Amid taunts, tension, tackles, the Cup demands composure

At 4am in Zaire, a long time ago, poise amid violence.

George Foreman, who murders punching bags in his spare time, is trying to legally commit bodily harm on Muhammad Ali. Punches fly and sweat sprays. Ali, lying against the ropes, is plotting to rile and ruin Foreman even as he’s getting hurt. Later, his doctor Ferdie Pacheco would say: “He could think creatively and clearly with bombs flying around him.”