BOXING’s cut-eye curse has struck again, but at least Tyson Fury hasn’t been made a prisoner in Riyadh until after his rescheduled fight with Aleksandr Usyk takes place on May 18.
Unlike George Foreman and Muhammad Ali, who were virtually put under house arrest when the Rumble in the Jungle was postponed for five weeks 50 years ago.
Fury suffered above his right eyebrow in a sparring accident last week is an unfortunate inconvenience both men can do without.
But it certainly hasn’t caused the kind of bizarre repercussions that occurred when Foreman got cut in training in Zaire.
Foreman on September 17, 1974 – eight days before he was due to defend his world heavyweight title against Ali – had 11 stitches inserted in an eye injury caused by a sparring partners elbow.
It happened while I was 35,000 in the air on my 4000-mile journey to Kinshasa, covering what turned out to be the most famous fight in history.
I was gobsmacked to be told on arriving at Foreman and Ali’s training camps at N’Sele – 30 miles from Kinshasa – that the fight had been called off.
My sports editor was none-too-pleased either when I telexed him the news.
But it was far from a wasted trip – the ructions that took place before it was announced the fight was going to go on five weeks later on October 30, provided plenty of material to write about.
President Mobutu, Zaire’s murderous dictator was paying Foreman and Ali $5 million each – a mind-boggling sum in the 1970’s.
Ali knew better than to bite the hand that was feeding him and in every interview he was full of praise for Zaire and expressed his pride as a black American to be returning to his roots.
But he hated the place with a passion and he was furious that his stay in Africa was being extended by several weeks.
Tyrone Monaghan remembers back to when Muhammad Ali visited him at his home in Oxfordshire and they spared togethe
He confided in his photographer friend Howard Bingham, “I’d give everything to be training in the United States.
“They got ice cream there, pretty girls and mini-skirts.”
Ali, as soon as he heard what had happened to George, desperately tried to persuade Promoter Don King to move the fight to America.
Without Mobutu’s money, that was a non-starter. Ali, in frustration, then came up with the outlandish suggestion the fight should go ahead on the original date with Foreman wearing a head guard to protect his wound – not surprisingly, that plea fell on deaf ears.
Mobutu one of the most feared men on the African continent had no compunction in having dissidents opposed to his evil regime executed – not too many messed with him.
And as soon as he was informed about the fight’s postponement to make sure his investment was protected, he decreed Foreman and Ali should not be allowed to leave Zaire under any circumstances – he was concerned if either left, they wouldn’t return.
There was even further trouble ahead that was a shock to my system.
Mobutu’s edict also applied to the foreign media for the same reason.
The Minister of Publicity Tishimpupu Wa Tishimpupu – a name impossible to forget – informed us in all seriousness that we were also refused permission to leave Zaire until after the fight.
Believe me back then being imprisoned in downtown Kinshasa for more than a month wasnothing like being stranded in the Maldives.
We found we were blocked from booking flights to Europe and it took four days of hard bargaining before the authorities eventually relented and allowed us to depart.
There’s no doubt the 36-day lay-off affected George physically and psychologically far more than Ali, who sparred and trained normally while the sullen Foreman brooded reclusively, waiting for the cut to heal.
Usyk must be purring like a cat because Fury – back home in Morecambe – is bound to be at a distinct disadvantage as the result of the three-month delay.
As Foreman discovered, Tyson’s preparation will now be severely disrupted – – a major problem when he eventually starts serious sparring. He will fear the cut being reopened.
