn!"

1038
01:09:15,271 --> 01:09:17,591
'And Foreman's insane with rage,

1039
01:09:17,631 --> 01:09:20,471
'wanging at him and wanging at him,

1040
01:09:20,511 --> 01:09:23,071
'powerful, powerful, powerful.

1041
01:09:23,111 --> 01:09:26,991
'And middle of the fifth round
Foreman had punched himself out.

1042
01:09:27,031 --> 01:09:29,071
'It had taken three rounds.'

1043
01:09:29,151 --> 01:09:33,671
Ali picks it up,
40 seconds left in round five.

1044
01:09:38,031 --> 01:09:42,671
First good combination by Ali
lands on the head of Foreman.

1045
01:09:42,711 --> 01:09:45,231
Foreman with that right hook.

1046
01:09:45,271 --> 01:09:47,271
Ali scores a hook!

1047
01:09:47,311 --> 01:09:50,392
Quick jab with the right
backs up Foreman!

1048
01:09:50,432 --> 01:09:52,392
Backs him up in his tracks!

1049
01:09:52,432 --> 01:09:55,992
Foreman tries the hook!
Ali goes to the right!

1050
01:09:56,032 --> 01:09:58,352
Foreman gets knocked to the left!

1051
01:09:59,512 --> 01:10:01,552
Foreman hit again!

1052
01:10:01,592 --> 01:10:05,632
Foreman has been hit
three or four times!

1053
01:10:05,672 --> 01:10:08,112
Ali came off the ropes
and hit him a right

1054
01:10:08,152 --> 01:10:12,352
and you can see the sweat pour off
like a fountain off Foreman's face

1055
01:10:12,392 --> 01:10:16,632
and you suddenly realised
there was design in this madness.

1056
01:10:16,672 --> 01:10:20,072
So I turned to Norman,
he was somewhat puzzled,

1057
01:10:20,112 --> 01:10:22,792
but I said,
"The succubus has got him!",

1058
01:10:22,832 --> 01:10:25,833
referring to this woman
with the trembling hands

1059
01:10:25,873 --> 01:10:29,793
that the witch doctors had said
would touch Foreman and destroy him.

1060
01:10:31,673 --> 01:10:36,433
..Ali's tactics,
to let the man punch himself out.

1061
01:10:36,473 --> 01:10:38,833
30 seconds left in round eight.

1062
01:10:41,913 --> 01:10:43,793
Very even fight.

1063
01:10:43,833 --> 01:10:46,113
Ali a sneaky right hand.

1064
01:10:46,873 --> 01:10:48,833
Another sneaky right hand.

1065
01:10:48,873 --> 01:10:51,393
Works over the shoulder of Foreman.

1066
01:10:51,433 --> 01:10:53,273
There's the combination!

1067
01:10:55,713 --> 01:10:58,153
Two...three...

1068
01:10:58,233 --> 01:11:00,873
Four...five...

1069
01:11:00,913 --> 01:11:04,434
Foreman gets up to the knee at eight!

1070
01:11:05,314 --> 01:11:07,954
That's it! The fight is stopped!

1071
01:11:08,034 --> 01:11:11,474
Muhammad Ali with
a dramatic eighth round knockout!

1072
01:11:11,514 --> 01:11:15,314
He knocks out...George Foreman!

1073
01:11:15,354 --> 01:11:18,314
He's done it! Muhammad Ali
has done it! Muhammad Ali has...

1074
01:11:21,354 --> 01:11:22,874
Muhammad Ali. Muhammad Ali...

1075
01:11:22,914 --> 01:11:27,314
'Muhammad Ali,
he was like a sleeping elephant.

1076
01:11:27,354 --> 01:11:31,594
'You can do whatever you want
around a sleeping elephant,

1077
01:11:31,634 --> 01:11:37,314
'but when he wakes up...
he tramples everything.'

1078
01:11:40,475 --> 01:11:43,555
Muhammad Ali, boma ye.

1079
01:11:43,595 --> 01:11:48,435
Boma ye. Muhammad Ali,
boma ye George Foreman.

1080
01:11:48,475 --> 01:11:50,475
He did it.

1081
01:11:50,515 --> 01:11:53,995
'He's champion again,
we couldn't believe it.

1082
01:11:54,035 --> 01:11:57,435
'It was such a classic performance
and so beautiful

1083
01:11:57,475 --> 01:12:01,155
'that at the moment
Ali hit the knockout punch,

1084
01:12:01,195 --> 01:12:04,915
'Foreman began to go,
Ali followed him around,

1085
01:12:04,955 --> 01:12:08,115
'Ali had his right cocked
for one more punch

1086
01:12:08,155 --> 01:12:09,755
'but he never threw it,

1087
01:12:09,795 --> 01:12:14,715
'as though he didn't want to ruin the
aesthetic of this man going down.'

1088
01:12:15,755 --> 01:12:19,036
One has mixed emotions
when you see the end of a fight.

1089
01:12:19,076 --> 01:12:22,236
'I always feel sympathy
for the man losing it,

1090
01:12:22,276 --> 01:12:26,356
'particularly when you see
a titanic, formidable figure

1091
01:12:26,436 --> 01:12:28,356
'suddenly on the ground.'

1092
01:12:28,396 --> 01:12:31,076
'Now,
when we see George on TV,

1093
01:12:31,116 --> 01:12:33,796
'and know that after that knockout

1094
01:12:33,836 --> 01:12:37,676
'he went through two years
of the deepest depression,

1095
01:12:37,716 --> 01:12:40,116
'he almost didn't come out of it.

1096
01:12:40,156 --> 01:12:42,996
'To see the man who's come out of it,

1097
01:12:43,076 --> 01:12:46,396
'the way he reconstructed
his personality,

1098
01:12:46,436 --> 01:12:51,796
'it's hard to find anyone in America
more affable than George Foreman.

1099
01:12:51,876 --> 01:12:55,917
'Foreman has become
a fabulous person in American life.'

1100
01:12:55,957 --> 01:12:58,037
Just as the fight finished,

1101
01:12:58,077 --> 01:13:02,237
the monsoons, the African rains,
came, and they came so hard

1102
01:13:02,277 --> 01:13:06,437
that the waters were about
three feet deep in the dressing rooms

1103
01:13:06,477 --> 01:13:10,037
where we'd just been an hour ago,
I'd never seen such a downpour.

1104
01:13:10,077 --> 01:13:13,197
And we rode back
through the African night

1105
01:13:13,237 --> 01:13:15,677
from the boxing ring into Kinshasa

1106
01:13:15,717 --> 01:13:20,037
and there were crowds on the roads
standing in the pouring rain

1107
01:13:20,077 --> 01:13:24,397
leaping up and down because
news had got around that Ali had won.

1108
01:13:24,437 --> 01:13:28,677
'He stayed up all night
from what I heard,

1109
01:13:28,717 --> 01:13:33,438
'and in the morning he spoke to
African groups who'd come to see him,

1110
01:13:33,478 --> 01:13:36,518
'and they more than revered him,
he was a god.

1111
01:13:36,558 --> 01:13:40,438
'And he spoke to them
very simply and beautifully,

1112
01:13:40,478 --> 01:13:44,358
'and he said,
"Afro-Americans, in America,

1113
01:13:44,398 --> 01:13:46,438
'"we're not as good as you are.

1114
01:13:46,478 --> 01:13:48,918
'"Some of us are richer than you are,

1115
01:13:48,958 --> 01:13:52,878
'"but you have a dignity
in your poverty that we don't have.

1116
01:13:52,918 --> 01:13:54,798
'"We are spoiled in America,

1117
01:13:54,838 --> 01:13:58,998
'"we have lost what you still have
in Africa and you must keep that."

1118
01:13:59,038 --> 01:14:03,198
'And I thought, on top of everything
else he's a political leader

1119
01:14:03,238 --> 01:14:05,518
'and he's gonna be
a great political leader.'

1120
01:14:08,278 --> 01:14:10,759
I have a lot of things to do
in the Black neighbourhoods,

1121
01:14:10,799 --> 01:14:14,879
we have a lot of problems
we have to solve among ourselves.

1122
01:14:14,919 --> 01:14:17,359
Prostitution, dope, gang fights.

1123
01:14:17,399 --> 01:14:21,399
Knowledge of self. Black people
have no knowledge of themselves.

1124
01:14:21,439 --> 01:14:24,159
We have been made
just like white people mentally.

1125
01:14:24,199 --> 01:14:26,959
White people have made us
so much like them

1126
01:14:26,999 --> 01:14:29,759
it's hard to teach them
about themselves,

1127
01:14:29,839 --> 01:14:34,239
it's hard to teach them to unite
and marry and be with their own.

1128
01:14:34,279 --> 01:14:36,879
Black people
are now like white people,

1129
01:14:36,919 --> 01:14:39,159
we have to re-brainwash 'em now,

1130
01:14:39,199 --> 01:14:43,559
teach them about themselves
and their history and language,

1131
01:14:43,599 --> 01:14:45,759
to do something for themselves

1132
01:14:45,799 --> 01:14:50,240
and quit begging white people
for things they should do themselves.

1133
01:14:50,280 --> 01:14:53,720
I never heard Ali say
he would never fight again.

1134
01:14:54,000 --> 01:14:56,560
If he had said it,
and usually he told the truth,

1135
01:14:56,600 --> 01:14:58,640
I wouldn't have believed it.

1136
01:14:58,680 --> 01:15:02,480
He was born to fight,
born for the ring and loved it,

1137
01:15:02,520 --> 01:15:04,440
he truly loved fighting.

1138
01:15:04,480 --> 01:15:09,560
And...as happens with people who love
a thing too much, it destroys them.

1139
01:15:09,600 --> 01:15:13,120
It was Oscar Wilde that said
you destroy the thing you love.

1140
01:15:13,160 --> 01:15:17,000
It's the other way round,
what you love destroys you.

1141
01:15:22,440 --> 01:15:25,361
'He came back,
he had 22 fights.

1142
01:15:25,401 --> 01:15:28,321
'Some were most honourable,
some very difficult.

1143
01:15:28,361 --> 01:15:30,881
'Some were comedies and farces.

1144
01:15:30,921 --> 01:15:35,601
'He hurt himself in those 22 fights
after the fight in Africa.'

1145
01:15:39,121 --> 01:15:43,321
'There is a tendency
to look at Muhammad and say

1146
01:15:43,361 --> 01:15:45,361
'he's wounded, he's ill.

1147
01:15:45,401 --> 01:15:49,961
'There are no intellectual deficits,
it's a motor skills problem

1148
01:15:50,001 --> 01:15:53,001
'and he doesn't try
to hide his condition.

1149
01:15:53,081 --> 01:15:55,721
'He goes out and lets
the whole world see it.

1150
01:15:55,761 --> 01:15:58,241
'He doesn't feel sorry for himself

1151
01:15:58,281 --> 01:16:03,042
'and there's really no reason for
anybody else to feel sorry for him.

1152
01:16:03,082 --> 01:16:05,442
'He loves being Muhammad Ali,

1153
01:16:05,482 --> 01:16:09,082
'he truly believes
that he's doing God's work

1154
01:16:09,122 --> 01:16:12,722
'and he's as happy with each day
as anybody I know.'

1155
01:16:13,762 --> 01:16:17,762
'Today's young generation,
they don't know anything.'

1156
01:16:18,722 --> 01:16:22,802
Something happened last year,
they know nothing about it.

1157
01:16:22,842 --> 01:16:27,362
So there are these great great
stories, great historic events,

1158
01:16:27,402 --> 01:16:30,402
and I'm not talking
about 1850s stuff,

1159
01:16:30,442 --> 01:16:34,522
they don't know who Malcolm X is,
they don't know who JFK is,

1160
01:16:34,562 --> 01:16:38,323
Muhammad Ali, Jackie Robinson,
you can go down the line.

1161
01:16:38,363 --> 01:16:40,243
And it's scary.

1162
01:16:40,283 --> 01:16:45,043
'They're missing a lot if they don't
know the legacy of Muhammad Ali,

1163
01:16:45,083 --> 01:16:48,003
'because no matter
what era you live in,

1164
01:16:48,043 --> 01:16:50,243
'you see very few true heroes.'

1165
01:16:54,963 --> 01:16:57,123
Ali, boma ye!

1166
01:16:57,163 --> 01:17:02,043
Ali, boma ye! Ali, boma ye!
Ali, boma ye!

1167
01:17:03,803 --> 01:17:06,163
Back up, sucker, back up.

1168
01:17:07,083 --> 01:17:09,523
Come get me, sucker, I'm dancin'!

1169
01:17:09,563 --> 01:17:11,723
I'm dancin'! Follow me, chump!

1170
01:17:11,763 --> 01:17:13,883
I'm not there, I'm here!

1171
01:17:15,764 --> 01:17:18,044
Sucker, you ain't got nothing!

1172
01:17:26,644 --> 01:17:29,284


1173
01:17:29,324 --> 01:17:32,684


1174
01:17:32,724 --> 01:17:34,764


1175
01:17:34,804 --> 01:17:38,444


1176
01:17:38,484 --> 01:17:41,084


1177
01:17:41,124 --> 01:17:46,964

the true belief

1178
01:17:49,924 --> 01:17:52,764


1179
01:17:52,804 --> 01:17:55,605


1180
01:17:55,645 --> 01:17:58,525


1181
01:17:58,565 --> 01:18:01,725


1182
01:18:01,765 --> 01:18:04,525


1183
01:18:04,565 --> 01:18:06,845


1184
01:18:06,885 --> 01:18:10,405


1185
01:18:12,965 --> 01:18:19,605

has been fought and won

1186
01:18:19,645 --> 01:18:23,925


1187
01:18:23,965 --> 01:18:26,645


1188
01:18:26,685 --> 01:18:29,365


1189
01:18:29,405 --> 01:18:35,526

in robes of gold

1190
01:18:35,566 --> 01:18:41,566

the world remembering

1191
01:18:41,606 --> 01:18:46,926


1192
01:18:47,166 --> 01:18:51,526


1193
01:18:53,686 --> 01:18:55,846


1194
01:18:55,886 --> 01:18:59,406


1195
01:18:59,446 --> 01:19:04,966

the rest are lifted up

1196
01:19:05,046 --> 01:19:07,847


1197
01:19:07,887 --> 01:19:10,767


1198
01:19:10,807 --> 01:19:15,847


1199
01:19:16,887 --> 01:19:23,327

to claim the throne

1200
01:19:23,367 --> 01:19:27,087


1201
01:19:27,127 --> 01:19:29,847


1202
01:19:29,887 --> 01:19:32,807


1203
01:19:32,847 --> 01:19:38,607

in robes of gold

1204
01:19:38,647 --> 01:19:45,008

the world remembering

1205
01:19:45,048 --> 01:19:50,608


1206
01:19:50,888 --> 01:19:55,048


1207
01:19:55,088 --> 01:19:57,288


1208
01:19:57,328 --> 01:19:59,888


1209
01:20:00,968 --> 01:20:02,968


1210
01:20:03,008 --> 01:20:04,448


1211
01:20:04,488 --> 01:20:06,728


1212
01:20:06,768 --> 01:20:10,928


1213
01:20:11,288 --> 01:20:13,368


1214
01:20:15,128 --> 01:20:17,248


1215
01:20:20,648 --> 01:20:24,809
Years after the fight in Zaire,
perhaps ten years after,

1216
01:20:24,849 --> 01:20:29,689
I'd run into Ali on occasion after
that, but I remember this meeting.

1217
01:20:29,729 --> 01:20:33,009
Esquire was giving a party
for various people

1218
01:20:33,049 --> 01:20:37,089
who had distinguished themselves
in Esquire that year.

1219
01:20:37,129 --> 01:20:39,209
Ali, for whatever he'd done,

1220
01:20:39,249 --> 01:20:43,449
I was there probably because I had
a good story in Esquire that year,

1221
01:20:43,489 --> 01:20:46,249
maybe 25 of us, honoured guests,

1222
01:20:46,289 --> 01:20:48,929
I was there with my wife
and we saw Ali

1223
01:20:48,969 --> 01:20:50,969
and we were talking with him

1224
01:20:51,009 --> 01:20:53,489
and he couldn't have been nicer.

1225
01:20:53,529 --> 01:20:56,809
I remember I was 62 then,
cos he said, "How old are you now?"

1226
01:20:56,849 --> 01:21:01,850
I said "62," he said "Oh," same as
when we were jogging that night,

1227
01:21:01,890 --> 01:21:06,850
"Oh, I hope I'm as young as you are
when I'm 62," he went on like that.

1228
01:21:06,890 --> 01:21:11,050
I got so pleased and so vain that,
you know, I'm like a dog.

1229
01:21:11,090 --> 01:21:14,890
What did I have to do?
I had to go urinate, and I did.

1230
01:21:14,930 --> 01:21:18,450
I went away and once I was gone
he turned to my wife,

1231
01:21:18,490 --> 01:21:22,690
who's much younger than I am,
and he looked at her hard and said,

1232
01:21:22,730 --> 01:21:25,370
"You still with that old man?"

1233
01:21:27,410 --> 01:21:30,530
And for me that's always been...
That's Ali.

1234
01:21:31,410 --> 01:21:34,970
You love him even when
you turn your back on him.

1235
01:21:35,010 --> 01:21:40,131
I heard him once talking to the
Harvard senior class commencement.

1236
01:21:41,531 --> 01:21:45,891
He gave this extraordinary speech,
you know he was dyslexic,

1237
01:21:45,931 --> 01:21:48,331
and he would look
at a paper and say,

1238
01:21:48,371 --> 01:21:51,811
"What does this word mean?"
I'd say, "Appendicitis."

1239
01:21:51,851 --> 01:21:56,331
He'd say, "How d'you get a word
like appendicitis? It's so long."

1240
01:21:56,371 --> 01:21:58,731
Here he was delivering a lecture,

1241
01:21:58,771 --> 01:22:04,131
senior class day with these
1,000, 2,000 Harvard graduates,

1242
01:22:04,171 --> 01:22:07,731
and...he had these little cards
in front of him.

1243
01:22:07,771 --> 01:22:12,731
He gave this wonderful speech
about he hadn't had the opportunity

1244
01:22:12,771 --> 01:22:17,532
but they had and they should use that
to make the world a better place.

1245
01:22:17,572 --> 01:22:22,292
It was moving and funny, and a great
roar of appreciation at the end.

1246
01:22:22,332 --> 01:22:25,332
Then someone shouted out,
"Give us a poem!"

1247
01:22:25,372 --> 01:22:28,172
And everybody quieted down.

1248
01:22:28,212 --> 01:22:33,332
Now, the shortest poem according
to Bartlett's Quotations is called

1249
01:22:33,372 --> 01:22:35,532
"On the Antiquity of Microbes"

1250
01:22:35,572 --> 01:22:38,012
and the poem is "Adam had 'em."

1251
01:22:38,052 --> 01:22:39,772
Pretty short.

1252
01:22:39,812 --> 01:22:42,172
But Muhammad Ali's poem was

1253
01:22:42,212 --> 01:22:45,452
"Me, we."

1254
01:22:46,252 --> 01:22:47,892
Two words.

1255
01:22:47,932 --> 01:22:52,573
I wrote Bartlett's Quotations
and I said, "Look, that's shorter."

1256
01:22:52,613 --> 01:22:56,213
It stands for something more
than the poem itself.

1257
01:22:56,253 --> 01:22:58,693
"Me, we." What a fighter he was.
And what a man.

1258
01:23:03,413 --> 01:23:07,493


1259
01:23:07,533 --> 01:23:10,813


1260
01:23:16,773 --> 01:23:18,173


1261
01:23:18,213 --> 01:23:20,613

more bass than Bootsy Collins

1262
01:23:20,693 --> 01:23:23,413

that's like Ali versus Foreman

1263
01:23:23,453 --> 01:23:26,333


1264
01:23:26,373 --> 01:23:29,334

can't be timed with no Swatch watch

1265
01:23:29,374 --> 01:23:31,734


1266
01:23:31,774 --> 01:23:34,574

yellow man, Vietnam

1267
01:23:34,614 --> 01:23:36,974

as I spar with literature

1268
01:23:37,014 --> 01:23:38,374


1269
01:23:38,414 --> 01:23:40,014


1270
01:23:40,054 --> 01:23:42,654

I seen the Devil spar with Allah

1271
01:23:42,694 --> 01:23:45,374

to set my whole race free

1272
01:23:45,414 --> 01:23:48,134

a refugee no harm hurt me

1273
01:23:48,174 --> 01:23:50,974

to my own hustle bubble

1274
01:23:51,054 --> 01:23:53,694

to show the Free Bob right

1275
01:23:53,734 --> 01:23:55,134


1276
01:23:55,174 --> 01:23:56,614


1277
01:23:56,654 --> 01:23:58,094


1278
01:23:58,134 --> 01:23:59,494


1279
01:23:59,534 --> 01:24:01,054


1280
01:24:01,094 --> 01:24:02,534


1281
01:24:02,574 --> 01:24:05,054

you got to recognise and witness

1282
01:24:05,094 --> 01:24:07,895

to knock you out with mic fitness

1283
01:24:07,935 --> 01:24:09,215

from holding the mic tight

1284
01:24:09,255 --> 01:24:10,495


1285
01:24:10,535 --> 01:24:13,615

cos I'm gonna take away your breath

1286
01:24:13,655 --> 01:24:16,295

and it's just a daily operation

1287
01:24:16,335 --> 01:24:19,135

you can see this occupation

1288
01:24:19,175 --> 01:24:21,655

You know we're here from Q-borough

1289
01:24:21,695 --> 01:24:24,775

Prazwell promote the throw

1290
01:24:24,815 --> 01:24:27,575

with the pigskin cases

1291
01:24:27,615 --> 01:24:30,375

like a gang of street masons

1292
01:24:30,415 --> 01:24:32,935

true pyramid architects

1293
01:24:32,975 --> 01:24:35,335


1294
01:24:35,375 --> 01:24:37,175


1295
01:24:37,215 --> 01:24:38,535

change the picture

1296
01:24:38,575 --> 01:24:41,255

like holy Moslem scripture

1297
01:24:41,295 --> 01:24:44,176

only one when it's jihad

1298
01:24:44,216 --> 01:24:46,976

to reconnect 400 years

1299
01:24:47,016 --> 01:24:48,456

dark but equal

1300
01:24:48,496 --> 01:24:49,856


1301
01:24:49,896 --> 01:24:52,576

remember when we were kings

1302
01:24:52,616 --> 01:24:54,856


1303
01:24:54,896 --> 01:24:57,336


1304
01:24:57,376 --> 01:25:00,216


1305
01:25:00,256 --> 01:25:03,056


1306
01:25:03,096 --> 01:25:05,776


1307
01:25:05,816 --> 01:25:08,576


1308
01:25:08,616 --> 01:25:11,496


1309
01:25:11,536 --> 01:25:14,496


1310
01:25:15,576 --> 01:25:20,376

in the morning, baby

1311
01:25:20,657 --> 01:25:26,057

in the morning, darling

1312
01:25:26,097 --> 01:25:31,497

in the morning, baby

1313
01:25:31,737 --> 01:25:37,177

in the morning, darling

1314
01:25:37,217 --> 01:25:39,297

it's danger

1315
01:25:39,337 --> 01:25:40,577


1316
01:25:40,617 --> 01:25:42,537

and I'll derange you

1317
01:25:42,577 --> 01:25:45,337

everyone looks despondent

1318
01:25:45,377 --> 01:25:48,097

similar to Liston catching licks

1319
01:25:48,137 --> 01:25:50,657

is still the greatest in history

1320
01:25:50,697 --> 01:25:53,337

yapping about that negative shit

1321
01:25:53,377 --> 01:25:56,497

and escape if you want to

1322
01:25:56,537 --> 01:25:59,498

who the hell you gonna run to?

1323
01:25:59,538 --> 01:26:02,338

you got a punch that I can sleep to

1324
01:26:02,378 --> 01:26:04,898

forever coming through

1325
01:26:04,938 --> 01:26:07,538

over two dollar plates

1326
01:26:07,578 --> 01:26:10,418

like Jake the Snake

1327
01:26:10,458 --> 01:26:13,378

wash our sins at the Great Lakes

1328
01:26:13,418 --> 01:26:16,138

so therefore we can't relate

1329
01:26:16,178 --> 01:26:18,738

when I make myself crystal clear

1330
01:26:18,778 --> 01:26:21,538

when I aced you up in Zaire

1331
01:26:21,578 --> 01:26:24,218

in the Royal Rumble

1332
01:26:24,258 --> 01:26:27,218

in the concrete jungle

1333
01:26:27,258 --> 01:26:29,378

flipped the script

1334
01:26:29,418 --> 01:26:30,938


1335
01:26:30,978 --> 01:26:33,978

Ali, the government!

1336
01:26:34,018 --> 01:26:37,579

God nutrition, lightly stricken

1337
01:26:37,619 --> 01:26:39,659

like you was poison bitten

1338
01:26:39,699 --> 01:26:42,099

you and your sister

1339
01:26:42,139 --> 01:26:44,979

before my fights, my nigga

1340
01:26:45,019 --> 01:26:48,259

once you walk past the doorman

1341
01:26:48,339 --> 01:26:51,139

until the morning

1342
01:26:51,179 --> 01:26:53,819

provided by Joseph Mobutu

1343
01:26:53,859 --> 01:26:57,019

like the Archbishop Desmond Tutu

1344
01:26:57,059 --> 01:26:58,899


1345
01:26:58,939 --> 01:27:01,659

to be the first to fall and fumble

1346
01:27:01,699 --> 01:27:04,379

like solid milestones

1347
01:27:04,419 --> 01:27:07,419

imbalance your chromosomes

1348
01:27:07,459 --> 01:27:09,259

of a thousand warriors

1349
01:27:09,299 --> 01:27:12,259

identify me as the lord victorious

1350
01:27:12,299 --> 01:27:14,380


1351
01:27:14,420 --> 01:27:17,380


1352
01:27:17,420 --> 01:27:20,100


1353
01:27:20,140 --> 01:27:22,420


1354
01:27:22,460 --> 01:27:25,500


1355
01:27:25,580 --> 01:27:28,500


1356
01:27:28,540 --> 01:27:31,060


1357
01:27:31,100 --> 01:27:33,580