In October 1974 one of the greatest boxing matches of all time took place in Zaire.

Muhammad Ali and George Foreman fought for the Heavyweight Championship of the World.

The President of Zaire, Mobutu Sese Seko had paid them millions of dollars to travel to Africa.

Jerry Izenberg, who covered the contest as a reporter for The New Jersey Star Ledger, told Chloe Hadjimatheou his memories of possibly the most iconic bout in the sport's history.

Muhammad Ali died aged 74 on 3 June 2016. George Foreman died aged 76 on 21 March 2025.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive and testimony. Sporting Witness is for those fascinated by sporting history. We take you to the events that have shaped the sports world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes, you become a fan in the stands as we take you back in time to examine memorable victories and agonising defeats from all over the world. You’ll hear from people who have achieved sporting immortality, or those who were there as incredible sporting moments unfolded.

Recent episodes explore the forgotten football Women’s World Cup, the plasterer who fought a boxing legend, international football’s biggest ever beating and the man who swam the Amazon river. We look at the lives of some of the most famous F1 drivers, tennis players and athletes as well as people who’ve had ground-breaking impact in their chosen sporting field, including: the most decorated Paralympian, the woman who was the number 1 squash player in the world for nine years, and the first figure skater to wear a hijab. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the tennis player who escaped the Nazis, how a man finally beat a horse in a race, and how the Fifa computer game was created.

(Fight archive courtesy of ESPN)

(Photo: Rumble in the Jungle. Credit: AFP/Getty Images)