--- title: Muhammad Ali Rumble in the Jungle Win: How He Beat George Foreman description: The historic fight took place 40 years ago, on Oct. 30, 1974 canonical: https://time.com/3545974/muhammad-ali-rumble-in-the-jungle/ author: Lily Rothman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-30T11:00:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T11:05:15.738Z article:section: History og:title: How Muhammad Ali Won the 'Rumble in the Jungle' og:description: The historic fight took place 40 years ago, on Oct. 30, 1974 og:url: https://time.com/3545974/muhammad-ali-rumble-in-the-jungle/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt05806ce3f9598da3/69876331e53aba85284d54d7/rumble-illo.png?branch=production&width=1440&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Rumble in the Jungle illustration og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Muhammad Ali Won the 'Rumble in the Jungle' twitter:description: The historic fight took place 40 years ago, on Oct. 30, 1974 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt05806ce3f9598da3/69876331e53aba85284d54d7/rumble-illo.png?branch=production&width=1440&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How Muhammad Ali Won the 'Rumble in the Jungle'  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Oct 30, 2014 11:00 AM UTC  An illustration from TIME's Sept. 23, 1974, fight preview An illustration from TIME's Sept. 23, 1974, fight previewIllustration for TIME by Robert Handeville  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Oct 30, 2014 11:00 AM UTC When TIME sent Nairobi Bureau Chief Lee Griggs to Kinshasa in 1974 to preview the Oct. 30 boxing match that became known as “The Rumble in the Jungle,” it seemed clear that the winning money was not on the favorite. The bout between reigning champion George Foreman and Muhammad Ali, who had previously lost the title after refusing to be drafted into the military, came with the biggest purse in sports history. Both boxers were guaranteed at least $5 million but — though boxing fans worldwide, and especially in the country then called Zaire, were rooting hard for Ali — it seemed clear that Foreman would be the one going home with the title. He was younger and strong and on a winning streak. He would back Ali into the ropes, where the older boxer’s footwork would do no good. TIME’s sports editor Philip Taubman [predicted](http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,908725,00.html) that the result would be Foreman in six. When the fight actually went down — 40 years ago Thursday, after a delay of about a month from its originally planned September date — that did not happen. Though Foreman went after Ali just as predicted, the results were far from what had been expected. Here’s what did happen, as TIME [reported](http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,911507,00.html) in the Nov. 11, 1974, issue: --- > “” --- By giving up on the “floating like a butterfly” that had made his career, Muhammad Ali won the match in the eighth round. **_Read TIME’s run-up to the ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ here, in the archives:_** [Violent Coronation in Kinshasa](http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,908774,00.html) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3545974/muhammad-ali-rumble-in-the-jungle/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3545974/muhammad-ali-rumble-in-the-jungle/"},"headline":"How Muhammad Ali Won the 'Rumble in the Jungle'","datePublished":"2014-10-30T11:00:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T11:05:15.738Z","description":"The historic fight took place 40 years ago, on Oct. 30, 1974","url":"https://time.com/3545974/muhammad-ali-rumble-in-the-jungle/","keywords":["Sports topic","Boxing","Muhammad Ali"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt05806ce3f9598da3/69876331e53aba85284d54d7/rumble-illo.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt05806ce3f9598da3/69876331e53aba85284d54d7/rumble-illo.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Rumble in the Jungle illustration","caption":"Rumble in the Jungle illustration","creditText":"Illustration for TIME by Robert Handeville","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3545974/muhammad-ali-rumble-in-the-jungle/","name":"How Muhammad Ali Won the 'Rumble in the Jungle'"}}]}] ```