In the almost half century since it went down, Ali-Foreman’s Heavy Weight Championship fight on October 30, 1974 has taken on an almost mythical quality. Whether you call it “the greatest sporting event of the 20th century” or by its official tagline of “The Rumble in the Jungle,” one would be hard pressed to come up with a sporting even to match the excitement that surrounded not only the event itself, but the buildup and aftermath as well. Due to Ali’s giant stature today, it’s hard to believe that he was the 4-1 underdog to defending champ George Foreman, but in 1974 that was the fact. Foreman had risen to stardom in 1968, just as Muhammad Ali was stripped of his titles and sent to prison for evading the draft. By 1974 Foreman had defeated Joe Frazier and at just 26, was considered the superior fighter to the 32-year-old Ali, who was trying to restart his career.

Promoter Don King stepped in to make this already eagerly anticipated matchup something more than just a championship fight. King teamed up with music promoters to create a spectacle there to for unseen in professional sports. Instead of a one-night only event, King moved the venue to Kinshasa, Zaire where it would be the culmination of a 3-day music festival headlined by James Brown. Both Ali and Foreman spent the months leading up to the scheduled September 25 fight training in Zaire to adjust to the tropical climate. Although the date was moved back to October 29 due to a training injury to Foreman, the fight was everything and more that King and the public envisioned: Foreman was every inch the heavy-hitting champion, pounding Ali round after round. But Ali had developed a tactic to beat Foreman: the “Rope-a-dope.” Ali took Foreman’s punishing blows through eight rounds before fatigue wore down the champ. Then Ali struck with a five-punch combo, finished with a devastating left hook and hard right to Foreman’s face, knocking him to the canvas for the KO.

Over one billion viewers watched the fight including 50 million who paid to watch it via closed-circuit TV in movie theaters world-wide. The events leading up to and including the fight was captured on several documentaries and many still consider “The Rumble in the Jungle” to be the greatest sporting event of the 20^th century.” These trunks were worn by The Champ while training for the "Rumble in the Jungle." The body is white satin with black waistband and trim running down each side. The EVERLAST label with “Made expressly for Muhammad Ali” is sewn to the front center of the waistband and “Ali 74” is handwritten on the inside of the waistband. The trunks show good use with some fading due to use and laundering, toning to the white satin and some staining throughout. The trunks had a solid provenance as they were from the collection of Wali Muhammad, Ali’s assistant trainer, until purchased by Craig Hamilton in 2012. Hamilton’s signed Letter of Provenance is included with the trunks. This unique artifact from one of the most storied fights in boxing history is accompanied by Budweiser promotional card from the fight and a photograph of the bout signed by both Ali and Foreman. The trunks come with a LOA from Hamilton and the WBC for the training use and the photo comes with a LOA from Steve Grad of Beckett Authentication for the signatures.

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