After Cassius Clay shocked the world on February 25, 1964 by forcing the champion Sonny Liston to quit on his stool after the sixth round, he became the new champion which ushered a new era in the heavyweight division. Not longer after defeating Liston, Cassius announced he was now Cassius X, and had converted to the nation of Islam. He would be named Muhammad Ali not soon after, which alienated him from most of the American public.
The rematch between the now Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston was originally set for November 16, 1964 at Boston Garden in Massachusetts. After Ali had to be hospitalized with an incarcerated inguinal hernia, the fight was postponed until May 25, 1965 and was moved to Lewiston, Maine.
Everyone knew that the mob owned Liston, and it became obvious by what he did in the rematch. When Ali hit him with a soft right hand while he was backing up, Liston hit the deck like he had been shot by a rifle. He then rolled around for a bit before getting up, but the whole mess was called off by referee Jersey Joe Walcott at the 1:44 mark of the first round.
The crown immediately yelled fix, and anyone who saw it at home or in closed-circuit theatres around the country knew it was too. Sonny would later admit to friends, “When the mob tells you to lie down in the first round or you and your wife die, you lie down.”
Ali would go on to become the 3-time heavyweight champion of the world and forever be known as ‘The Greatest’, while Liston would never contend for the title again. He did make a comeback and put together a nice string of knockout victories together, but retired in 1970 after defeating Chuck Wepner. He was found dead in his home in early January of 1971, from a hotshot given by mobsters to shut him up.
Both fighters are in the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, New York and deservedly so. On May 25, 1965 however, the are forever linked together by the infamous ‘Anchor Punch’, which Ali named the right hand that put Liston down. In reality it was the ‘Phantom Punch’, because it couldn’t have broken a paper bag.
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