REFILE: PERSONAL: Kinshasa boxing coach keeps "Rumble in the Jungle" spirit alive

Record ID: 1985035

  • Title: REFILE: PERSONAL: Kinshasa boxing coach keeps "Rumble in the Jungle" spirit alive
  • Date: 24th October 2024
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Lingala) BOXING COACH AND MUHAMMAD ALI FAN, TSHIBANDA WATA JUDEX, SAYING: "I kept this souvenir to show my children and grandchildren that during the Fight of the Century, I was there, I was part of the committee. I'm the one who lifted the rope for Muhammad Ali to step into the ring. He talked to me a lot because I was the captain of our club." VARIOUS OF JUD
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: 50 africa ali anniversary boxing century congo democratic drc fight foreman george history jungle kinshasa muhammad personal republic rumble sport
  • Location: KINSHASA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
  • City: KINSHASA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
  • Country: Congo, Democratic Republic of the
  • Topics: Africa,Boxing,Sport
  • Reuters ID: LVA002420623102024RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The sound of blows echoed through a gym in the Congolese capital Kinshasa as Tshibanda Wata Judex trained a young boxer, both ducking and weaving in the same building where Muhammad Ali warmed up before the 'Rumble in the Jungle' fight 50 years ago.
    "Here is the room where Muhammad Ali trained every morning before going for a run," Judex explained, gesturing around the concrete space.
    As the Oct. 30 anniversary of the legendary 1974 match against George Foreman approaches, 71-year-old Judex recalled on Wednesday (October 23) the thrill of crowding into the stadium to watch the showdown between the heavyweights that was beamed around the world.
    The event spurred a whole generation in what was then known as Zaire to take up boxing, he said, after strolling through the empty Tata Raphael stadium.
    "Since 1974, all Congolese started pushing forward to work in boxing. Before, our fathers thought it was a form of banditry, but it was a job. We worked at it," he said.
    "I’m proud because Muhammad Ali inspired this country."
    The fight, hyped for months in the media and scheduled for 4 a.m. local time for maximum television exposure in the United States, attracted some of the world's most prominent figures to a country known by most westerners at the time only for its periodic bouts of instability.
    Judex appeared to recall every punch, recounting how the underdog Ali emerged triumphant after eight dramatic rounds in front of a crowd of 60,000.
    "He knocked [Foreman] out in the eighth round," he said. "Ali landed a left hook and a straight right. He fell. First, he made a twisting motion and then fell. Boom. It was like the groan of an elephant collapsing."
    Back in the working-class district where he lives, Judex stores memorabilia of the showdown that changed the course of his life by inspiring him to pursue a career as a coach and establish Democratic Republic of Congo's first boxing club for women.
    He paged through a well-thumbed magazine to show off photos from the day of the fight and pulled on a t-shirt with Ali's photo on the front, his arms raised in victory.
    "If Muhammad Ali hadn't come to this country, I might not have made it this far. It was after him that I started to love boxing in a different way," he said, describing how an encounter with Ali at the gym ahead of the match made him a life-long fan.
    "I kept this souvenir to show my children and grandchildren that during the Fight of the Century, I was there," he said.
    (Production: Benoit Nyemba, Ngouda Dione, Cooper Inveen, Tim Hart)
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