Muhammad Ali: Survive the Storm
October 30, 1974. Kinshasa, Zaire.
Muhammad Ali battles undefeated George Foreman for the world heavyweight championship. The Rumble in the Jungle.
60,000 attend live. Over one billion watch on television. It would later be called “the greatest sporting event of the 20th century”. History has proven this right.
Coming off a loss to Joe Frazier, former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali enters the fight a 4-1 underdog. The boxing world predicts an inevitable outcome—the hard-hitting George Foreman, who defeated Joe Frazier in two rounds, will crush a past-his-prime Ali. A swift finish is anticipated.
As was Ali’s custom, leading up to the fight he provokes his opponent. He states his speed will be Foreman’s downfall. The goal: lure Foreman into an angered, over-aggressive response playing to Ali’s advantage.
It works.
Anticipating Ali’s strategy of a fast, clean fight, Foreman prepares for a flurry of punches maximizing Ali’s speed.
Foreman gets something very different.
Ali knew a toe-to-toe battle did not favor him. Heavy-hitting Foreman could down him with one well-placed shot. Ali would not give him the fight he expects.
The key: let Foreman wear himself down. Let him unleash his barrage of devastating punches early in the fight.
Survive the storm.
Ali’s strategy is revealed; the now famous rope-a-dope tactic. Back leaning against the ropes, Ali taunts Foreman into punching him. Ali defends his face, taking Foreman’s heavy shots in the midsection. The ropes themselves help absorb the impact. Ali gives Foreman no window to land a knockout shot to the head.
“After three rounds, I had hurt him a few times and he looked at me and I realized, ‘This is a different fight... this guy... somebody lied.’ I hit him in the side real hard. He just covered up and went back to the ropes. ”
Round 7.
Foreman, still seeking the one-punch knockout, wears down. His energy expended; the heat—the humidity, the exhaustion take their toll.
Ali taunts him:
“George, is that all you’ve got?”
It was.
Ali survives the storm.
A fatigued Foreman now faces an opponent with reserves of energy. Now in complete control, Ali bursts to life; a devastating flurry of powerful punches—Foreman too exhausted to withstand.
It ends in the eighth round. The unbreakable Foreman falls broken—a knockout victory shocking the world.
“That right hand was the fastest punch I’ve ever been hit with. Never been hit so fast. It was like he was a lightweight. I didn’t even see it coming. I waited, my corner told me to hold it, I jumped up, the fight was over. ”
Survive The Storm
Ali’s lesson is powerful: Patience. Restraint. Reserve energy. Delay reacting.
This applies to so many facets of life. New social trends. New business strategies. The latest investment craze. Hyped ideas in which “everyone’s on board”; be it at work, home—everywhere. The human animal is prone to social momentum, getting caught up in the fever of sudden, swift change and not wanting to “miss the boat”.
Discipline yourself.
Time reveals truth.
The best reaction is no reaction. Stand back. Slow down. Observe.
During accelerated change, emotion suffocates logic. It’s the energy of something exciting, something new that will cause perfectly rational people to invest half their life savings in a “sure-to-work” investment ultimately destroying their financial security. To compromise their values for the sake of the crowd. To abandon their better judgement. To commit to a social movement that, in time, proves to be ridiculous.
If everyone else is gaining, I don’t want to miss out. If so many people are on board, they must be right.
Wrong.
Change—and perceived opportunity—is coming.
In time, energy, resources, and emotion, others will overinvest in it—or overreact against it.
Not you.
The dust will settle. The tide will recede. While others deplete themselves in the firestorm, you stand back—observe, watch; wait.
In time, the hype will die down. And when it does—you, with discipline and objectivity, reassess the landscape. You avoid the battle of the ego which, after taking an early position, seeks to defend its choice in the face of mounting contrary evidence. You avoid the internal battle not be proven “wrong”.
The resources others have burned you hold in reserve. When the true nature of change reveals itself, then you gauge the opportunity. Then you assess its worth.
The next “big thing” is just around the corner. You now know what to do—when the crowd starts running towards it, you don’t join them. You don’t run the other direction.
You do nothing.
Had Ali entered the fray as expected, he would have been destroyed. He watched, and waited, with pained patience and unwavering discipline. When the time was right, he unleashed hell.
You must do the same.
The next storm is coming.
Time will reveal the truth.
Let it.
Mark Joseph Huckabee
