Few men had good cause to rue the Rumble In The Jungle more than a tough Pennsylvania heavyweight called Roy 'Tiger' Williams.
A long-term sparring partner of Muhammad Ali, the emerging Williams was slated to fight in one of two undercard contests on the night against a rival called Henry Clark.
But Ali's late arrival at the stadium led to just one undercard bout taking place, and Williams and Clark being taken off the bill.
According to Larry Holmes in his autobiography 'Against The Odds', the "nasty, bitter" Williams did not take the snub well, and demanded Ali stump up his five thousand dollar fight fee.
Shortly after the Rumble In The Jungle, Ali deliberately set up back-to-back 10-round sparring sessions with Williams as a form of punishment, but Williams more than held his own.
Holmes wrote: "Ali tried the rope-a-dope with Williams, coming off the ropes with a flurry of punches. But big Roy met him and slammed him back. It was a helluva session.
"Well, that was enough for Ali. He gave big Roy his five grand and dismissed him."
Williams got his bout with Clark two months after Zaire, which he lost on points. He went on to drop a tight decision to Holmes in 1976, and also floored and pushed the big-punching Earnie Shavers to the limit.
Williams' boxing career was halted in 1979. He served some time in prison before reinventing himself as a soul singer.
The only undercard bout in Zaire featured a local-born fighter called Shako Mamba who scored a six-round stoppage of Benin's Antonio Oke.
Mamba went straight from that fight to Germany where he lost on points to Alan Minter. He had many more fights in Zaire and was a long-time holder of the African middleweight title.
Oke fought on until 1979 when he finally retired after five consecutive defeats.
Source: PA
