Cultural & Ethnic Studies Black Steel Intraracial Rivalry, Soft Power, and Prize Fighting in the Cold

361 Chapter 15 Black Steel Rivalry , Soft Power , and Prize Fighting in the Cold War World Andrew Smith Nichols College INTRODUCTION In the , struggles over Black Power politics and national sovereignty in a Cold War World played out in heavyweight championship around the world . Muhammad Ali , Joe , and George Foreman represented very different visions of the postwar African American experience during the Golden Age of that manifested in the prize Pulitzer Brooks wrote the poem Black Steel in hopes that the brutality of their matches would be mitigated by their shared experience as African American men , by racial In actuality , these rivalries exacerbated the real and perceived violence . The import of competing African American experiences reverberated outside of the United States as well , particularly in the Global South . Championship bouts between Ali , and Foreman became a valuable cache of soft power for nations who were not Super ' Hosting one of these international was a demonstration of viability and autonomy for those categorized as Third World in the taxonomy of the Cold War . Thus , the biggest prize some of the most important professional sporting Ira , Memorable , Forgettable , and Others , New York ( January , 1991 Jerry , Once There Were Giants The Golden Age of Heavyweight Boxing ( New York , 2017 ) Brooks , Black Steel Joe and Muhammad Ali ( Detroit Broadside Press , 1971 ) Joseph Nye , Soft Power , Foreign Policy , 80 ( 1990 )

362 in the took place well outside of the United States or Soviet Union in Michael Jamaica , Rafael Venezuela , and Ferdinand Philippines . This chapter and the postwar African American experience by placing it in the cultural diplomacy of sport . It draws on primary sources like newspapers ( including daily and weekly , national papers and the Black press , American and foreign publications , in English and some French ) as well as popular centric and magazines secondary sources including scholarly journals , academic and trade press books , as well as credible digital publications and also the relevant and declassified government documents . These sources bear out the competing visions of blackness personified by three popular prize fighters that attracted not only a domestic but a global audience , and made the African American experience an important aspect of cultural diplomacy in the Global South during the Cold War . A HOT PANTS CONTEST There we stand in this year 1972 , no longer bemused by White Hopes , no longer disturbed by racial rivalries , proclaimed Ring Magazine as a new era for prize fighting , one which did not rely on interracial search for a Great White Hope stirred up popular interest . African American heavyweights unquestionably dominated the sports most illustrious division and a Harris Poll showed that boxing popularity surged even in a complicated racial climate . But renewed popular interest in the sport actually derived from an intensifying conflict between Joe and Muhammad Ali , representing opposite poles of a divided Black freedom movement , and George Foreman , who adopted an image that posed a cultural critique of the Heavy Kings Color Them Dramatic , Ring , March 1972 , 50 Nat , Nat Speaks Out , Ring , August 1972 , Andrew . Smith , Sculpting George Foreman A Soul Era Champion in the Golden Age of Black Heavyweights , Journal of Sport History , 2014 ) 456 .

363 Media and advertisers capitalized on this rivalry . Ali had been an icon of the Black Power movement since he converted to Islam and discarded his name Clay in 1964 , briefly adopting Cassius before accepting a full Muslim name from Nation of Islam ( NOI ) leader Elijah , on the other hand , was a devout Christian with an equally strong faith in capitalism . He happily purchased a plantation in his native , South Carolina , and rode around on a motorcycle adorned with an American flags Black like Brad and Bryant suggested was the blackest White Hope in history when juxtaposed with Ali . Before their first meeting in the ring , dubbed Super Fight , the Young and Advertising Agency broadcast a telephone conversation between them . The call ended when their banter devolved into repeating , Clay , Clay , Clay , indicating his refusal to acknowledge Ali conversion , and Ali screaming into the receiver even white people call me Muhammad now You re known as the Uncle Tom in this fight ! In response , challenged Ali racial authenticity through skin color and social class I blacker than he is . There ai a black spot on his whole body Clay is a phony . He never worked . He never had a job . He do know nothing about life for most black Even the presence of Brooks Black Steel on the fight program did not blunt their sharp differences . No sign of the black Brooks wrote about appeared during the fifteen bloody rounds they fought , or afterwards as their palpable that of their On Ali early career and conversion , see David , King of the World Muhammad Ali and the Rise of an American Hero ( New York Vintage , 1998 ) and Randy Roberts and Johnny Smith , Blood Brothers The Fatal , Between Muhammad Ali and Malcolm ( New York Basic , 2016 ) On Joe , see Phil Pepe , Come Out Joe , the Champ Nobody Knew ( New York Coward , 1972 ) and Andrew . Smith , Blood Stirs the Fight Crowd Making and Marking Joe Philadelphia , in Ryan and David Wiggins , Philly Sports Teams , Games , and Athletes rom Rocky Town , University of Arkansas Press , 2016 ) Brad , Prying , Sentinel ( November 12 , 1970 Bryant , Is Joe a White Champion in a Black Skin ?

Boxing ( BI ) October 1972 , cover Pays a Bill , Chicago Defender ( January 15 , 1972 Thomas Hauser , Boxing Is on the Sweet Science ( University of Arkansas Press , 2010 ) 88 Mel The Story Behind the Commercial of the Century , BI , July 1971 , 364 respective fan stronger and more divided . Prize fighting mirrored if not magnified the divisions within the African American Popular culture , however , also pushed the boundaries of traditional politics . The mainstreaming of Black Power brought more African Americans into the orbit of the black freedom movement , by way of Soul music , films , Malcolm , and afro hairstyles , even though it often diluted the message . At the turn of the film often ridiculed both the radicals and moderates that Ali or signified . Instead , protagonists were strong , cool , and fashionable but ultimately independent . A rising challenger in boxing heavyweight division , George Foreman , tapped into this cultural shift as he vied for his own space in a sport dominated by Ali and animus . Even if the commercialization of Black Power tempered its politics , the ability of pop culture to navigate between static of White and Black or liberal and conservative made it politically important and , for Foreman , On the eve of 1968 presidential election George Foreman beat a Soviet fighter , to win the Olympic gold medal and then waved a miniature American flag . Before he could lower the flag and start dancing around the ring , like any other jubilant teenager , he had been anointed a patriot . Both presidential campaigns reached out to him for support and public though he was not old enough to vote . Foreman became extremely popular , at least in Washington , but when he turned professional the following year , it soon became clear that fight fans did not put much stock in the kind of image that was better suited for professional Thomas Thompson , The Battle of the Undefeated Giants , Life , March , 1971 , Ray Kennedy , Butterfly A Clash of Champions , March , 1971 , Mark , End of the Ali Legend , Sports Illustrated ( 51 ) March 15 , 1971 , Norman Mailer , Ego , Life , March 19 , 1971 , Black Power Radical Politics and African American Identity ( Baltimore Johns Hopkins Press , 2005 ) William Van , New Day in Babylon The Black Power Movement and American Culture , Chicago University of Chicago Press , 1992 ) William Van , Black Camelot African American Culture Heroes in Their , Chicago University of Chicago Press , 1997 ) Lawrence , Films of the 19705 Blackness and Genre ( New York , 2008 ) 38 Bold Look at 70 Films , directed by Isaac Julien ( Independent Film Channel , 2002 )

365 wrestling . Despite winning all of his fights , usually by knockout , fans across the country booed him and matchmakers did not foresee him as a championship contender in the near future . From late 1970 through 1971 , however , Foreman took cues from his manager who implored him to adopt a take charge attitude as well as the cultural climate of the Soul Era , with its cool Black , to fashion a new image . Learning from other Black athletic celebrities like Jim Brown and Walt , Foreman adopted a cool pose that resonated with more boxing promoters took Boxing Illustrated noticed the transition and featured a cover story on The Two Faces of George Foreman that reconciled a new image which had some under the cool new clothes and sharp comments but undoubtedly made him a more interesting subject to write When the negotiations over a rematch between and Ali hit an impasse , Foreman was thrust into consideration as a heavyweight championship contender . Teddy Brenner , the head of Madison Square Garden ( boxing programming , had been decidedly reserved about Foreman potential and insisted he needed more seasoning against better competition before earning a chance to fight for the title . Suddenly , Brenner called him the best prospect since Joe Louis just as former heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson said that Foreman was the only man left in the top ten capable of stirring up some interest among the Les Matthews of the New York Amsterdam News declared that this new Foreman had star Earlier in the year , Matthews suggested that prize fighting had become a hot pants contest that considered style more than ability Foreman ascension that belief . Through an image reconstruction , Foreman marketed himself to the top of the Smith , Sculpting George Foreman , Richard Majors , Pose Black Masculinity and Sport , in Michael and Donald , Perspectives on Span , Men , and Masculinity ( Champaign , IL Human Kinetics , 1990 ) Walt and Ira , A Guide to Basketball and Cool ( Cliffs Prentice Hall , 1974 ) bell hooks , We Real . Black Men and Masculinity , New York , 2004 ) 156 . 11 Bert Sugar , The Two Sides of George Foreman Is He Is or Is He Ain ?

BI , February 1973 , cover , 63 .

366 heavyweight division just as the politics of cool sold tickets to films and Soul Boxing Era of Fantastic Millions , as Brenner called it in the , trafficked in the fierce divisions facing African Americans in a rights period . Muhammad Ali , Joe , and George Foreman all represented competing definitions of Black Power . Each of these three boxers appealed to or enraged millions of Black and White Americans , and many more whose identity fell outside of a facile racial binary . When those tensions were localized in less than 400 square feet , it was indeed worth millions of dollars . But these between Ali , and Foreman extended also to people who did not reckon with questions of race and identity in the Nations on four different continents paid dearly for the privilege of hosting these African American boxers because their matches became so valuable that they carried at least the perception of geopolitical significance in the context of a Global Cold THE WORLD IS MY RING Race played a significant role in these as well . Penny Von wrote that race was America Achilles heel as the dichotomy between promoting freedoms abroad and preserving racial inequality at home made it more difficult to win the hearts and minds of people in the Global South . After World War 11 , Paul used his platform as a Black celebrity to ratchet up challenges regarding the American system efficacy for people of color . In the early singer , dancer , and entertainer Josephine Baker posed 12 Dan Daniel , Is George Foreman Next Champ ?

Ring , July 1971 , 39 Floyd Patterson , What Now , Heavyweights ?

BI , June 1971 , 22 Les , Foreman is Star Material , New York Amsterdam News ( November 13 , 1971 Les , The Sports Whirl , April 24 , 1971 Smith , Sculpting George Foreman , 13 Dan Daniel , Brenner Invites King to Rent Garden , But His Fights Must Merit Arena , Ring , November , 1975 , 18 .

367 a more subtle critique of racial discrimination in the when she performed abroad . In contrast , the Eisenhower administration initiated missions of Black jazz musicians , including Dizzy and Duke , to spread the through pop the marked improvement in America racial climate . By the turn of the the missions extended to sport as well , sending popular Black athletes on Goodwill Tours to show that the First racial barriers had come Throughout 1972 , popular interest grew for a fight between two different expressions of African American northeastern , versus the southwestern Soul brother in Foreman . However , the champion refused to fight in the traditional Mecca of the sport , New York City , because new state taxes levied just before Super Fight significantly affected the net profits . Meanwhile the challenger became entangled in lawsuits that threatened injunctions against a title fight with . Therefore , the best offer came from outside the country as nations in the Global South searched for ways to wrest or retain influence in the Cold War world . The fight was an attempt to use sport as the kind of soft power Joseph Nye identified as important to achieving foreign policy goals without using the hard power of military Jamaica promised freedom from American court decisions and favorable taxes that meant its offer could dwarf the financial promises of New York City , Philadelphia , Las Vegas , and Houston . Such a bid was made possible because the Jamaican government , in the first term of Prime Minister Michael who enjoyed a 70 majority in 14 Penny Von , Blows Up the World Jazz Ambassadors Play the Cold War ( Cambridge Harvard University Press , 2004 ) Tony , Paul and the Cold War Performance Complex Race , Madness , Activism ( Ann Arbor University of Michigan Press , 2012 ) Kate Baldwin , Beyond the Color Line and the Iron Curtain Reading Encounters Between Black and Red , Duke University Press , 2002 ) Mary , Josephine Baker , Racial Protest , and the Cold War , Journal ofAmerican History , 1994 ) 15 Nye , Soft Power , Jeffrey Hill , Introduction Sport and Politics , Journal of Contemporary History , 2003 ) In Pursuit of Perspective The Other Empire of Imperialism for Confident Control and Consequent Legacies , International Journal of the History of Sport , 28 17 ( 2011 )

368 Parliament , nationalized the event . The government owned National Stadium in Kingston , where the fight would take place , and borrowed nearly million from the Bank of Nova Scotia to pay the boxers . Despite protestations from some politicians and private citizens about the financial risks , the Prime Minister and the media pressed on . Readers of the Jamaica Daily Gleaner followed nearly every step in the process with great enthusiasm , particularly during Tourism Month in October which culminated in a page ad from himself , imploring Jamaicans to serve and assist all the tourists who would flood the island to watch this event , nicknamed the Sunshine The fight illuminated a relationship between Black Power and the power of sport in Cold War geopolitics . political campaign revolved around cultural unity for an electorate that was predominantly Black but , like the African American community , remained deeply divided along lines such as class and religion . He also envisioned a foreign policy of that required proving Jamaica strength and sovereignty to the world . His administration believed that hosting a significant prize fight between two Black contenders could speak to both goals . Not long after election Jamaica government subsidized a heavyweight championship bout , touting its racial symbolism while broadcasting it as a display of soft power in diplomatic circles . Foreman used elements of Black pop culture to position himself as an exciting antihero to either or Ali and , for many , interrupted the logical if not lineal trajectory of boxing heavyweight championship . Similarly , Jamaica usurped an event that seemed destined for New York City , sparking a reformation in heavyweight championship matchmaking that ultimately made boxing a tool for cultural diplomacy in the It is unclear whether or not the uptick in tourism around the Sunshine Showdown , let alone any residual tourism after the fact , recouped the significant investment of the Jamaican government in a single prize fight . But it is unlikely . The proceeds from ticket 15 Dan Daniel , Jamaica Chases American Bidders out of Battle for Title , Ring , January 1973 , Morrison , letter to the editor , Jamaica ( October 31 , 1972 Wants Title Fight Arrangements Probed , November 10 , 1972 . For Tourism Month advertisement , see , October 15 , 1972 . 17 Smith , Sculpting George Foreman , 467 .

369 sales and ancillary revenues came up short of the cost to stage it . However , the event attracted a great deal of attention for , who began a series of diplomatic missions to places like Venezuela and Cuba while leading Jamaica into the Movement . The fight itself lasted about five minutes , but it set a new precedent for transnational boxing matches that both globalized and politicized boxing in the Cold War climate of the . In the midst of his first interview after winning the title , Foreman bellowed The World is My Ring ! Under his reign he lived up to that statement , defending the championship three more times in three other countries . Even though Jamaica lost money from the match , several other nations vied for the opportunity to host a Foreman title fight , suggesting widespread belief that the benefits of international prestige justified financial Nations in each of the three worlds that comprised the Cold War order wrestled with simultaneous rise in living costs and unemployment a shortage of oil sparked a steep increase in energy costs as well . Yet Latin America , Jeremy writes , was not experiencing a generalized malaise in the early and instead enjoyed at least more available credit if not actual growth . The most developed nations in Latin America began to reenter a global economy which represented a pendular swing in the region relationship with international And Ring reported in its Roundup of 1972 that only one region of the world , Latin America , experienced marked growth in heavyweight boxing . As a major supplier of petroleum , Venezuela 18 Nat , As Nat Sees It , Ring , August 1974 , Christopher James Shelton , Down Goes ! The Sunshine Showdown , The Ringside Boxing Show , Michael , Jamaica Under Dilemmas of Socialism and Democracy ( Lawrence Hill , 1985 ) 50 Hans , Interview with Jamaica Prime Minister Michael , Ebony , February 1990 , 110 Charles , Jamaica and the Third World , December , 1972 John Forbes , Jamaica Managing Political and Economic Change ( Washington , American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research , 1985 ) 22 Darrell Levi , Michael The Making of a Leader ( Athens , GA University of Georgia Press , 1990 ) 304 Christopher Lee , Between a Moment and an Era The Origins and of , in Christopher Lee , Making a World After Empire The Moment and its Political ( Athens , OH Ohio University Press , 2010 )

370 reaped the benefits of rising prices . But as a nation with a long history of domestic political turmoil and isolation from foreign affairs , it still suffered from a deficit of political capital . Hosting a championship prize fight between the cool young champion who cracked the American Fashion Foundation men , against a former Marine , was an investment for Venezuelan President Rafael Caldera . He intended to leverage their hostility to draw in a large international audience and demonstrate his nation place on a global hopefully securing his own After a brief ( less than two minutes of boxing ) title defense against Roman in Tokyo , Foreman accepted Venezuela offer and agreed to fight Ken Norton in . In the interim , and Ali squared off again for a fraction of their previous about in fact . They even fought a little for free this time when , instead of just televising phone conversations , the two rivals appeared on stages together for joint interviews to promote the upcoming bout while denigrating each other . Verbal sparring on the Dick way to a physical altercation over Howard on Wide World of Sports and reaffirmed the genuine hostility between the two . The action in the ring again surpassed expectations , this time with Ali edging out in another very close and visibly brutal clash at once again they both took a beating from state authorities in the form of a 14 tax on their performance . Ambitious hosts in the Global South , like Venezuela , would not offer millions of dollars for anything less than a championship In a country obsessed with its three , bullfighting , and fight marked one of the most significant events in Venezuela recent history . Securing the rights to host it , however , did not save 19 Dan Daniel , Norton Looks like Foreman First Problem as Quarry Waits , Ring , March 1974 , 20 Nat , Roundup of the Year , Ring , February 1973 , 17 Jeremy , Finance and Political Legitimacy A Latin American View of the Global Shock , in Ferguson , et , The Shock of the The 19705 in Perspective , Shirley Norman , With Foreman , It All the Way , Ring , October 1973 , 34 . Jimmy , Three Years Later , February 1974 , Richard , Bouts of Mania , Foreman and an America on the Ropes ( New York Da Capo , 2014 )

371 position . Just weeks before the event dubbed El Gran , a new president , Carlos Andres , was inaugurated in front of a large national attendance and some international delegates , including First Lady Pat Nixon . promised sweeping changes and did not guarantee a friendlier relationship with the , but he made it clear he would not jeopardize El Gran in March 1974 . He went a step farther and dictated that it would air live and for free on Venezuelan television . The decision negatively affected ticket sales for the freshly built stadium , El , while venues that offered the picture and some as the La race . The new administration enjoyed all the prestige of the fight but hedged its investment by reneging on the tax incentives regime had promised . Foreman knocked out Norton in the second round but fighters , promoters , and the television outfit who broadcast it all battled through a long , drawn out fight with Venezuela new government . Despite appealing to officials , in this case . Ambassador to Venezuela Robert and Secretary of State Henry , they lost a unanimous decision to . Norton had to pay to get his passport back and return home Foreman bill was upwards of and Video Techniques claimed a loss of per day for the two weeks their television broadcast equipment remained impounded in . After the fighters and left , another cabinet member arrived , Secretary of the Treasury George . He did not , however , come to to demand remuneration or even an apology for the offended citizens . Instead , entered into negotiations for a new tax agreement regarding American performers in Venezuela , similar to the agreement in place with the Soviet Union . was obviously frustrated , but he wrote to The problem of taxation of foreigners performing temporarily in Venezuela may take on increasing significance as becomes more and more a world conference and entertainment center in the aftermath of Gran 21 Jerry , El Gran , Newark ( March 24 , 1974 William Heath , Tax Squabbles Delay Champ Venezuela Exit , Miami Herald ( March 29 , 1974 Foreman , Norton Held in Over Taxes , New York Post ( March 28 , 1974 Foreman , Norton Still Unable to Leave , Houston Post ( March 29 ,

372 Ambassador last communique relating to the affair went directly to the Embassy in , The next in this series of transnational title fights was set to take place in the former Belgian Congo and future Democratic Republic of the Congo . shared insight from his recent experience as mediator between foreign governments and American boxing interests with his colleagues in Central Africa . He suggested clarifying the conditions of taxation and other details such as referees and officials that caused undue strife in . He also wrote that it would save the embassy a headache if both principals , Foreman and Ali , simultaneously knocked each other out . Although soured on these major international prize fights , the forthcoming heavyweight championship bout would be the most lucrative ( for fighters ) and expensive ( for the host country ) boxing match to ERA OF FANTASTIC MILLIONS In anticipation of the between Foreman and Ali , billboards dotted through the second half of 1974 . Many of them not only drew attention to the fighters but to the political leader who brought them here . The people thank their Enlightened Guide , President , the promoter of this brotherly reunion 1974 Norton on Way Still in , March 30 , 1974 Foreman is Still Stalled in , March 30 , 1974 Taxes Bite Champ for , April , 1974 American Embassy to Secretary of State , Washington , Fight Over the Fights , March 26 , 1974 , Secretary Schultz Travel Schedule , March 26 , 1974 , Penultimate Fight Over Fights , March 27 , 1974 , The Fight Goes On , March 29 , 1974 , and Possible Advantages in a Taxation Treaty with Venezuela , April , 1974 , all in Central Foreign Policy Files , Record Group 59 , National Archives and Records to Archival Database . 22 to American Embassy , Fight Preparations , May 10 , 1974 , in , 59 ,

373 between the Black people who stayed in the land of their ancestors and those who were scattered around the world , one read . Another preached that Black Power is sought everywhere in the world , but it is realized here in To drive the point home , a third explained A Fight between two blacks in a black nation organized by blacks and seen by the whole world this is the victory of In the , which had been very supportive of since the early stages of the Congo , this latest victory represented a defeat . Many writers were vexed that Darkest Africa wrested such an event from American venues that the nation which invented the million dollar gate in boxing a earlier could not match an offer from a country that did not even appear on a map more than a few years Some , like Magazines editor Nat , tried to rationalize the global trajectory of boxing most important matches by citing the tax incentives foreign governments offered and technological innovations that made it possible to beam images from anywhere in the world to television connections back home . As indicated by a steady rise in Ring circulation and subscriptions , and the increase in major matches , wrote , the fight game is flourishing amazingly all over the But he framed it within a Cold War context Make exceptions of Russia and China , which are too busy with international power and politics to devote any time to It would be naive to think that leaders in Jamaica or Venezuela were apolitical in their aggressive pursuit of the rights to host a championship prize fight . They exploited the disorganized and unregulated structure of professional boxing , as well as the global appeal of and hostilities in the , to gain popularity and consolidate power . simply did it bigger and more explicitly , drumming up a guaranteed purse of million each for the principals and not just the action in the ring but the entire saga 23 Anthony , Africa Dents Boxing Monopoly , March 28 , 1974 Sam Taub , What , In Heaven Name , Is a ?

July . 24 Nat , As Nat Sees it , August 1974 , 374 leading up to it as a manifestation of Black Power on the world affirmation of unchallenged rule in Sporting events are often used as opportunities to swagger , British cultural historian Gerard notes , simply took that phenomenon and multiplied it In addition to the purses , some of which had already been deposited in American bank accounts , pumped tens of millions of dollars more into refurbishing the Stade du 20 Mai a stadium named for the date established his de la Revolution , which quickly became the only political party in the nation . He also invested in the infrastructure for a , including a new airport , highways , and parking lots that would accommodate all the traffic from tourists around the world to the center of . The Liberian government , at request , quietly pitched in for an accompanying music festival that would feature African , and African American artists in a celebration of rhythmic or , as documentarian Leon Gast called it , the history of the This explicit emphasis on transnational Black unity paralleled the message from Brooks Black Steel in a more global context , but was similarly undermined by the widening differences between the two Black principals in this prize fight and a media enthralled by reporting on From very early in his professional career , Muhammad Ali drove interest in his upcoming matches by insulting prospective opponents . When he came up against African American fighters , particularly after joining the and changing his name , Ali often questioned their racial authenticity and labeled them Uncle Joe bore the 25 Randy Roberts and Andrew . Smith , The Report of My Death Was an Exaggeration The Many Sordid Lives of America Bloodiest Pastime , International Journal of the History , 2014 ) 25 Gerard , The Seventies A Kaleidoscopic Look ata Violent Decade ( New York Macmillan , 2011 ) 320 . 27 Soul Power , directed by Jeffrey ( Antidote Films , 2008 ) un Nouveau Stade du 20 Mai , September 23 , 1974 American Embassy to , May Be Financial Backers of Cultural Festival in , October 30 , 1974 in , 59 , est pour la Grande Explication , September , 1974 Le Festival de , September 16 , 1974 .

375 brunt of this more , perhaps , than any of Ali adversaries in the long prelude to their first bout . By the time they met for a rematch , however , Ali reversed course and instead began to mock intelligence he took to calling him ignorant and rather than whitening , he began him as too Black . It was the kind of based antagonism that would not seem so out of place from a man who grew up in a border state in relation to a man from a rural community in the Deep South . But it was a stark change for Ali . He continued this as he prepared to challenge Foreman for the title . While some writers questioned if Foreman represented a white champion , Ali mocked him as a product of an urban Bloody Fifth Ward . Ali claimed he developed a new punch that would dethrone the champion the ghetto Then after a physical altercation with Foreman during an awards dinner at the , Ali his opponent blackness by calling him a nigger in a room full of hundreds of writers and fighters ?

Foreman tried to maintain his cool pose , although staying disengaged from All pushed him into a reclusive posture . That only gave the Greatest an unopposed platform . His message pivoted again when he landed in and tried to secure the popularity of the fans by telling them Foreman ( and his dog ) was a tag that struck colonial chords in . Bringing the kind of shepherd that Belgian authorities used to help maintain order during their rule over the Congo may have offended some proud , but Ali was not any more culturally sensitive . He proclaimed that , because he had popular support in , locals would assist him by sticking pins in voodoo of Foreman and that , if he were not careful , Ali new friends would put you in a Recycling images of cannibalism for American consumers did not align 23 Michael , The Fight of the Century March , 1971 ( John Wiley , 2008 ) Mark , Ghosts of Manila The Blood Feud Between Muhammad Ali and Joe ( New York , 2001 ) Andrew . Smith , Series and Legacy of Muhammad Ali , Sport in American History , February 23 , 2017 Fred , Does All the Talking , Associated Press , May 16 , 1974 Sport , July 1973 , cover BI , July 1974 , cover Dave Anderson , Broken Glasses at the Waldorf , June 24 , 1974 .

376 with the emerging nation aspirations any more than references to voodoo in a country where 75 of citizens identified as Roman Catholic . Yet while Foreman sought to stay out of the publicity as much as possible , administration prepared its against such images of The stories sent out from directly to American writers and on modernity via comparisons to the From hotels to restaurants , everything in they pledged would be comfortable and familiar . Although they happily trafficked in stereotypes and fetishes when describing opportunities for safari and visits to friendly pygmy villages , the narrative focused on a nation not just emerging but already emerged . A press kit sent to Norman Mailer , who had been contracted to write a book about the fight months before it took place , called a new dateline in the almanac of sport while the official fight program acknowledged was aiming at becoming a respected and member of the world Accomplishing that goal rested not only on the deluge of stories sources sent out but also the defense against pieces from foreign press corps that did not want Beginning with for the event , editors under the influence of the Enlightened liberal use of the blue pen for correcting written material . They immediately rejected the From Slave Ship to Championship and also strongly objected to the Rumble in the Jungle although that term stuck in the American sports They closely monitored articles from specific journalists including Tom 29 , Bouts of Mania , Once There Were Giants , Anderson , Broken Glasses at the Waldorf Jeremy Rich , for Jesus Ford in the Democratic Republic of Congo , Journal of Religion in Africa , 43 ( 2013 ) Kenneth Lee , The Conflict in , African Studies Review , 1975 ) Mailer Press Kit , in the Norman Mailer Collection , Harry Ransom Center , University of Texas Norman Mailer , The Fight , New York Vintage , 1997 ) 31 Mailer , The Fight , to United States Information Service , Foreman Entourage in for Fight Preparations , and Fight Preparations , both May , 1974 , in , 59 , Dan Daniel , September 25 , at , Scheduled for Championship Fight in , Ring , July 1974 ,

377 Johnson of the New York and Andrew from Newsweek , who covered African politics critically . Not surprisingly , as the American Embassy in became keenly aware , both writers encountered many hurdles securing and maintaining visas to enter in the months leading up to the Even , such as Larry Merchant then writing for the New York Post , were subject to censorship . Merchant , like Mailer and many others , decided to return stateside when a cut to Foreman eye postponed the fight for a month . Then Merchant was told he would not be granted a visa for reentry because an he authored about a travel agent who promised an package to an American woman that did not , in fact , include lodging or meals , should not have been allowed out of . The Embassy in , on the other hand , agreed not to release its discovery about a sharp rise ( more than 60 ) in hotel rates since May or publicize the new policy that foreign visitors spend a per diem ( equivalent to about 40 ) every day they stayed in the country . The impending event , whenever it would take place and whatever people chose to call it , was too Foreman and Ali each had five million reasons to refrain from any critiques of . Not that anyone would have expected Foreman to suddenly take a hard political stance or comment on American foreign relations any more than his haphazard wave of a miniature flag now six years in the rear view mirror . But Ali , of course , gave up the prime years of his fighting career for refusing to join the American intervention in Vietnam , and he along with the eagerly shone light on systemic racial inequality . Their agreement to fight in and take money supported an authoritarian regime that threatened the freedoms of millions more people of color . Yet Ali sent a message straight to the White House offering to cover the cost of a hook 32 to , NY Times Articles on , June 28 , 1974 and Visa for Newsweek Andrew , July 24 , 1974 both in , 59 , 33 to , Faces Possible Postponement , September 17 , 1974 in , 59 , Larry Merchant , No , September 27 , 1974 and Our Man is Barred from , October 24 , 1974 to , Revised Hotel and Restaurant Section of , November 11 , 1974 and Fight , July 26 , 1974 , both in , 59 ,

378 up for President Ford television to ensure he got a live view . Ford did not reply to Ali , but he did send a cable to with congratulations for an outstanding contribution to a sporting event of world The event became even more significant when , against the odds , Ali withstood Foreman barrage and knocked him down for the first time in his professional career , scoring what the called the knockout of the Back in New York , the Red Smith believed the Rumble in the Jungle represented the high tide of international , and he projected their decline . 1974 was , Smith wrote , the year the golden egg But with the resurrection of Ali as heavyweight champion of the world and the global prestige accorded to , other nations vied for the rights to host Ali next title fight and elevate themselves out of third world status . Boxing promoters in concert with television providers were happy to facilitate the cultural diplomacy of sport through prize fights . Jack Welsh , editor for Boxing Illustrated , insisted that only the nations in the Middle East could afford the ballooning purses . He did not account for Southeast Asian nations who , in the wake of Saigon fall in 1975 , were desperate to preserve their own reputations across the South China Sea . The Malaysian government put up million for Ali bout against Joe , but the Philippines was prepared to invest significantly more to host a bona in decisive installment of Ali and Ferdinand and tried to keep the Philippines afloat in the choppy waters between Cold War superpowers . They focused on presenting images of order and growth that belied mounting debt and dissent , which they quelled with a combination of 34 to , Match , October 15 , 1974 and Message from President Ford to , October 30 , 1974 , in , 59 , Mailer , The Fight , 98 Un . et pour le du , La , November 10 , 1974 . 35 Red Smith , The Year the Golden Egg Cracked , December 22 , 1974 Jack Welsh , Editorial , BI , April 1975 , Ali and Keeps Title Champion Decides to Continue Career , July , 1975 Daniel , Brenner Invites King to Rent Garden , 46 .

379 foreign aid and martial law . Ascertaining the rights to host III was a cornerstone in the facade . It became a commercial for the regime as American cameras panned from the Coliseum to the Palace . Though staunchly Catholic , the seemed less interested in the Christian challenger and more fascinated by the Muslim champion , Ali . Even when the cameras caught an embarrassing misunderstanding as called Ali girlfriend Veronica Porsche his to the chagrin of Belinda Ali back faux pas were swept under the very expensive rugs in the palace just as the corruption and persecution within the nation were left . Proclamation No . 1081 , which ushered in law to the Philippines in 1972 and specifically targeted an Islamic separatist group called the Moro National Liberation Front , remained in place when Ali and arrived in Manila to sign their contracts . The terms guaranteed Ali million against a percentage of the total revenue from tickets and television , with at least million coming directly from the Filipino government which , given its propensity to siphon off aid dollars , opens up the possibility the government in fact subsidized a portion of Ali purse in a nation that oppressed its Muslim expressed little to no interest in the or All families during his stay in Manila . Though he stood to earn half the purse of Ali he was fully focused not just on regaining the title but doling out as much punishment as possible in the process . His tolerance for Ali promotional antics had run out by their third meeting . In response , Ali up the insults . If he sought to deracialize by labeling him an Uncle Tom in 1971 , over the next four years he him . Accusations of ignorance that sparked their fight on the World set were compounded with denunciations 35 James Boyce , The Philippines The Political Economy of Growth and in the Era ( Honolulu University of Hawaii Press , 1993 ) Albert , Ferdinand and the Philippines The Political Economy of A ( 1997 ) Ghosts of Manila , Makes Bout Official , July 18 , 1975 Dave Anderson , to MacArthur to Muhammad , September 23 , 1975 Andrew . Smith , Revisiting the Thrilla in Manila Boxing Golden Era 40 Years Later Sport in American History , October , 2015 .

380 of his appearance . Ali said , was not just dumb but ugly he was not a man , but rather a The poet laureate of the prize ring cut down consonants as he had opponents to rhyme off It gon na be a and a thrilla and a chilla when I get that gorilla in kept his short . I make Ali fight for his And he very nearly did . After fourteen rounds Ali had trouble breathing and reportedly asked his corner to cut off his gloves . Before they could determine if he wanted to quit or just thought they ended the fifteenth and final round , manager did stop the fight because his man could not see anymore . Their last meeting was undoubtedly the most brutal and also of the series television proceeds raised the purses to a total 13 After and Ali recovered , they continued to criticize each other . Neither uttered a negative syllable about their Filipino hosts . In fact , Ali returned to City the next year to dedicate a new shopping mall , reinforcing the modernity of this authoritarian archipelago , while his barbs about the gorilla images of as something primitive . George Foreman relied more on humor than to drum up interest in his rematch with . They both filmed a series of television spots dressed up as historical figures , including Betsy Ross , for their meeting in New York during the bicentennial summer . Again , Foreman pummeled and for the second straight match his manager stopped the fight before could take any more punishment , ushering him into retirement . That set the stage for a seemingly inevitable return bout between Foreman and Ali . This time , Ali appropriated the epithet he previously launched at Foreman . None of them niggers want Foreman , he said at a press conference , sitting beside Ken Norton , who had just starred as in the film Mandingo . Only this nigger , me , can take Rumors suggested they would reconvene at National Stadium in Kingston , a venue in Cairo , or even the Roman Coliseum , but none of those proposals came to fruition . Foreman followed into retirement in 1977 . Between 1978 and 1979 Ali lost , regained , and gave up the fighting overseas again . 37 , directed by John Dower ( HBO , 2008 ) Dick , The Manila , Span , December 1975 , Joe , I Make Ali Fight for His Life , Ring , October 1975 ,

381 As the fierce rivalry between three Black heavyweights dissipated , so too did the appetite for hosting an international championship prize CONCLUSION The generation of heavyweight boxers following , Foreman , and Ali at the turn of the did not have the same global appeal or loaded racial rivalries in an era envisioned as rights if not colorblind , while geopolitical divisions softened in a thawing Cold War International were no longer a blue chip investment for tourist dollars or diplomatic prestige . One country desperate for good public relations was South Africa , and hotelier Sol tried to resurrect the Era of Fantastic Millions in a kind of called Sun Though he secured an interracial heavyweight championship fight between native South African challenger and African American champion Mike Weaver in 1980 , it did not engender an encore . Moreover , Black athletes in the were able to deter other African American boxers from legitimizing South African Apartheid by agreeing to perform in Sun 38 Smith , Revisiting the in Heavens to Betsy and by George ! Have Foreman and Wigged Out ?

People , June , 1976 , 24 Smith , Blood Stirs the Fight Crowd , 144 Dave Anderson , Show Ali a of Foreman , October , 1976 Mark , Not the Greatest Way to Go , 51 , October 11 , 1976 , Ali in Jamaica Talking of Foreman , January , 1975 See Foreman Rematch in Four Months , Says , February 24 , 1975 Dan Daniel , Boxing World Over Waits for Ali to Quit Hibernation , Ring , March 1975 , 20 Ali Foreman in New Year ?

Boxing News , December 17 , 1976 , cover . 39 Mary , Cold War Civil ' Race and the Image of American Democracy ( Princeton Princeton University Press , 2000 ) Jack , In America The Life and Crimes of Don King ( New York William Morrow , 1995 ) On the history of boxing in Las Vegas , see Richard . Davies ,

382 Instead , America Sin City became the new Mecca of prize fighting when casinos on the Las Vegas Strip recognized that hosting an event like a heavyweight title bout stimulated significant action not just on their sports books but at their tables and on the slot machines as well . In the , foreign governments relied on tourist dollars and ticket sales to cover the expense of hosting a title bout and paying the million dollar purses to fighters . In 19805 Las Vegas , increased gambling and hotel reservations ensured profits regardless of ticket sales . Likewise , the proliferation of television to individual homes rather than feeds at public places dramatically raised the television revenues against which purses were typically guaranteed , making ticket sales nearly irrelevant to fighters and promoters in boxing biggest events . Yet the legacy of the brief window between 1973 and 1975 , where the most expensive and lucrative prize fights to date occurred in transoceanic title bouts around the Global South , was firmly entrenched even after the boxing world axis tilted toward Sin City . Michael served two terms in Jamaica before losing an election in 1980 , but rode his popularity to reelection in 1989 . Similarly , Carlos lost the presidency of Venezuela in 1979 but was also reelected a decade later . Ferdinand maintained martial law until 1981 and stayed in power through 1986 . In , kept his hold over the country until 1996 . The deep fault lines within an African American community in the midst of a Black freedom struggle were troubling at home , but set inside of a prize ring those divisions became valuable commodities toward cultural diplomacy for third world nations fighting for their place in a Cold War world . Discussion Questions . How did American race relations affect Cold War geopolitics ?

Which factors most deeply divided African Americans in the Black Freedom Struggle ?

How can historians measure the impact of sports or pop culture on diplomacy ?

The Main Event in Nevada from the Mining Camps to the Las Vegas ( Reno University of Nevada Press , 2014 ) 383 Writing Prompt Why were foreign governments interested in hosting sports events featuring American athletes ?