FIG. 1. The poster for the Ali-Foreman Title Fight with the original date September 24 replaced by the rescheduled date October 29 after Foreman’s cut delayed the match. The dates are for the U.S. In Zaire the dates were September 25 and October 30.

FIG. 2. Cassius Clay, proud of his light heavyweight gold medal, Rome 1960 and left, Wilbert McClure of Toledo, Ohio light middleweight; right, middleweight Edward Crook of Fort Campbell, KY. Clay seen as a young, fresh-faced boxer loyal to the U.S. That image would soon change. (AP Photo).

FIG. 3. Cassius Clay’s handlers hold him back after he upset Sonny Liston to win the heavyweight title, Miami Beach, Florida February 25, 1964. The ‘Louisville Lip’ has his mouth open as he shouts his greatness and excoriates the press for doubting his boxing ability. (AP Photo).

FIG. 4. Champion Cassius Clay signs autographs in New York, NYC, March 1, 1964. Malcolm X, left, was a prominent member of the Nation of Islam and Clay’s tutor in its precepts. Caught in the power struggle between Malcolm X and NOI leader Elijah Muhammad, Ali pledged his loyalty to Elijah who renamed him: Muhammad Ali. Becoming a “Black Muslim” and rejecting his “slave name” proved extremely controversial. (AP Photo).

FIG. 5. After visiting the UN, Ali pledged to be champion of the whole world and undertook an unprecedented, unofficially sanctioned tour of Ghana, Egypt, and Nigeria, where he was greeted by heads of state and huge crowds, as on June 1, 1964, in Lagos. Ali was extremely popular in Africa and the Middle East. (AP Photo).

FIG. 6. Ali confers with Dr. Martin Luther King March 29, 1967. Ali’s refusal to serve in the army led to his conviction on draft evasion, a five-year jail sentence, and a $10,000 fine. He was stripped of his title and prevented from boxing. Shortly after conferring with Ali, King came out against the Vietnam War. Although reviled as a traitor and an ungrateful coward, once his stance was adopted by King and other civil rights leaders, Ali became an anti-war hero. (AP Photo).

FIG. 7. Tommie Smith and John Carlos raise black-gloved fists during The National Anthem after Smith won gold in the 200 meters and John Carlos took bronze at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. Silver medalist Australian Peter Norman, is at left. This “Black Power” demonstration climaxed a turbulent year in American sport and society. (AP Photo/File).

FIG. 8. George Foreman waves an American flag after winning the Olympic gold medal at the Mexico City games, October 27, 1968, by a second round TKO over Iones Chepulis of Russia. Foreman became a cold war hero by defeating the Soviet fighter and responding to black protesters at these games. His actions made him an anti-Ali. (AP Photo/Kurt Strumpf).

FIG. 9. In his comeback after 31/2 years in exile from boxing Ali takes a left from champion Joe Frazier March 8, 1971, in 15th round of their heavyweight title bout at Madison Square Garden. Frazier won a unanimous decision, ruining Ali’s return to the ring. The unprecedented match between two undefeated heavyweight champions was considered a battle between a defiant anti-war black radical and a defender of the Vietnam War. (AP Photo/File).

FIG. 10. Complicating the heavyweight picture, Foreman knocks down champion Joe Frazier in an awesome display of power to win the heavyweight title on January 22, 1973, in Kingston, Jamaica. (AP Photo/stf).

FIG. 11. Foreman at news conference, January 23, 1973, a day after winning the title. Right, Sergeant Shriver, former head of the Office of Economic Opportunity and Foreman’s legal advisor. Foreman campaigned for Hubert Humphrey for president in 1968 and as “The Fighting Corpsman” publicized the Job Corps, which saved him from a life of poverty and crime. Left, Dick Sadler, Foreman’s manager. (AP Photo).

FIG. 12. Champion Foreman at news conference in Republican Governor Ronald Reagan’s office in Sacramento, Calif., February 7, 1973. While Foreman remained “The Fighting Corpsman,” his flag-waving made him a hero to a vast majority of white boxing fans and older African Americans and an outcast to younger, more radical blacks and whites. (AP Photo/ Walter Zeboski).

FIG. 13. Promoters of the Ali-Foreman title bout at a press conference in Caracas, VZ, March 27, 1974, just before Foreman knocked out Ken Norton in 2 rounds. The global matchmakers, from left: Foreman’s Manager Dick Sadler, Henry Schwartz, Executive VP of Video Techniques, U.S., John Daly, Great Britain, and Mundungu Bula, Zaire President Mobutu Sese Seko’s emissary. Absent is Don King, whose stature as a promoter would rise as he became the face of the promotion. (AP Photo/ML).