The WBC heavyweight title belt won by Muhammad Ali following his famous 'Rumble In The Jungle' with George Foreman has been sold for $6.18million (£5.15m) at auction.
The iconic 1974 fight took place in Zaire, with the heavyweight legend reclaiming his world title by knockout to hand Foreman his first loss at the time. Ali infamously used his rope-a-dope strategy in the fight to frustrate Foreman, wearing him down before stopping him in the eighth round.
And the winning bidder was Jim Irsay, the CEO of NFL team Indianapolis Colts. Irsay, 63, who is an avid collector of American history memorabilia and who hinted the belt could be shown next month for a collection of his display in Chicago. The sales price for the title is thought to be among the highest ever paid for a sports memorabilia item.
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It's not the first piece of Ali memorabilia that Irsay has bought. In February, he spent over $400,000 on the robe that Ali wore for his 1965 rematch against Sonny Liston. Just one month later, Irsay purchased the gloves the legendary boxer wore for his fight against Karl Mildenberger.
Heritage Auctions said Ali only has two WBC belts, with the other title being held "in a private museum collection unlikely to ever see the hobby's auction block". The belt sold for over 10 times its estimated $480,000 auction cost. Ali, who passed away in 2016, retained the belt up until his 1978 loss to Leon Spinks. Also in the same auction as the WBC belt was the robe Ali wore before his 'fight of the century' against Joe Frazier, which sold for almost $350,000.
A spokesperson for the auction company said the belt was one of the most important boxing awards to be made available on auction, stating: "Here we present the foremost symbol of that glorious achievement, the WBC Heavyweight Championship belt earned for Muhammad Ali's victory over George Foreman in the fabled 'Rumble in the Jungle'.
"Ali drained the thunder from the Foreman storm and then unleashed lightning of his own, dropping Goliath for the count and, finally, seven years after his title had been unjustly stripped, completing his long journey back to the mountain top of the sport. The historical significance of the piece, arguably the most important boxing award ever made available at public auction, is quite simply immeasurable."
