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Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I

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Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hey everyone, welcome to the podcast. I'm Eves

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Speaker 1: and you're listening to This Day in History Class, a

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Speaker 1: podcast that really takes to heart the phrase you learn

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Speaker 1: something new every day. Today it's October nineteen. The day

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Speaker 1: was October thirtieth, nineteen seventy four. Former heavyweight champion Mohammed

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Speaker 1: Ali beat undefeated world heavyweight champion George Foreman in a

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Speaker 1: fight at the twentieth of May Stadium and what was

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Speaker 1: then Kinshasa Zaire. Sixty people attended the fight and it

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Speaker 1: was the world's most watched live television broadcast at the time.

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Speaker 1: Both Ali and Foreman were Olympic gold medal winners. Ali

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Speaker 1: was known for his speed and skill, while Foreman was

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Speaker 1: known for his power. Foreman became heavyweight champion when he

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Speaker 1: beat Joe Frasier in nineteen seventy three. Ali was one

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Speaker 1: heavyweight champion two. But Ali had been fighting for a

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Speaker 1: chance to regain the title since he was stripped of

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Speaker 1: it and suspended from boxing in nineteen sixty seven after

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Speaker 1: refusing to comply with the draft. Boxing promoter Don King

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Speaker 1: arranged a fight between the two, getting them to sign contracts.

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Speaker 1: Foreman was the favorite. He had knocked down champion Joe

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Speaker 1: Fraser six times in two rounds before he k owed

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Speaker 1: him to win the championship, and he beat Kim Norton

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Speaker 1: in two rounds. Ali, on the other hand, had lost

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Speaker 1: to Fraser in Norton. The fight was one of Don

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Speaker 1: King's first ventures as a promoter. Both Ali and Foreman

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Speaker 1: wanted five million dollars for the fight, but King did

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Speaker 1: not have that much money to put up. There wasn't

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Speaker 1: much of a framework for professional boxing in Africa until

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Speaker 1: nineteen seventy three when the African Boxing Union was formed.

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Speaker 1: The president of Zayre, Mobutu Seku, agreed to host the

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Speaker 1: fight in his country because he knew it would bring

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Speaker 1: tourism and publicity. He provided training facilities and a venue

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Speaker 1: for the fight. Ali and Foreman spent the summer training

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Speaker 1: in Zaire to adjust to the tropical climate. The fight

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Speaker 1: was scheduled for September, but when Foreman got a cut

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Speaker 1: above his right eye about a week before the fight,

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Speaker 1: it was pushed to octobert but a concert series called

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Speaker 1: Zi Year seventy four that was set up as a

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Speaker 1: promotional event for the fight went on The festival took

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Speaker 1: place from September twenty two at the twentieth of May Stadium.

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Speaker 1: American and African musicians like Celia Cruz, BB King, James Brown,

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Speaker 1: and Miriam the Kaba performed in the series. Around eighty

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Speaker 1: thou people attended the concerts. The fight began just after

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Speaker 1: four am local time, so it would be broadcast during

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Speaker 1: prime time in the United States. Even though Foreman was

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Speaker 1: favored to win the fight, Ali was more beloved in Africa.

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Speaker 1: Ali spent more time out in the local communities and

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Speaker 1: spoke to the press. He later reflected that the fight

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Speaker 1: was also about racial issues and about the relationship between

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Speaker 1: black Americans and Africans. Ali used the strategy of leaning

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Speaker 1: on the ropes and taking Foreman's punches until Foreman tired.

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Speaker 1: At the same time, Ali took chances to punch Foreman

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Speaker 1: in the face. Alie sent combinations back at Foreman starting

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Speaker 1: in the fourth round. As Foreman tired out, Ali was

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Speaker 1: taking a lot of attacks, but he ended up defeating

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Speaker 1: Foreman in an eighth round knockout. The fight, one of

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Speaker 1: the most famous matches ever, helped confirm Ali's status as

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Speaker 1: the greatest boxer. It attracted around fifty million viewers on

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Speaker 1: closed circuit television worldwide and pulled in around a hundred

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Speaker 1: million dollars. Foreman retired in nineteen seventy seven, though he

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Speaker 1: later regained the World Heavyweight championship at age forty five,

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Speaker 1: after losing his title in nineteen seventy eight and regaining

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Speaker 1: it again months later. Ali retired in nineteen eighty one.

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Speaker 1: I'm Eve Steff Coote and hopefully you know a little

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Speaker 1: more about history today than you did yesterday. Looking up

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Speaker 1: for our content a little more sophisticated than cat memes

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Speaker 1: t D I h C podcast. You can also email

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Speaker 1: us at this Day at i heart media dot com.

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Speaker 1: I hope you liked this show. We'll be back tomorrow

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