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The Rumble in the Jungle 50 years on, by those who witnessed it

George Foreman and Muhammad AliGetty Images

Ali stunned the world when he knocked out Foreman in the eighth

By Ade Adedoyin, edited by Ben Dirs
BBC Sport

This article was originally published in 2014 to mark the 40th anniversary of the 'Rumble in the Jungle'.

The greatest sporting event ever? Some might disagree. The most seismic boxing match in history? Perhaps not. The 20th Century's most compelling piece of sporting theatre? Of course it was...

Here's the plot: the maniacal ruler of a strange and exotic land offers a seemingly invincible ogre riches beyond his wildest dreams, if only he will defend his fabled world heavyweight crown in the despot's far-off country.

The ogre's challenger is a handsome and charismatic king, unfairly deposed many years earlier and committed to a quixotic and dangerous quest to win his crown back. Guess what happens next...

To mark the 40th anniversary of 'The Rumble in the Jungle', BBC Sport spoke to some of the men who witnessed the before, during and after of this modern fairytale. A fairytale it must be, because it doesn't seem real.

Colin Hart (British boxing journalist): I first heard about the fight seven months before it happened. I was in Caracas, Venezuela covering Foreman's world title defence against Ken Norton and before the fight a press conference was called by [fledgling boxing promoter] Don King. His hair was standing on end as if he'd seen a ghost, I'd never seen anything like it.

The story of Rumble in the Jungle

He announced that the winner would fight Ali in Kinshasa, Zaire [now the Democratic Republic of the Congo]. I'd never even heard of Kinshasa. When King went on to say the fight would take place at 4am, I nearly fell off my chair laughing. I was thinking: 'Who is this clown">