Stade Tata Raphaël
History
The stadium's most famous event was The Rumble in the Jungle boxing match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman for the Undisputed WBC/WBA Heavyweight Championship that took place on October 30, 1974. Sixty thousand people attended the boxing match. In what was ranked as a great upset, Ali knocked out the previously undefeated Foreman in eight rounds. The associated music festival, Zaire 74, that took place at the stadium six weeks prior to the boxing match, included stars James Brown and B.B. King.
Following the downfall of President Mobutu Sese Seko's regime in 1997, the stadium was renamed Stade Tata Raphaël after Raphaël de la Kethulle de Ryhove, initiator of the stadium in 1952.
The stadium was the setting for a documentary film about Congolese women's boxing, Victoire Terminus (2008).
In popular culture
- Barbara Kingsolver's novel The Poisonwood Bible (1998) includes a passage describing the Rumble in the Jungle taking place at the Stade du 20 Mai (20 May Stadium) while political prisoners are locked up downstairs.
See also
References
- ^ "Most Iconic African Stadiums | Africans in Sports | Your Home to All Things African Sports". 16 July 2020.
- ^ "Most Iconic African Stadiums | Africans in Sports | Your Home to All Things African Sports". 16 July 2020.
- ^ "The 20 biggest-ever boxing attendances in history – where does Joshua vs Klitschko rank?". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2017-09-17.
- ^ Edwards, Russell (9 February 2008). "Victoire Terminus". Variety. Archived from the original (review) on 2013-02-09. Retrieved 15 March 2012.