the rumble in the jungle (11. 946)

Organised by the then relatively unknown Don King in collaboration with record producer Jerry Masucci, sixty thousand fans gathered on this day in 1974 in Kinshasa to watch the championship boxing match between George Forman and Muhammad Ali, hailed as the greatest sporting event of the century. With a purse of five million dollars—an enormous sum of money which the promoters had not yet secured—King sought a venue and sponsor outside of the United States, eventually convinced Mobutu Sese Seko (see previously) to host the event, possibly with the financial assistance of Muammar Gaddafi. A three night long music festival was held at the same stadium beforehand to build excitement and included performances by Miriam Makeba, BB King, James Brown, Bill Withers and the Fania All-Stars, the supergroup of Masucci’s label. Watched by a further television audience of a billion, including many by pay-per-view and in specially reserved theatres, the fight generated over a hundred million dollars in revenue. More from the Avocado at the link up top.