That sense of fulfillment and liberation was felt all over Kinshasha. It was dawn when Ali left the stadium, and at every village and crossing crowds were leaping and yelling as he passed, many holding up babies so that they could see the victor who had set their hearts aflame. Hundreds of fans remained in the stands and in the ring itself, mimicking the dramatic manner in which Foreman was knocked out. While Foreman lay awake in his hotel room tortured by his inconceivable loss at the hands of a seemingly washed-up former champion, Ali and his wife Belinda sat in the back seat of their Citroen as they were driven back to N’Sele. As Ali told George Plimpton, he and Belinda were struck by how odd it seemed to be leaving the arena in the light of day. They just could not stop talking about how unusual it seemed. Normally, they knew, prizefighters arrive at the arena during the daylight hours and when the fight is over they exit while it is dark. “It seemed so symbolically appropriate that on this occasion he should be coming out of darkness into light.” After seven years of battling the government, the boxing establishment, and the ravages of Father Time, the newly crowned champion indeed felt that he had survived the dark days of struggle and doubt and emerged into a lighter, more optimistic future.
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