MY DAD was excitedly rousing us. ”He won! He won!” I didn’t need to hear the next line from my dad, “Ali won.” At least that’s the memory I have of dad waking us up on Halloween morning 1974.

It’s a strong memory — whether real or not — that my dad would have woken me, my brother and my sister up with the news that Muhammad Ali had performed the miracle of defeating George Foreman to win back the Heavyweight Championship of the World.

What I know for sure is that “Big George” Foreman, who joined the ancestors last week, will always be remembered in relation to his part in the so-called Rumble in the Jungle.