Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston
Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston were two boxing matches in which Sonny Liston on February 25, 1964 and Muhammad Ali on May 25, 1965, competed in defense of the world heavyweight title. Ali (then as Cassius Clay ) won the first fight by dropping Listons in the seventh round and the second fight by knocking out in the first round. It was Liston's second and third career defeats. The first fight was called a classic early on, as Clay and Liston represented two completely different natures, while the second fight became famous primarily because of Ali's "Phantom Punch".
Cassius Clay vs. Sonny Liston 1
Cassius Clay vs. Sonny Liston 1, later also as Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston one known was a boxing match between the then reigning world champion in the heavyweight division , Sonny Liston, and the challenger Muhammad Ali , then still under his birth name, Cassius Clay. It took place on February 25, 1964 in Miami Beach , Florida and was the first of two clashes between the opponents. It is officially the last fight in which Cassius Clay fought by his maiden name, since he converted to Islam and took the name Muhammad Ali.
prehistory
Sonny Liston was the reigning world champion of the World Boxing Organization (WBO) and World Boxing Association (WBA). He won the title by a first-round knockout against Floyd Patterson . Cassius Clay, who was undefeated until then, challenged Liston. He mocked Liston several times as "ugly bear" and "loser" and began to use rhymes to provoke Liston. Clay had drawn attention to himself with his Olympic victory. Now he predicted in which round his opponent would go down. Liston was the favorite, although he was considered extremely unpopular, not least because of his contacts with the Mafia . There were considerable differences in the boxing styles: Clay moved quickly, prancing and keeping a distance, while Liston fought more aggressively. Clay went into battle as an outsider. According to Jim Murray of the Los Angeles Times , he could only beat Liston in a spelling competition - Liston was illiterate . The fight was watched by 180 million people, which is why it was the most watched boxing match up until then.
The fight
The fight started well for Clay. Liston looked aggressive and hit hard but slowly. Clay, who wanted to provoke Liston, kept his cover down and dodged Liston's every blow. Despite the ring gong, Liston and Clay continued to fight and the referee had to separate the two. In the third round, Clay attacked several times, but still kept cover and was still hardly hit by Liston. During the lap break, Liston had to treat a cut in his left eye. The fourth round was even. During the break, Clay asked his trainer Angelo Dundee to give up ("Cut my gloves on, we're going!") Because he could no longer see: it was suspected that Liston's corner was with his gloves before the fourth round have prepared an eye irritant. Clay tried in the next round to keep the world champion at a distance, but had great difficulty fighting off Liston's angry attacks. The sixth round was dominated by Clay and he scored a few hits. After the ring break, Liston did not get up for the next round, allegedly because of a shoulder injury. So Clay was the new heavyweight world champion . The pictures in which he opened his mouth and eyes wide and screamed “I am the Greatest, I shook up the world” went around the world.
Combat Statistics
(before the fight)
| Surname | Fight name | Struggles | Victories | Defeats | Victories (by knockout) | draw |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sonny Liston | The Black Bear | 37 | 36 | 1 | 23 | 0 |
| Cassius Clay | The Greatest | 19th | 19th | 0 | 15th | 0 |
Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston 2
Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston 2 was a historic boxing match and the first title defense of the new world champion Cassius Clay, who had now converted to Islam and called himself Muhammad Ali. It took place on May 25, 1965 in Lewiston (Maine) and was the second and last meeting of the two opponents. Ali knocked Liston down with a blow that went down in boxing history as the "Phantom Punch".
background
Ali and Liston insulted each other before the fight. A fight on the scales was only prevented by the managers and trainers of the respective boxers. Despite Ali's clear victory in the previous fight, critics largely relied on Liston. According to many critics, Liston only lost because he was not well trained and underestimated his opponent. They were of the opinion that Ali might not lose the fight prematurely, but at the latest by points. Something unexpected happened in the boxing ring: Liston was cheered while Ali was booed.
Course of the fight
The fight started well for Ali. As in the previous fight, Liston never met Ali once. Liston, who fought very aggressively, fell to the ground after 105 seconds, which was the fastest knockout in history to date. Ali hit Liston with what he called “Phantom Punch”: a quick punch that hit Liston's temple and jaw . Ali yelled at Liston, who was lying on the floor, with furious words: "Get Up You Bum" (German: "Come up, you bum"). The referee and former world champion Jersey Joe Walcott was apparently overwhelmed with this situation and forgot to count Liston, who had been lying on the floor for several seconds. The fight continued briefly, but was immediately interrupted when Nat Fleischer, founder of Ring Magazine , pointed out to Walcott that Liston had been on the ground for well over ten seconds.
Neil Leifer's photo, which shows Ali asking the struck Liston to keep fighting, is one of the iconographic sports photos .
scandal
The quick "phantom punch" with which Liston was knocked down had not been seen by Liston or the audience. Because of Liston's apparent “invincibility” and his contacts with the Mafia, fraud was mentioned early on. There were also doubts, however, as Ali and Liston were known to be enemies and Liston even threatened Ali that he would kill him. Ali himself wrote in his biography:
"The fact is that there has never been a fight less agreed than this."
Despite all of this, critics determined whether the fight wasn't really won because of fraud. The more the rumors piled up, the more viewers were of the opinion that the first fight between the two was also a fraud. In retrospect, film and photos proved that Liston did indeed take a blow from Ali. The hardness of the blow could not be determined, although one could see clearly relaxed muscles on Liston's body. It was even suggested that Liston had passed out after the blow. Liston himself stated that he had not been passed out, but had feared that Ali would take another blow if he got up. So he was shocked when the referee announced that the fight would go on.
Further career progression
- Ali held the title until he refused to fight in the Vietnam War. Therefore, his titles were stripped of his until he was allowed to get back into the ring in 1971 and fought a fight against Joe Frazier , which went down in history as the Fight of the Century .
- Liston then fought a few more fights, of which he lost only one. He died in 1970, presumably from a drug overdose.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Muhammad Ali ( Memento of the original from October 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on boxrec.com or Sonny Liston ( memento of the original from October 7, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on boxrec.com
- ↑ Dundee: Ali was, still is The Greatest. In: ESPN , January 17, 2012.
- ↑ King of the World . by David Remnick: Random House for High School Teachers.
- ^ Felix Dennis: Muhammad Ali . Miramax Books, 2003, p. 100.
- ^ Eliot Kalb: The 25 Greatest Sports Conspiracy Theories of All-Time: Ranking Sports' Most Notorious Fixes, Cover-Ups and Scandals . Skyhorse Publishing, 2007, ISBN 978-1-60239-089-8 ..
- ↑ http://ich-bin-der-groesste.npage.de/grosse-kaempfe.html
- ↑ The biggest surprises in the heavyweight division ( Memento of the original from August 29, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed March 23, 2013.
- ↑ Sonny Liston: The “ugly bear” Kasten.de, February 17, 2012, accessed on March 23, 2013
- ^ David Remnick: King of the Word. Pp. 195-202.
- ^ A b c Mel Allen: The Night Lewiston, Maine, Can Never Forget . In: Yankee Magazine . Yankee Publishing. Archived from the original on October 6, 2012. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved September 9, 2011.
- ^ Ferdie Pacheco: The 12 Greatest Rounds Of Boxing: The Untold Stories. 2004.
- ↑ Behind the Greatest Photo of Muhammad Ali Ever Taken , Time , June 4, 2016 (accessed June 5, 2016).
