RUMBLE TO REMEMBER

Rope-a-dope tied to greatness

- CHRIS MCKENNA

"WHEN you ask older people, 'Where were you when John F Kennedy was assassinated?' They can tell you.

"And when you ask them, 'Where were you when Muhammad Ali won the fight in Zaire?' They can tell you, too.

"It is the most significant fight of Muhammad Ali's career and it is the most significant fight in boxing history." Few knew Muhammad Ali better than Gene Kilroy. He was the first man in the ring when George Foreman failed to beat the count in that eighth round.

"To me, it felt like I'd come back from the dead myself," added Kilroy (inset). "I was so happy. I knew we didn't have to go to hospital." Kilroy was one of Ali's closest confidants. He was his business manager and he ensured everything worked smoothly in the camp of "The Greatest. He would go on to become a Las Vegas fixer for the casinos on the Strip.

That night his main concern was not if his friend would lose to feared puncher Foreman - who had recently flattened Joe Frazier and Ken Norton - but what would happen if they needed to go to hospital.