After his huge upset over Sonny Liston on February 25, 1964, Cassius Clay announced that he had joined the “Black Muslims’, and now wanted to be called Cassius X. A month later, he was given the name Muhammad Ali by the Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad. The Muslims were viewed as a hate group at the time, and much of the public immediately turned against the new young champion. When Liston was arrested on March 12 on various driving charges, and carrying a gun without a license, neither fighter was viewed in a positive example in an already corrupt sport.
The rematch between the two was agreed for November 16, 1964 at the Boston Garden, simply because state boxing commissions all over the country wanted nothing to do with either fighter. Sonny trained like he hadn’t for years, and was listed as a 13:5 favorite heading into the bout. Unfortunately, three days before the fight, on November 13, Ali needed emergency surgery for a strangulated hernia. That cancelled the rematch, and pushed it back by six months, were it was rescheduled for May 25, 1965.
Just weeks before the bout, Liston was arrested again, and his mob ties and allegations of crooked promoters forced Massachusetts officials to pull the plug on what to them, was now a big mess. A new site was needed quickly, and Lewiston, Maine was chosen. The Central Maine Youth Center, which had a seating capacity of 4,900 people would suffice, and the promoters could salvage the date, and keep closed-circuit theatres open throughout the entire country.
There were still huge problems going into the actual fight date. Ali’s close ties to Elijah Muhammad, and the recent assassination of Malcolm X by members of the Nation of Islam, caused huge security alerts. Ali had publicly cut off his friendship with Malcolm X after his break with Elijah Muhammad, and there legitimate concerns that Malcolm supporters were going to kill Ali in return. The FBI gave Ali a 12-man, 24-hour team to protect him, and claims from Liston that he had received death threats from the Nation of Islam as well, made the whole situation a powder-keg waiting to explode.
The actual fight was a joke, and an obvious dive by Liston. When a retreating Ali landed a light right hand that barely connected to Liston’s jaw, he hit the canvas as if hit by a rifle. Muhammad immediately yelled at him to “Get up! Everyone’s gonna know it’s a fix!” Liston rolled on the ring mat in a pathetic acting job, as Ali ran around the ring in a “War-Dance”. After a confused referee Joe Walcott finally stopped the debacle at the 2:12 mark, the crowd cried “Fix! Fix!”, and one of strangest heavyweight championship title fights ever, was now in the books.
You have to be an idiot to think that it was a legitimate fight. Liston had a granite chin, Ali didn’t punch that hard, and Sonny had no choice but to go down. His mob ties had left him with no options, and when they tell you go do down or you and your family dies, you do down. Ali went on the defend his championship, while Sonny took a year off from the ring, relaxed and enjoyed his life in Las Vegas. The two will be forever linked in boxing history, and their second fight together remains one of the strangest, and most controversial as well.
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