I was 10 and world heavyweight boxing champions were big, scary people.
And no-one was bigger and scarier than world champ George Foreman.
Foreman was an aggressive 25-year-old bull at a time when former-champion Muhammad Ali's powers and 32-year-old body were on the wane.
Foreman was unbeatable and had knocked out 37 of his 40 opponents.
He had destroyed Joe Frazier and Ken Norton, who had both beaten Ali.
He was the Sonny Liston of his generation Ali had only regained his boxing licence three years earlier, after being suspended in 1967 for three and a-half years for his refusal to be drafted into the US Army and fight in Vietnam.
Foreman, meanwhile, had won the gold medal at the 1968 Olympics and was terrifying opponents with his punching power, size and aggression.
It was the rapier versus the claymore.
The two boxers had fought twice before and won one each.
But this one was for far more than pride.
The fight was one of electric-haired showman Don King's first professional boxing events.
He arranged the event in Zaire after collaborating with publicity-hungry dictator Joseph Mobutu.
More than 60,000 fans surrounded the ring when the fight started at 4am, so satellite feeds could be relayed to United States prime-time television.
Ali had told his trainer, Angelo Dundee, and his fans that he had a plan for Foreman, but only the true believers really thought the ageing "Louisville Lip" could beat the champ.
But, from the opening bell, to everyone's surprise, Ali went on the offensive, attacking Foreman.
He changed his tactics at the start of the second round, lying on the ropes and encouraging Foreman to punch himself out.
It was what Ali would later call "rope-a-dope".
After several rounds, Foreman was obviously tiring in the Zaire heat.
As he tired, Ali taunted him.
"Is that all you got, George? You disappoint me. My Grandma punches harder than you do. You supposed to be bad."
The champion was further sapped by a stinging Ali combination at the start of the fourth round and again towards the end of the fifth.
Ali continued to absorb punches in rounds six and seven, but Foreman's swings were weakening.
The taunts were unrelenting.
"They told me you could punch, George. They told me you could punch as hard as Joe Louis."
The bell finally tolled for Foreman in the eight round.
An enraged, but exhausted, Foreman gave it one last crack.
Ali seized his chance and leapt at the champ with two straight right hands, a left hook and a coup de grace right.
Foreman staggered, pirouetted, and sank to the floor.
The scariest man on the planet had been tamed.
The event: World heavyweight title fight "The Rumble in the Jungle". Ali v Foreman.
The place: The Mai 20 Stadium in Kinshasa, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo).
The date: October 30, 1974.
