The Rumble in the Jungle: Revealing Greatness

By Victor Gonzalez

The other night I was watching a documentary on that famous boxing match called The Rumble in the Jungle. The fight was between Muhammad Ali (Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee) and George Foreman.

The fight was held in Kinshasa, Zaire back in 1974. This fight was crucial to Muhammad Ali who was at a career low-point after having lost his last two big fights. He now faced George Foreman, the unstoppable power-punching champion who was bent on beating Ali.

Everyone believed that there was no way Ali could beat Foreman. Foreman was a power puncher and Ali was a 'dancer'. During practice Foreman would hit the punching bag so hard he would leave a dent when he was done.

Despite losing his last two fights and knowing the power of Foreman, Ali continued to tell the media how he was going to 'whup' Foreman and make him look bad. Foremen ignored the taunts confident that he could beat Ali. During his training Foreman practiced 'cutting off the ring' so Ali wouldn't be able to dance away from his powerful punches.

Ali in the meantime continued to practice his 'dancing' and didn't let up the verbal assaults and insults on Foreman. He was clearly asking for beating!

On fight night, both men went at it. Foreman did everything to corner off Ali so he wouldn't dance, forcing him up against the ropes and then unloading massive punches to the body and head. Ali was clearly taking a beating on the ropes. Yet, he continued to taunt Foreman in the ring. Every time they were tied up, you could see Ali trash talking Foreman. Everyone feared Ali's rounds were numbered and that it was a matter of time before he would go down.

Then something happened. Foreman was getting tired. By the 5th round he had punched himself out. By the 8th round he was in trouble. Out of somewhere deep inside of Ali came a barrage of punches off the ropes that pushed Foreman to the center of the ring. And with a few more punches, Ali watched as the titan known as Foreman hit the canvas floor. Ten counts later, Muhammad Ali was the champion. David had beaten Goliath.

Ali's strategy, wasn't to dance as he had led on, but it was to let Foreman tire himself out since he knew he couldn't go toe-to-toe, punch-for-punch with Foreman. His now famous Rope-a-Dope strategy worked. Ali was written into history as "The Greatest" but for George Foreman, he would go into the deepest depression of his life for the next two years.

It's easy to admire a champion like Ali because there is no denying his greatness in the sport. We as a nation admire strength and skill. We like winners. But when I look at George Foreman the Entrepreneur today, I have a deeper admiration. For here is a man who suffered one of greatest defeats in sport's history in front of the world and yet was able to redefine himself.

Foreman has emerged as a true human champion having amassed the courage and strength within him to become a successful businessman and humanitarian. They say adversity reveals the true character of a man. Well Foreman has been revealed! And he has revealed that defeat isn't final or fatal; that we can all make a comeback in our own way. He has revealed that success is redefinable. He has revealed to us that greatness isn't what happens inside the ring when the whole world is watching, but what happens outside the ring when no one cares any longer.

Remember, Success Happens for a Reason

p.s., Foreman recaptured his title on Nov. 5, 1994 at age 45 with a 10-round KO of WBA/IBF champ Michael Moorer, becoming the oldest man to win heavyweight crown. That's character !

Victor Gonzalez, top Hispanic motivational speaker and author of “The LOGIC of Success”. For more info go to: www.thelogicofsuccess.com or by email victor@thelogicofsuccess.com

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The Other Side of Manny Pacquiao

Manny Pacquiao was born as Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao in Kibawe, Bukidnon, Philippines on December 17, 1978. He grew up in Glan, Sarangani, Philippines but currently resides in General Santos City, Philippines with his wife Maria Geraldine "Jinkee" Pacquiao and their four children.

Manny grew up facing the hard life of poverty which led him to only finishing an elementary school education to start working at a very young age. Nonetheless, he still considers education as a very important tool to ones success that made him decide to take a high school equivalency exam and passed. He then enrolled in college to further educate himself as he has invested his earnings as a boxer and product endorser to a few businesses.

The Boxer

Manny Pacquiao, fondly called as "Pacman" by every boxing enthusiast, is the Filipino Boxing Superstar. The Philippines' pride is currently the WBO World Welterweight Champion and Ring Magazine and IBO Light Welterweight Champion. He is also rated by Ring Magazine as the number one pound-for-pound boxer in the world as he is the first boxer in the history of boxing to win seven world titles in seven different weight divisions. The only boxer to win the lineal championship tagged as "the man who beat the man" in four different weight classes.

The belts he has won were the WBC World Lightweight Champion, WBC World Super Featherweight Champion, IBF World Super Bantamweight Champion, WBC World Flyweight Champion, Ring Magazine Featherweight and Super Featherweight Champion. The success has been recognized by different organizations all over the world and was greatly recognized by the Philippine government as he was awarded the Sikatuna Award with the Rank of Datu by the President, the prestigious award given to many personalities who had greatly contributed to the local society.

The Philanthropist

Manny Pacquiao is not just the World Champion or the current number one pound-for-pound, but also a champion to every Filipino he has helped as he is also a Philanthropist. His motivation every time he steps inside the ring is to uplift and inspire his countrymen. As a Champ with a good heart, one of his greatest dreams is to help improve every Filipinos lives. The reason why Manny Pacquiao Foundation was created to have his dreams becomes a reality.

The foundation is designed to give any support they could to many Filipinos who are underprivileged. His success had given him the opportunity to give back to the unprivileged men of the Philippines. He holds a special heart for every individuals suffering as he was once in the same situation.

The Entertainer

Manny Pacquiao is also known in the Philippines as the singer/actor, not only just the Peoples Champ. Despite his busy schedules being a boxer, he still had time to record and was able to released two albums. Tracks from his albums speak on how proud he is as a Filipino and that music is a great way to reach and inspire his countrymen. He had even managed to held shows to promote the albums and had also made music an opportunity to help the Filipinos in distress after the calamities.

As an actor, he has done three movies. Unfortunately, all three movies were not a success since he lacked time to promote his movies aside from the negative intrigues linking him to his leading ladies. He has also two television shows that are keeping him busy if he is no incoming fight to prepare. Currently, he is on leave on both shows as he is rigidly on training to defend his title against Joshua Clottey. The Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey fight is called "The Event" will be held on March 13, 2010 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

If you are a serious fight fan and and a collector of boxing memorabilia then you can't go past signed boxing gloves of Manny Pacquiao. Framed4U special is all kinds of boxing memorabilia and can be contacted through their online website.

Italian Boxing Champions - Who Are Your Top Three of All Time?

With over four dozen Italian-American fighters who have held a world championship belt, it's a difficult choice to pick the top three of all time. Take a look at our list of the top three Italian boxing champions, and tell us yours...

Italian Boxing Champions

Over fifty fighters of Italian-American heritage have held world championship titles, ranging from bantamweights to heavyweights. Many of these fighters are acknowledged as the very best not only of their era, but all time. Here is our list of the top three Italian boxing champions of all time. When compiling this list, we took into account the impact of the fighter on their era as well as their ongoing legacy. Here are our top three...

Rocky Marciano: Heavyweight

Fighting out of Brockton, Massachusetts, Rocky Marciano may be one of the best known heavyweight boxing champions of all time.

He fought during an extremely competitive heavyweight era and conquered every fighter he faced. Marciano beat such notables as Joe Louis, Jersey Joe Wolcott, Ezzard Charles, and Archie Moore. When he retired in 1956, his record was an unblemished 49 wins against no losses.

Marciano maintained his popularity after retirement. He worked as a boxing commentator and a wrestling referee, as he had wrestled successfully as a youth. Sadly, Marciano died in a plane crash just one day before his 46th birthday in 1969.

Carmen Basilio: Two Class Champion

Born in 1927 in upstate New York, Carmen Basilio is our choice for the toughest pound for pound fighter of all time. He was not only a great defensive fighter but also a savage counter puncher who pursued his opponent relentlessly. A few of Basilio's fights are shown frequently on classic sports television, perhaps accounting for his continued popularity. One fight in particular, against Tony DeMarco in 1955, is regarded as one of the most entertaining welterweight title fights ever.

Basilio also had memorable fights as a middleweight against Sugar Ray Robinson. He won the middleweight crown versus Robinson in 1956. He retired from the ring in 1961 with a career record of 56 wins, 16 losses, and 7 draws.

Willie Pep: Featherweight Legend

Born in 1922, Willie Pep is probably the best known featherweight fighter of all time. He had a prodigious career that began in 1940 and ultimately ended in 1966.

He ascended to the world featherweight title in 1942, winning a fight against defending champion Chalky Wright. Through the rest of the 1940's, Pep remained a very busy fighter. He took on all levels of fighters and typically fought once a month on average. Through his career, he fought an astounding 241 times. He only lost 11 of those fights.

After his career ended in 1966, Pep remained active in boxing as a referee. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in its inaugural 1990 class, and often worked at the facility as a volunteer with his friend Carmen Basilio. Mr. Pep passed away in 2006 at age 84.

Summary

Rocky Marciano, Carmen Basilio, and Willie Pep are three of the greatest fighters of all time. Each left their imprint on the legacy of boxing and influenced generations of future boxers.

Who do you think are the best Italian boxing champions [http://www.italianboxingchampions.com] of all time? Voice your opinion at: [http://www.italianboxingchampions.com].

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