The fight that changed my life

He was a great boxing champion who won the heavyweight world title three times. In 1964 he became a Muslim and changed his name from Cassius Clay. In 1966, after refusing to serve in the Vietnam War, he was banned from boxing for three years. Since 1984 he had suffered from Parkinson’s disease and was widely admired for the way he coped with the debilitating effects of his illness. One of Muhammad Ali’s most famous fights was in 1974 against the then undefeated world champion, George Foreman. The fight took place in Kinshasa, in Zaire, and was given the name “The Rumble in the Jungle.” Foreman was the younger man and had a fearsome reputation, but Ali knocked him out and, so, regained the world title. However, George Foreman says that fight changed his life. The screensaver on his computer today is a photograph of him lying on the canvas in Kinshasa after Ali knocked him down. He says the photograph reminds him every day that he must stay humble. He says that defeat was the first step in a great change in his life. In 1977 George lost another fight against Jimmy Young. In his dressing room after the fight George had a spiritual experience that transformed his life. This is how he describes what happened to him. “In the dressing room I was walking back and forth, then in a split second, I was fighting for my life. My mind was filled with battling thoughts: preening pride vs. death and panic. I kept thinking, ‘You believe in God, why are you afraid to die?’ But I really didn’t believe.” George offered to devote his boxing prize money to charity, but he heard a voice say, “I don’t want your money, I want you.” Instantly he found himself cast into darkness. He said, “It was the saddest, most horrible place I had ever seen.” Then a ‘giant hand’ plucked him into consciousness. He found himself on a locker room table, surrounded by friends and felt as if he was physically filled with the presence of the dying Christ. He said, “I knew that Jesus Christ was coming alive in me - I was born again.” I kissed everybody in the room and told them I loved them. That happened in March 1977, and I never have been the same again.”