It’s October 30, 1974 and the fight between George Foreman and Muhammad Ali is about to start. Set in Kinshasa, Zaire, the bout has been hyped for months, dubbed “The Rumble in the Jungle” by its promoter, Don King. Foreman is the reigning heavyweight champion and heavy favorite; he’s a massive, mean, undefeated slugger who has knocked out thirty-seven opponents in forty fights.

But for months Ali has been publicly mocking Foreman, questioning his intelligence, his durability, his might, dismissing him as an “amateur” and a “mummy” who gained his title by beating “bums.” “This fight,” Ali promises, “will be the greatest upset of which anyone has ever heard.”