The money alone makes it a unique event. For trading punches next week, George Foreman and Muhammad Ali each stand to collect a minimum of $5 million—the biggest payday in the history of sport. If the fight goes 15 rounds, they will have earned $110,000 per minute per man. In addition to guaranteeing their wages, the government of Zaïre has put up another $12 million for the combatants' expenses and to doll up the capital city of Kinshasa.
The big boodle is only one of the fight's unusual attributes. It is the first heavyweight...