Tony Bellew names ‘the greatest victory in boxing history’

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Picking the greatest fighter in boxing is difficult enough; Choosing the greatest victory in sports is a more difficult task. However, Tony Bellew didn’t seem to hesitate much when he delivered his ruling on New Year’s Eve.

The former cruiserweight world champion, now a familiar face in DAZN’s boxing coverage as an analyst, did not look to the modern era – nor even to the 21st century – but instead cast his opinion back more than half a century.

In response to X’s clip shared by Vinny’s Corner about the legendary confrontation between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman at The Rumble in the Jungle, Bellew issued summary judgment.

“The greatest victory in the history of boxing [in my opinion]!

By the time Ali arrived in Kinshasa, Zaire, in October 1974, many believed the former heavyweight king was finished. At 32 years old, having been written off against the seemingly unstoppable Foreman, Ali instead put on one of the most audacious and intelligent performances ever seen in the sport.

For most of the contest, Ali stood on the ropes, calling on Foreman to unleash his intimidating power. Punch after punch hammered Ali’s body and arms, but the opponent’s movement, cunning and the revolutionary “rope in the dope” tactic gradually sapped the champion’s strength. When Foreman finally slowed down, Ali seized his moment, unleashing a devastating combination in the eighth round to regain the heavyweight title he lost to Joe Frazier three years earlier in the Fight of the Century.

The psychological edge was as important as the physical advantage. Foreman later revealed that during the exchanges Ali repeatedly made fun of him.

“Is that all you got, George?”

“It was a nightmare because it was all I had.”

Ali went on to make several defenses of the title before losing to Leon Spinks in 1978, but he defied logic again by regaining the heavyweight championship in a rematch later that year – becoming the first man to win the title three times. Subsequent defeats to Larry Holmes and Trevor Berbick ultimately brought a glorious, era-defining career to a belated end.

Meanwhile, Foreman would write his own chapter on boxing immortality two decades later. In 1994, he stunned the world by knocking out Michael Moorer to become the oldest heavyweight champion in history – a fitting finale to a rivalry that produced one of boxing’s greatest nights.

Foreman’s late-career redemption adds further weight to Bellew’s claim, but nothing that followed eclipses that night in Kinshasa — when Muhammad Ali out-thinked, out-scored, and ultimately outmaneuvered the most feared heavyweight on the planet to a victory that still defines boxing greatness a half-century later.