Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston

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Two fights between Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston for the World Heavyweight Championship boxing are one of the most anticipated, watched and controversial fights in sports history. Sports Illustrated Magazine named their first meeting, Liston-Clay battle (Ali has not changed his name from Cassius Clay), as the fourth-largest sporting moment in the 20th century.

The first fight was held in February 1964 in Miami Beach, Florida. Clay (later Ali) won when Liston surrendered at the opening of the seventh round (after obviously dominating in sixth place). Their second bout in May 1965 in Lewiston, Maine, which Ali won by first round knockout.

Video Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston

Liston vs. Clay

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Liston was the World Heavyweight Champion at the first Liston-Clay bout in Miami Beach on February 25, 1964, after destroying former Floyd Patterson champions by first round knockout in September 1962. Ten months later, Liston and Patterson met again with the same result - Patterson was eliminated in the first round.

Liston was the most intimidating fighter of his time, and was considered by some, at the time of Clay battles, to be one of the best heavyweights of all time. Many are reluctant to meet him in the ring. Henry Cooper, the English champion, said he would be interested in a title fight if Clay wins, but he will not enter the ring with Liston. The manager of Cooper, Jim Wicks, said, "We do not even want to meet Liston who walks on the same street."

Boxing promoter Harold Conrad said, "People talk about [Mike] Tyson before he's defeated, but Liston is more vicious, more indestructible.... When Sonny gives you evil eyes - I do not care who you are - you shrink [ sic ] into two legs. "Tex Maule writes in Sports Illustrated :" Liston's muscular weapon is massive, the left blow is more than a blow. actually It never occurred to Liston that he might lose the fight. " Johnny Tocco, a coach who worked with George Foreman and Mike Tyson and Liston, said Liston was the loudest hitter of all three. Some boxing writers really think Liston can damage the sport because he can not be beaten. The frightening and frightening attitude of Liston is vital to his image that Esquire's magazine caused controversy by placing it in Santa Claus's hat for its December 1963 cover.

Liston studied in the box at Missouri State Penitentiary while serving time for armed robbery. Later, he was jailed again for attacking a police officer. For most of his career, his contract is majority owned by Frankie Carbo, a man who once became a mobster once and a senior member of the Lucchese crime family, who carries out boxing interests for the Mafia. Massa was heavily involved in boxing at every level at the time, and Liston could never escape being branded as the personification of anything inappropriate and criminal in sport, despite the fact that his criminality had been in the past. He does not trust the boxing writers, and they pay him back, often describing him as an ignorant villain and a bully. He is usually portrayed in disguised racist terms - "gorillas" and "hands like big bananas". Author James Baldwin understands Liston might be better than anyone in the media and sympathize with him and love it, unlike boxing writers. He said, "Liston is a great Negro in every white man's corridor." He is a man who, according to Ali biographer David Remnick, "never gets rested and will never give one".

On the other hand, Clay is an eloquent 22-year-old challenger, who enjoys the spotlight. Known as "The Louisville Lip", he has won a light heavyweight gold medal at the 1960 Olympics in Rome, Italy. He has great hand and foot speed and quick reflexes, not to mention the unlimited supply of braggadocio. However, Clay has been defeated by Sonny Banks early in his career, and, in two previous bouts, has made controversial decisions against Doug Jones and - more seriously - dropped by the left hook in the end. from round four against the cut-handed lefty, Henry Cooper. Clay clearly "stood on his feet" around his bend in between rounds, and his coach, Angelo Dundee, took time to allow Clay to recover. Although Clay rallied to win the battle in the next round, it was clear to many that he would not fit against a scary Liston, who looked like a more complete boxer in everything than Cooper.

Clay is brash and equally disliked by journalists and his chances are widely dismissed. Lester Bromberg's prediction on New York World-Telegram is typical, predicting, "It will last longer than Patterson's fight - almost the entire first round." The Los Angeles Times ' Jim Murray observes, "The only thing that can beat Clay is to read the dictionary," adding that the face between two unequal athletes would be "a fight most popular since Hitler and Stalin - 180 million Americans support multiple attacks. " The New York Times regular boxing writer Joe Nichols refused to cover the fight, assuming that it would be a mismatch. With a fight against time, Clay is a seven-on-one of the underdogs. Of 46 sports writers in ringide, 43 have selected Liston to win by knockout.

Liston, however, brought weakness into Clay's fight that was not entirely clear at the time. He claimed to be 32 years old at the time of the fight, but many believe his age is actually close to 40, maybe even older. Liston has been suffering from bursitis on his shoulders for almost a year and has received a cortisone injection. In training for Clay's fight, he again wounded his left shoulder and was suspected of being in pain to hit a heavy bag. He secretly uses icing and heavy ultrasound therapy after each training session. And, ironically, because of its dominance, Liston actually recorded a bit of ringer time in the last three years. Between March 1961 and Clay battles, Liston has fought three times and won every bout with a first-round knockout - meaning that he has fought a total of more than six minutes for 35 months.

One of the reasons why Clay's chances were rejected was because his fist style did not look right for the heavyweight division. He is widely seen as a quick but light puncher who does not have the ability to take punches or to fight inside. Clay's signature and then greatness - the tendency to keep his hands low and away from the blow (often leaving his opponent hitting the air, unbalanced and hit by the counter), his constant movements and his reluctance to organize (making him very hard to beat) - are seen as a fundamental technical weakness that will quickly be exploited by heavy and experienced heavyweights such as Liston. Jimmy Cannon sums up this view when he writes: "Clay is not fighting like a legitimate heavyweight, he rarely puts up and misses a lot of things, and Clay is weird. bantam weighing more than 200 pounds (91 kg). "

Liston was trained minimally for the fight, convinced that he would throw Clay in the first two rounds. He usually runs only a mile a day instead of the usual five, reportedly eating hot dogs and drinking beer, and is rumored to have been equipped with prostitutes in training camps.

Pre-fight publicity

The television series I've Got a Secret did a lot of segments about title battles. Panelists Bill Cullen, Henry Morgan, and Betsy Palmer predicted that Liston would win in the third, second, and first rounds, respectively. Mr. Garry Moore is even more pessimistic about Clay's chances, estimating the Liston knockout "in the early hours of the first round," adding, "if I were Cassius I would take a taxi and leave town." Actors Hal March goes further: "I think the fight will end up in the dressing room I think [Clay] will faint before he comes out."

The night before the first bout, on February 24, 1964, the show featured partners Clay and Liston debates as guests. Harvey Jones brought with him rhyming rhymes from Cassius Clay:

 Clay comes out to meet Liston and Liston starts backwards,  If Liston came back an inch further he would end up in a ringside chair.  Clay swung with his left,  Clay swung right,  Look at young Cassius fighting.  Liston keeps going back but there is not enough space,  It was only a matter of time until Clay lowered his boom.  Then Clay landed right, a beautiful swing,  And the blow pushed the bear out of the ring.  Liston is still up and ref wearing sullen,  But he can not start counting until Sonny gets down.  Now Liston disappears from view, the crowd increasingly panicked  But our radar station has taken it to a place above the Atlantic.  Who thinks on Earth, when they come to the fight,  That they will witness the launch of the human satellite.  Therefore the crowds do not dream, when they put their money,  That they will see the total eclipse of Sonny. 

Clay also presented the poem at The Jack Paar Show with Liberace giving an improvised piano harmony.

Jesse Bowdry carries a much sharper written message than Sonny Liston:

Cassius, you're my millionth baby, so please do not let anything happen to you before tomorrow night.

The following week, I've Got a Secret brought two sports writers whose secret is that they are the only authors who correctly predict Clay's victory.

Radiates bear

Clay began to mock and provoke Liston as soon as the two agreed to fight. He bought a bus and displayed the words "Liston Must Go In Eight." On the day of the contract signing, he drove his car to Liston's home in Denver, waking the champion (with the press behind him) at 3:00 AM, shouting, "Let's get out of there, I'll whip you now." Liston has just moved into a white environment and is very angry at the attention caused by this. Clay drove his entourage on the bus to a location in Surfside, Florida where Liston (nicknamed "Big Bear") was practicing, and repeatedly called Liston a "big bear, ugly". Liston grew more irritated when Clay's big mouthed blisters ("After a fight, I'll build a beautiful house and use it as a bear leather rug.) Liston even smells like a bear I'll give him a local zoo after I blow it up... if Sonny Liston hit me, I would kiss her feet in the ring, crawl out of the ring on my knee, tell her that she's the greatest, and catch the next jet from abroad. "). Clay insisted on the skeptical press that he would paralyze Liston in eight rounds (Former Lightweight Class Champion José © Torres, in Ali's biography of 1971, Sting Like a Bee, says that in 1963 Ali's poetry Prophethood has correctly predicted the exact round he will stop the opponent 12 times).

Clay's crude attitude did not make him unloved by white Americans, and, in fact, even made Liston a more sympathetic character. At the The New Republic editor, Murray Kempton writes, "Liston was a criminals; he is now our policeman; he is the great Negro we pay to keep the Negro devious."

It has been widely stated that Clay's antics are a deliberate form of psychological war designed to disrupt Liston's tranquility by provoking his anger, encouraging overconfidence and even triggering uncertainty about Clay's sanity. As Clay himself said, "If Liston thinks nothing but kills me, he does not think to fight, you have to think to fight." Former World Lightweight Champion Joe Louis said, "Liston is an angry person, and he can not be upset against Clay." Clay's explosion also fed Liston's belief that Clay was frightened (something Clay did not deny in Clay's camp). Clay said later, "I know that Liston, who is too confident that he, will never practice to fight more than two rounds, he can not see me at all except the mouth." Instead, Clay prepares himself for a fight, studies the films of the previous Liston attacks and even detects that Liston sent his blows with eye movements.

The Nation of Islam

A few weeks before the battle, Miami Herald published an article quoting Cassius Clay Sr. who said that his son had joined Black Muslims when he was 18 years old. "They've been hammering her ever since," Clay Sr. said. "He's very confused now because he does not even know where he is." He said his younger son, Rudy Clay, also joined. "They destroyed my two children," Clay Sr. said. "Muslims tell my boys to hate white people, to hate women, to hate their mothers." Clay Jr. responded by saying, "I do not care what my dad says.... I'm here practicing for a fight, and that's all I'm going to say."

As the story begins to spread, the promoter becomes increasingly uncomfortable. Bill MacDonald, the main promoter, threatened to cancel the fight unless Clay openly denies the Nation of Islam. Clay refused. A compromise was reached when Malcolm X, at that time was Clay's friend and also a spokesman who was feared and burned for the Nation of Islam (though Malcolm X, at that time, had been denounced by NOI - forbidden to speak to press and suspended from all roles and duties official NOI - and will officially break off relations with the Nation), agreeing to keep a low profile, saving for the night of the fight when he will rejoin Clay's party as a spiritual advisor and see the fight from a ringside chair. While Clay will not definitively associate himself with the Nation of Islam and its leader, Elijah Muhammad, until the day after the battle - at the annual NOI Day celebration - his relationship with the Nation, seen by many as a group of hatefuls in part due to his strict anti-integration stance , further complicates his relationship with the press and the white community, deprives the narrative of the "good/bad" narrative, and negatively impacts the gates. MacDonald will eventually lose $ 300,000 in the fight.

Weighing

Clay's explosion reached its peak during the pre-game weight/physical on the morning of the event. Championship weighing, before this, was predictable and boring. Clay enters the room where the team weighs will wear a denim jacket with the words "Bear Huntin '" in the back and carry the wand of Africa. He started waving a stick, shouting, "I'm the champion! Tell Sonny I'm here. Bring that ugly big bear." When Liston showed up, Clay went wild. "Someone will die in ringside tonight!" he is screaming. "You're afraid, stupid!" He was constrained by members of his entourage. Author Mort Sharnik thinks Clay is having a seizure. Robert Lipsyte, author of the New York Times, likens the scene as "a police action, with a large amount of movement and noise exploding in a crowded room." In the midst of chaos, he was fined $ 2,500 by commission for his behavior. Clay drove himself so crazy that his heartbeat recorded 120 beats per minute, more than twice his normal level, and his blood pressure was 200/100. Dr. Alexander Robbins, Miami Boxing Commission head doctor, decided that he was "emotionally unbalanced, scared to death, and could vomit before entering the ring." He said if Clay's blood pressure did not return to normal, the fight would be canceled. Many others also thought Clay's antics meant he was frightened. In fact, the local radio station later reported a rumor that he had been spotted at the airport buying tickets to leave the country. A second examination done an hour later revealed the blood pressure and pulse of Clay had returned to normal. It's all been action. Clay then said, "Liston is not scared of me, but he's scared of peanuts."

Fight

Clay weighs in at 210 pounds (95 kg) while Liston is a few pounds above the weight of his main battle at £ 218 (99 kg). Many of those watching were surprised during the referee's instructions to see that Clay was much taller than Liston. On receiving instructions, Liston looked at Clay, while Clay looked back and stood on his thumb to look taller. Clay then said about the moment: "I'm not going to lie, I'm scared... It scares me, just knowing how hard he's hit, but I have no choice but to go out and fight."

At the opening bell, an angry Liston accuses Clay, wanting to end the fight quickly and convincingly. However, Clay's superior speed and movement were immediately visible, as he released most of the Pitching Liston punches, making the champions look awkward. Clay clearly gained confidence during the round. He pressed Liston with a combination that thrilled the crowd with about 30 seconds left in the round and started scoring repeatedly with his left puncture (the round took an extra 8.5 seconds as referee Barney Felix did not hear the bell). Clay had been hit hard by right to the stomach, but he said later, "I feel good because I know I can survive." Milt Bailey, one of Liston's listers, remembered, "In the first half, Sonny could not keep up Clay, and I thought we might get into trouble." Indeed, it is probably the worst spin in Liston's career. In between the rounds, sitting in his chair, Clay turned to the press contingent in the ringide and opened his mouth as if yawning or making a mute voice.

Liston was rather calm in the second round. At one point, he cornered Clay with a rope and hit him with a hard left hook. Clay later admitted that he was hurt by the blow, but Liston failed to suppress his superiority. Two of the official goalscorers handed the round to Liston and the others even made it.

In the third round, Clay starts to control the fight. About 30 seconds into the round, she presses Liston with some combination, causing bruises under Liston's right eye and a wound under her left, which eventually requires eight stitches to close. This is the first time in his career that Liston has been cut. At one point in this attack, Liston's knees buckled and he nearly fell off when he was pushed onto the rope. Les Keiter, broadcasting on ringside, shouted, "It could be upset this century!" Mort Sharnik described the moment: "Cassius hit Liston with a one-two combination, followed by a straight jab, Cassius pulled the jab back and there was a mouse under Sonny's right eye, then he pulled back to the right and there was a wound under the other eye. It was like a steel plate from an impenetrable warship I said to myself, 'My God, Cassius Clay won this battle! ' "The obviously angry Liston gathered at the end of the round, when Clay looked tired , and sent a punishing shot into Clay's body. It was probably the best moment of Liston in the whole battle. But when the round ended, Clay yelled at him, "you're a big shit, I got you now". Sitting in his chair between the rounds, Liston was panting as his cornermen worked on the piece.

During the fourth round, Clay slid, keeping his distance. However, when he returns to his corner, he begins to complain that something is burning in his eyes and he can not see. "I do not know what's going on," Angelo Dundee, Clay's coach, recalled NBC specifically 25 years later. "He said," cut the gloves. I want to prove to the world that there is dirty work going on. "And I said, 'whoa, whoa, supports my baby Now for this title, this is a big apple.What are you doing? Sit down!' So I lowered it, I got a sponge and I poured water into his eyes trying to clean up what was there, but before I did that I put my little finger in his eyes and I put it in my eyes.It burned like hell.. is something sharp in both eyes. "

The commotion was not lost to referee Barney Felix, who was walking toward Clay's corner. Felix said that Clay was only seconds away from being disqualified. The challenger, his raised arm, demanding that the fight be stopped and Dundee, worried that the fight might indeed be stalled, gave him a one-word command: "Run!"

Clay then said he could only see the faintest shade of Liston during most of the rounds, but by turning and moving he managed to avoid Liston and somehow survived. In the sixth round, Clay's eyes were clear, and he began to land a combination almost instantly. "I'm back on the bench at the end of the sixth round, and under me I can hear the press like they're wild," Clay then said. "I turned around and yelled at the reporters, 'I'm going to disappoint the world. ' "

There are two basic narratives about what happened next in the corner of Liston. According to David Remnick, Liston told his cornermen, "That's it." The liston handler who supposedly demonstrated this, who thought he meant he was finally angry enough to win, but Liston really meant that he was fighting, which he showed by spitting out his mouth guards.

Liston biographer Paul Gallender said that Liston's shoulder was essentially paralyzed at the end of the sixth round, and his corner made the decision to end the fight, despite Liston's protests. Liston spat out his mouth guard in disgust, still not believing that Clay was a superior fighter.

When the bell sounded for the seventh round, Clay was the first to realize that Liston had spit out of his mouth. Clay moved into the middle of the ring with his arms raised, dancing the jig to be known as "Ali Shuffle" while Howard Cosell, broadcasting on the ringside, shouted "wait a minute! Wait a minute! Sonny Liston is not out!" Liston failed to answer the bell for the seventh round, and Clay was declared the winner by a technical knockout. This is the first time since 1919 that the World Heavyweight Champion has stopped sitting on a bench.

Sensing that he had made history, Clay quickly ran to the rope amidst the commotion in the ring and yelled at the sports writers, "Eat your words!" In a scene that has been aired many times over the next few decades, Clay repeatedly shouted, "I'm the greatest!" and "I shake the world."

Clay should be convinced to hold a traditional post-fighting press conference. He called the authors "hypocrites" and said, "Look at me, not a sign for me, I can never be surpassed, I'm too great, Hail champion!"

On February 27, 1964, Clay announced that he was a member of the Nation of Islam. His membership in the group was first expressed the night before at the national group's annual convention in Chicago by the Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad.

"I started worshiping this way five years ago when I heard a man named Elia Muhammad on the radio talking about the goodness of Islam," Clay said. "I also listened to his ministers, no one could prove him or they were wrong, so I decided to join."

Clay started using the name Cassius X, because the members of the organization adopted the last name X because they no longer want to bear the name given by the former slave family.

On March 6, 1964, Elijah Muhammad announced in a statement recorded on the radio that Clay would be renamed Muhammad Ali. Muhammad means "worthy of all praise", and Ali means "highest".

On March 1, 1964, Ed Sullivan would declare on his show: "I saw the Liston-Clay battle.This is an annoying thing of all time, I swear the Beatles can beat them both! The Beatles have been on The Ed Sullivan Show twice in February. During their second appearance, which aired Feb. 16 from Miami, Sullivan actually had Liston and Joe Louis - who were in the audience - standing up to applause; the group also visited Clay's training center this weekend.

Is the corner of Liston deliberately blinding Clay?

Many theorized that the substance used on the piece of Liston by Joe Pollino, his cutman, probably inadvertently caused the irritation that blinded Clay in the fifth round. "Joe Pollino has been using Monsel's Solution to trim it," Angelo Dundee said. "Now what's happening is maybe the boy put his forehead against the man - because Liston started wearing it with that body shot - and my kid, sweating profusely, it went into both eyes."

Two days after the fight, heavyweight Eddie Machen said he believes that Liston's handlers deliberately used illegal drugs to temporarily blind Clay. "The same thing happened to me when I fought Liston in 1960," Machen said. "I thought my eyes would burn from my head, and Liston seemed to know it was going to happen." He theorized that the handlers of Liston would rub the drug on his shoulders, which would then be transferred to his opponent's forehead during clinches and dripping into the eye. "Clay did the worst thing when he started screaming and let Liston know it worked," Machen said. "Clay is panicked, I do not do that, I'm more like an inexperienced pro, and I'm hiding it from Liston."

Shoulder injury

Liston said he was out of the fight with a shoulder injury, and there has been speculation since about whether the injury was severe enough to actually prevent him from continuing. Immediately after the fight, Liston told the announcer that he injured his shoulders in the first round. Dr. Alexander Robbins, head doctor for the Miami Beach Boxing Commission, diagnosed Liston with a torn tendon on his left shoulder.

For his book, "King of the World": Muhammad Ali and Rise of American Hero, David Remnick speaks with one of Liston's cornermen, who tells him that Liston can continue: "[The shoulder] is" All BS. We have no clauses with Clay, and if you say your guy has just quit, who will get the fight back. We cook those things on the spot. "

Sports Illustrated Writer , Tex Maule writes that Liston's shoulder injury is legitimate. He cites the inability of Liston to raise his arm: "There is no doubt that Liston's arm is broken.In the sixth round, he took it at the belt level so there was no point in warding off the right cross with Clay examining his cut under his left eye." He also cited medical evidence: "A team of eight doctors examined Liston's arm at St. Francis Hospital in Miami Beach and agreed that it was too much damage for Liston to keep fighting, the torn tendon has been flushed into a mass of biceps, swelling and lethal arms."

The findings were confirmed in an official inquiry immediately after the battle by Florida State Attorney Richard Gerstein, who also noted that there is little doubt that Liston went into a fight with a sore or limp shoulder.

Allegations of repair

There is an alleged improvement as soon as the fight ends. Arthur Daley of New York Times does not believe that claim. He writes:

When the fight ends in this one mode, with the unbalanced monsters remaining in the corner, the suspicion of theft is aroused. They are not helped by the fact that Liston, a former convict, sponsored by the mafia early in his career. However, for the theft theory, there must be a compelling reason for it. The prospect of a wagered coup can be dismissed because the 8-to-1 odds in Liston's support never vary by more than one point. If there is a rush of smart money on the oppressed, it will likely degenerate. This is a dropout barometer. What will Liston get by throwing a fight? The heavyweight championship is the most valuable commodity in the sport world and even a man who has no criminal background Liston will be willing to throw it away. It also gave him an aura of honor as he had never known before.

After a month-long investigation, Florida State Attorney Richard E. Gerstein said there was no evidence to back up the repair claims, and the US Senate subcommittee held a hearing three months later and also found no evidence of improvement.

The document was released to the Washington Times in 2014 under the Freedom of Information Act which indicates the FBI suspects the fight might have been fixed by Ash Resnick, a Las Vegas-related figure with organized crime and Liston. The documents show no evidence that Ali is in the scheme or even knows about it. And nothing indicates that the bureau fully corroborates the suspicions being investigated. The memo was directed to Director J. Edgar Hoover.

A memo dated May 24, 1966, which the Washington Times called "the most lucrative proof", details an interview with a Houston gambler named Barnett Magids, who explains to his discussion agents with Resnick before Clay's first Clock-Fight. The Washington Times reports:

"On one occasion, Resnick introduced Magid to Sonny Liston in Thunderbird, [one of Las Vegas hotels that organized crime under control]," the memo stated. "About a week before Liston and Clay's showdown in Miami, Resnick called and invited Magid and his wife for two weeks in Florida on Resnick.The Magids wife is not interested in leaving, but Magid decides to come along, and Resnick will send her a ticket.

"Two or three days before the fight, Magids telephoned Resnick at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami to say he could not make it," the memo said. "On this call, he asks Resnick who he likes in the fight, and Resnick says that Liston will drop Clay in the second round Resnick suggests he wait until before the fight to place a bet because it might be down.

"At about noon on the day of the fight, [Magids] reach Resnick again over the phone, and now, Resnick tells him not to make a bet, but just goes to watch the fight on pay TV and he will know why and that he can not speak any further at that time.

"The Magids did see a fight on TV and soon realized that Resnick knew that Liston would lose," the document stated. "A week later, an article in Sports Illustrated wrote Resnick as a big loser because of his support of Liston.Later people 'know' in Las Vegas told Magids that Resnick and Liston reportedly made more than $ 1 million bets against Liston in combat and articles magazine is the cover for this. "

Ron Kantowski of the Las Vegas Review-Journal writes that the Washington Times article "has more holes than the left side of the Cubs." He continues:

Here, then, is the most exciting part of the Washington Times story: "At around noon on the day of the fight, (Barnett Magids) reach Resnick again by phone, and at this moment , Resnick tells him not to make a bet, but just goes to watch the fight on pay TV, and he'll know why... "

This is after weighing, when Ali goes berserk and Sonny has just holstered some hot dogs.

Could this be why Ash Resnick probably told Barnett Magids - according to the Magids - do not make any bets in Liston?

According to the Sports Illustrated story, Resnick lost a lot of money on Liston.... The Washington Times suggested... The magazine story probably is cover, quoting "people who know."

Sometimes in boxing, a man trains hot dogs and beer, and then maybe he injures his shoulder. Anyone who expects to win does not win. And then there's the FBI file and conspiracy theorists, and then the "people who know" want to put people like Sonny Liston on a grassy hill with a smoking gun in his hand.

Maps Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston

Ali vs. Liston

Background

Following Clay's upset victory over Liston, the two fighters were almost immediately involved in a controversy that was considered to be detrimental to boxing. A few days after the fight, Clay publicly announced that he had joined "Black Muslims" - widely seen as a group of hatred of whites - and began using the name Cassius X. The next month, he was renamed Muhammad Ali by the Nation leader of Islam Elijah Muhammad. This raises widespread public condemnation. Martin Luther King Jr. said, "When Cassius Clay joined Black Muslims and started calling himself Cassius X, he became the champion of racial segregation." As for Liston, he was arrested on March 12 and accused of driving with speed, reckless and reckless, driving without operator permission and carrying hidden weapons. The arresting officer said the former champion was driving between 76 and 80 mph (122-128 kmh) in the residential zone. Liston had a.22-caliber pistol in his coat pocket and an empty vodka bottle in the car. A young woman was in the car with Liston, but she was not arrested. In short, as Congress investigates corruption and organizes the effects of crime in boxing, no fighter is seen as a poster child for sport.

In the eyes of some, the unexpected end of the fight took a suspicious note when it was discovered that the two fighters had a contract containing a re-match clause. Many argue that Liston has more to earn money from losing the battle and rearranging than winning. The contract gave Inter-Continental Promotions, Inc., a company organized to promote Liston's fight, the right to promote Ali's first bout as champion - if he had to defeat Liston - and choose his opponent (Liston, of course). This is in the second contract, kept secret and not part of the main battle contract. It was phrased that way because the World Boxing Association did not allow battle contracts with re-match clauses. Gordon B. Davidson, a lawyer for the group sponsoring Ali, said, "We feel we would be better advised not to have a guaranteed rematch clause.We feel this is more in the spirit of the WBA rules than a straightforward re-match is clearly forbidden." agree that it is a "trick." When Ali and Liston signed to fight back the match, the WBA voted unanimously to strip Ali of the title and drop Liston from his rank. However, the World Boxing Council, the New York State Athletics Commission, and The Ring magazine continue to recognize Ali as the champion.

Pressed by the WBA - which covers every US state except California, Nevada and New York - state commissions across the country are reluctant to license a rematch between two controversial fighters, and it is difficult to find a place. In the end, Massachusetts agreed to host the fight, which resulted in the Massachusetts Boxing Commission's suspension by the WBA. The fight was set for November 16, 1964, at the Boston Garden. Liston was immediately set up as a 13-5 favorite, making Ali a bigger bet ondog than Floyd Patterson in his two fights against Liston. This time, Liston is training hard, preparing himself for a 15-round bout. In fact, Time magazine says that Liston has worked on his own in the best form of his career. Ali, for his part, continues to mock Liston, dragging the bear trap into pre-fights physical and announces that he may start producing "Sonny Liston Sit-Down Stool." However, the Boston battle will never happen. Three days before the scheduled fight (Friday the 13th), Ali needed emergency surgery for a strangulate hernia. The fight should be postponed for six months.

The new date was set for May 25, 1965. But as it approached, Liston was involved in another arrest and there were fears that the promoters were tied to organized crime. Massachusetts officials, especially Suffolk County District Attorney Garrett Byrne, began to have second thoughts. Byrne sought an order to block the fight in Boston because Inter-Continental Promotions promoted the fight without a Massachusetts license. Inter-Continental says local veteran Sam Silverman is a promoter. On May 7, supporters of the rematch ended the court battle by pulling a brawl from Boston.

Lewiston, Maine

The promoters need a new location quickly, regardless of size, to save their closed-circuit television commitments across the country. Governor John H. Reed of Maine stepped forward, and within hours, the promoters had a new site: Lewiston, Maine, a factory town with a population of about 41,000 located 140 miles (230 km) north of Boston. Inter-Continental obtained permission and made arrangements to work with local promoter Sam Michael. The selected spot is Central Maine Youth Center (now called Androscoggin Bank Colisà ©  © e), junior hockey rink. Lewiston is the smallest city to host a heavyweight fight since Jack Dempsey fought against Tom Gibbons in Shelby, Montana (population 3,000) in 1923. It remains the only heavyweight title fight held in Maine state.

The fight was embraced by Pine Tree State. Governor Reed announced to the press, "This is one of the biggest things going on in Maine." Nevertheless, it will go down in history as a disaster.

The atmosphere around the battle was tense and sometimes bad, largely because of the impact of the public embrace of Ali Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam. Malcolm X, who had a public and bitterly in love with Elijah Muhammad, had been killed months before the battle, and the men who were arrested for killing were members of the Nation of Islam. Rumors circulated that Ali, who publicly insulted Malcolm after a break with Elijah Muhammad, may have been killed by Malcolm's supporters in retaliation. The FBI takes on quite a serious threat to send 12-man, 24-hour guards around Ali. Kubu Liston, in turn, claimed that he had received death threats from the Nation of Islam. The fruits of Islam - the ubiquitous, paramilitary wing of the Nation of Islam - around Ali only add to feelings of hunch and hostility. Security for the fight, for that time, has never happened before.

Due to its remote location and fear of violence, only 2,434 fans were present in the 4,900-seat arena, setting an all-time record for the lowest attendance for a heavyweight championship bout.

Phantom/anchor blow

The end of the second Ali-Liston battle remains one of the most controversial boxing histories. In the middle of the first half, Liston throws a left-handed blow and Ali swings it quickly, dropping the former champion. Liston down on his back. He rolled over, up to his right knee and then fell on his back again. Many present did not see Ali giving a punch. The battle quickly turns into chaos. Jersey Referee Joe Walcott, a former World Heavyweight Champion himself, has difficulty getting Ali to a neutral corner. Ali initially stood on his fallen opponent, pointed and yelled at him, "Wake up and fight, stupid!" This moment was captured by ring photographer in Neil Leifer who became one of the most iconic images in the sport, selected as the cover of the special edition of Sports Illustrated, The Century's Greatest Sports Photos. Ali then began to prance around the ring with his arms raised in victory.

When Walcott returns to Liston and sees the knockdown timepiece, Francis McDonough, to take the count, Liston falls back on the canvas. Walcott never managed to count them. He says he can not hear McDonough, who does not have a microphone. In addition, McDonough did not bang on the canvas or move the count number with his fingers. McDonough, however, claimed Walcott was looking at the crowd and never saw him. After Liston got up, Walcott removed his gloves. He then leaves the fighters to go to McDonough. "The timekeeper waved both hands and said, 'I counted him out - the fight ended,'" Walcott said after the fight. "Nat Fleischer [editor of The Ring ] is sitting next to McDonough and he waves his hand as well, saying it's over." Walcott then hurried back to the fighters, who had returned boxing, and stopped the fight - giving Ali a first-round KO victory.

This fight became one of the shortest heavyweight title battles in history. Many people in the small crowd have not even sat in their seats when the fight is stopped. Official termination time was announced as 1:00 to the first half, wrong. Liston drops at 1:44 am, wakes up at 1:56 am, and Walcott stops the fight at 2:12.

McDonough and Fleischer are also wrong in their interpretation of how rules are applied. Under the rules, the timer should start counting on the knockdown. The referee's job is to get the boxer scored knockdown into a neutral corner, taking the count of the timekeeper and continuing it hard for the dropped boxer. Under the rules of the Maine Commission, the referee is authorized to stop the count if the boxer refuses to go to the right corner. "It might be better if Walcott stops his tally (by a knockdown timer) until Clay goes to a neutral corner and then starts again," said Duncan MacDonald, a member of the commission.

"I did my job," Walcott said. "He [Ali] looks like a man in a different world, I do not know what he might do, I think he might step on it or pick him up and tie him up again."

"If Bum Clay goes to a neutral corner instead of running like a maniac, all problems will be avoided," McDonough said. He admits that Walcott can ask him to start counting again "after he gets the wild man - Clay - back to a neutral corner, but he does not, so so."

Is the fight fixed?

When the fight ended, many fans booed and started shouting, "Fix it!" Skeptics call knockout blow "ghost blow". Ali called it an "anchor blow." He said it was taught to him by comedian and movie actor Stepin Fetchit, who learned it from Jack Johnson. However, Ali was unsure as soon as the battle over whether the blow was connected or not, since the footage from the show showed Ali in the ring asking his entourage, "Did I hit him?" Ali told the Nation of Islam minister Abdul Rahman that Liston was "laid down" and Rahman replied, "No, you beat him." Rahman then said, "Ali hit him so fast, Ali did not really know he hit him.... and it took a long time even before he saw the punch he hit with Sonny."

"That's a good right-handed blow," said Liston after the fight. "It makes me dizzy, I have to kneel but fall for a second time because I'm unbalanced... I can wake up, but I do not hear the count."

After the fight, George Chuvalo climbed up the rope and pushed Ali, shouting, "Fix it!" He was arrested, but then he said that he had seen Liston's eyes when the challenger was on the floor, and he knew that he was not in bad shape. "His eyes darted from side to side like this," he said, glancing from side to side. "When a fighter is injured his eyes are rolled up." However, Dr. Carrol L. Witten, a former Kentucky State Commissioner who has studied the reaction of the beaten fighters, said, "Chuvalo is wrong, eye-to-side movement is generally associated with temporary unconsciousness and is one of the causes." the first things you look for. This is called nystagmus. "

There are some in ringside who believe that the fight is legitimate. Larry Merchant wrote 50 years later, "I saw a real blow that landed on my real chin, as did others in my area in the press.It is a fast-paced right hand that catches Liston as he progresses... According to the doctor I've talked , it's a classic example of a medulla-oblong medo "Lightweight World Class Champion JosÃÆ'Â © Torres said," That was a perfect blow. " Jim Murray of Los Angeles Times wrote that it was "no phantom punch." Tex Maule from Sports Illustrated wrote, "The blow was so strong that it lifted Liston's left foot, on which most of his weight was resting, away from the canvas."

"Many people in the arena do not see [blows], understandable", Merchant writes: "Or they do not believe that it has the power to defeat former champions who seem indestructible". He described the belief that the fight was rigged as a "seemingly unimaginable myth... many people believe that the moon landing was staged, maybe right there in Lewiston". Don Dunphy Hall of Fame announcer is one of many who does not believe that the fight is at that level. "If it's a blow, I'll eat it," he said. "Here is a man who is in jail and the guards use it to hit his head with a cane and can not knock him down." But others think he is not the same Liston. Dave Anderson of the New York Times says Liston "looks terrible" in his final practice before the fight. Liston handlers quietly replied to sparring partner Amos Lincoln with an additional $ 100 to make it easy. Arthur Daley of New York Times writes that Liston handlers know he "does not have it anymore."

A ringside observer, former World Lightweight Champion James J. Braddock, said Ali's right-hand suspect solved just what a previous blow had started. "I have the feeling that this person (Ali) is much better than we give him credit," Braddock said. "It was not a knockout blow that stuck in my mind like a blow that he let go of (before).... It was the right to Liston's jaw and it shook it into his shoetops.For all we know, it could have been the one who set the knockout system."

Another former champion, Rocky Marciano, changed his view of a knockout after seeing a video tape the following day. "I do not think it was a strong blow when I saw a bout of ringside," Marciano said. "Now (after seeing the video), I think Clay, seeing the opening, broke the last six inches."

Dave Anderson said he saw Liston in Las Vegas in 1967 and asked what happened. "It was not a difficult blow, but it partially caught me off balance and when I was beaten, I interfered because the referee never gave me the count," Liston said. "I'm listening to the vote count, that's the first thing you do, but I've never heard a count because Clay never goes to a neutral corner."

Jerry Izenberg of Newark Star-Ledger said Liston told him that he lost only because "timers can not count."

Mark Kram of Sports Illustrated said Liston told him: "That guy [Ali] is crazy I do not want anything to do with him and the Muslims will come in. Who needs that? not beaten. "

Wilfred Sheed offers his opinion in his 1975 book, Muhammad Ali: A Portrait in Words and Photographs, writes that Liston will throw a fight in and, when he experiences a legitimate lightning strike in the first round. , decide where to grab the opportunity and end the fight. It was Walcott's confusion and Ali's behavior that forced Liston to pretend to lose its orientation because it was much longer than the defeat caused by that kind.

During the 1995 HBO documentary about Liston, Johnny Tocco, who has a boxing gym in Las Vegas, said he spoke with John Vitale's mobster before the rematch and was told not to notice what he heard about the fight. He also told Tocco that he should be glad that he would not go to Lewiston. When Tocco asked why, Vitale told him that the fight would end in the first round.

In the same documentary, former FBI agent William F. Roemer Jr. said, "We learned that there is definitely improvement in the fight." He said Bernie Glickman, a boxing manager from Chicago with a mass tie, claimed that while he was talking to Liston and his wife before the fight, Liston's wife told the former champion that as long as he had to lose the fight he had to go down early to avoid the possibility injured.

In the wake of the controversial fight, there was protest by the press and politicians for the elimination of boxing. The bill to ban sports is planned in some state legislatures.

A promoter in San Antonio apologizes to his theatrical TV subscribers and, on the basis that they have been deceived by an "embarrassing spectacle", donating his money to the boys' club. The California legislature, in the session, received a resolution calling for investigations by state attorneys to determine whether its closed-circuit audience has been cheated cheating of their money.

For those who believe Liston dives, there are a number of theories about why, including: (1) the Mafia forces Liston to throw a fight as part of a coup stakes. (2) Liston bet against himself and take dives because he owes money to the Mafia. (3) Several members of the Nation of Islam visited the Liston training camp and told Liston that they would kill him if he won a rematch. (4) The author Paul Gallender claims that the Nation of Islam members kidnapped Liston's wife, Geraldine, and Liston's son, Bobby. Liston is told to lose against Ali or he will never see his family again. (5) Liston is afraid that he was accidentally shot by followers of Malcolm X when they tried to kill Ali in the ring.

In the final analysis, it remains inconclusive whether the blow was a genuine knockout blow.

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Legacy

The two attacks launched one person and destroyed the other. For Ali, this was the beginning of Ali's mystique: the hero of the people who faced seemingly impossible obstacles and insuperable enemies (both inside and outside the arena) only to win through his intelligence, integrity, courage, and talent. For Liston, the fight left its reputation in tatters. In just over a year, he went from being regarded as one of the most frightening heavyweights of all time to become an over-counted champion. "[After two Ali fights] Liston will never again intimidate world-class fighters," writes Bob Mee, "and therefore will never again be a fighter like ever." Even worse, the mysterious circumstances surrounding the end of the second battle may connect Liston forever with all the corrupt and suspect in boxing. The latest effort to introduce more balance and fairness in Liston's career and life has faced the tough challenge posed by the last 30 seconds of the second bout in Lewiston, Maine, in 1965.

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Ali vs. Liston in popular culture

Calypsonian Lord Melody recorded a song titled "Clay Vs Liston", which was released as a single in 1965. The song's lyrics relate to the first fight between the two. The song appears in the 1994 compilation CD Precious Melodies.

Ali , the film by director Michael Mann, was released in 2001. Will Smith was nominated for an Academy Award and Golden Globe for his role as Ali. Former boxer Michael Bentt plays Liston.

Robert Townsend directed a 2008 movie about Liston entitled Phantom Punch. Ving Rhames starred as Liston, and Andrew Hinkson described Ali.

At NCIS , director Leon Vance, a former boxer, has a framed photograph of his burial office at Liston floored at the end of the second battle. In "Last Man Standing", he discussed the picture with Gibbs and mentioned the allegations that were corrected.

A play titled One Night In Miami opened in 2013. It tells the story of Ali's night - then Cassius Clay - beating Liston to take the World Heavyweight Championship. This happened in a hotel room after a fight where Clay, Jim Brown, Sam Cooke, and Malcolm X talked about their lives and their hopes for the future.

The Mad Men episode "The Suitcase" from Season 4 revolves around the second battle. The result really inspired Don Draper to create an ad inspired by famous photos of the fight.

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References

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Further reading

• Best Black: Cassius Clay Puzzle , by Jack Olsen (1967).

Source of the article : Wikipedia