With the real Muhammed Ali involved in the filmmaking, Ali takes us straight into the heart of the ring, the strategy sessions and straight into the mind and body of the man. Will Smith trained for a year before filming, transforming himself from a 185 pound actor to a 220 pound athlete. Norman Mailer's The Fight focuses on the 1975 World Heavyweight Boxing Championship in Kinshasa, Zaire. Muhammad Ali met George Foreman in the ring. Foreman's genius employed silence, serenity and cunning. He had never been defeated. His hands were his instrument, and "he kept them in his pockets the way a hunter lays his rifle back into its velvet case". Together the two men made boxing history in an explosive meeting of two great minds, two iron wills and monumental egos. Norman Mailer's The Fight focuses on the 1975 World Heavyweight Boxing Championship in Kinshasa, Zaire. Muhammad Ali met George Foreman in the ring. Foreman's genius employed silence, serenity and cunning. He had never been defeated. His hands were his instrument, and "he kept them in his pockets the way a hunter lays his rifle back into its velvet case". Together the two men made boxing history in an explosive meeting of two great minds, two iron wills and monumental egos.