Cassius Clay (206 lbs; 20-0-0) vs. Sonny Liston (215¼ lbs; 35-2-0). World heavyweight title fight. 1965-05-25; St. Dominic's Hall, Lewiston, Maine, United States.
Ali showed he’s an a-hole. He was all over Liston on the knockdown and the referee can’t properly count as he’s to busy trying to keep Ali in the corner for 10 seconds.
blast from the past float like a butterfly sting like a bee his hands can’t hit what his eyes can’t see now you see me now you don’t george thinks he’ll do it but i know he won’t
In their first fight Ali admits he was scared - "I was indeed scared of Liston, I had to tell myself I was the greatest before showing the rest of the world".
A sunny Satan put chemical on Sunnys glove , they worship the 6 pointed star the trigger finger they created slavery anew.Mass murder from their Father Hitler they serve Satan
And he did. And he had a reason to be scared if you go back and watch and just listen to how heavy the shots Liston was landing. The jabs sounded like gun shots
Vox Daze. He clearly did not want to suffer the same humiliating beating he took from ali. Liston was about to get schooled twice. This time he dropped out in the first round.
"I've done something new for this fight. I done wrestled with an alligator, I done tussled with a whale; handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder in jail; only last week, I murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalized a brick; I'm so mean I make medicine sick."
Hahaha - the guy was something else. This fight was weird though. I'm sure he was shouting at Liston to get up bcz no one would believe he got knocked out like that. Either way what a legend - RIP Champ
Ali commenting on the replay of the fight video -"I see why you're showing this in slow motion, I'm so fast you can't see it in real action" He was right.
@@emzid5105 the Ali fanboys that is. I liked Ali but not to the point where my thinking overrode what was clearly in front of my eyes. The powers that were in boxing were not stupid. That's why Liston never got another shot at the title despite going 15-1 (14 KO's) after the second Ali fight, he just couldn't be trusted.
@@marknorris1381 yeah i don´t deny ali would win the second fight straight up and he is the greatest HW ever in my book but this was an obvious fix ( ali hardly touched liston with that "KO" shot , and liston was known for his connections with the mobsters and owing them money )
It's a shame Liston wasn't remembered as the great heavyweight champion he could have been if it wasn't for Ali, but his record speaks for itself. He won 35 of 36 fights before his first fight with Ali and 15 of 16 fights after his rematch with Ali. He beat all the top heavyweight contenders before he became champion like Nino Valdez, Cleveland "Big Cat" Williams, Zorah Foley, and Eddie Machen. Truly one of the greats.
It’s hard to be in the top 10 with only one title defense against a guy with a glass jaw who he outweighed by 25 pounds. I’d put Liston in the top 20 though.
@@Luca80KRMuhammad Ali, formerly known as Cassius Clay, is the greatest boxer of all time. Mike Tyson's career was amazing, but it doesn't reach the legacy Muhammad Ali crafted for himself.
@@Yachanan144 Yeah right he just faked being KO’d to get paid! Both boxers got the same amount of money for this fight, win or lose. This was for the Heavyweight Championship of the World and Liston wanted it as much as Ali. You’re a dreamer. Too bad for Liston in the rematch, Ali boxed him out and destroyed him. It’s long been a closed case there Yachy!
@@BLUTOVthe HW boxing title was the most prized title in sports, the super bowl hadn't even been invented yet as a matter of fact the Green Bay /KC Chiefs was called the AFL/NFL Champioship game. The HW boxing title was the biggest prize in sports
Ali was probably shouting "GET UP! NO ONE WILL BELIEVE THIS!' As you could see he wanted to continue aswell. There is no way Sonny could've beaten Ali here anyways. Ali was just better.
One especially good fake punch and a real blow could have taken Ali out. You know which way Ali would lean away from a punch. Sonny could have planned to put his head where his glove was going.
@@elijahparis-salmon9943 His behavior made it very hard for the referee. He should’ve immediately gone to the furthest neutral corner but didn’t and created a lot of confusion making it impossible for the count to be applied correctly.
@@howardsmith8430 the ref was a legendary fighter and didn't know what he was doing, hindsight is 20/20 of course but they should have had a proper ref for a bout of this magnitude.
No need for the "his" mate, he was a champion to people, lots and lots of people, all different colours, faiths & nationalities. He was The World's Champion.
that right hand by ali was thrown when he was going backwards..there's no way liston could have been ko'd by that punch. with all his speed and footwork, he was not a big puncher. i think this fight was fixed.
Sonny Liston was one of the hardest mean assed men who ever walked the earth. Bear in mind this guy stood his ground when cops were beating him with riot sticks and he threw them around like empty tracksuits. Do you really think a punch like that would k o him
Ali showed he’s an a-hole. He was all over Liston on the knockdown and the referee can’t properly count as he’s to busy trying to keep Ali in the corner for 10 seconds.
This fight had a weird ending. The timekeeper actually counted Liston out, as the ref (Walcott) couldn't hear the count to pick it up. Ali was jumping around and distracting Walcott as well. I timed Liston with a stopwatch, and he was down for 16 seconds.
@@eliandkhylie2247 , Walcott couldn’t pick up the count because Ali wouldn’t go to a neutral corner and stay there. The whole thing was bizarre. I have never seen a fighter counted out by the time keeper. If you leave the corner the referee has to stop the count. Walcott never stopped the count because he never started it.
That’s what I’m saying. Liston was obviously throwing the fight - for whatever reason - the mob, the nation of islam, or he was just plain tired of being a public punching bag. But the fight ends on the refs’s count. Not someone at ringside. The ref was doing his job pushing an excited and mad Ali (who knew he didn’t connect that hard) to a neutral corner this preventing him from counting. The whole affair is sordid and looking back kinda sad that such a great and anticipated fight ended the way it did.
At 13:48 it looks like Ali turned to someone in his corner and said "did I hit him?". Man was he a thing of beauty in this round, speed, movement, fast punches...weiged in at 206. The best info I've put together over the years is that the fix was in but Ali had no idea and that Liston went down earlier than planned because it was obvious he was gonna get " whipped.". Great upload even at 240 pixels. Think I've seen the fight in color somewhere. That photographer should have won a Pulitzer for snapping that classic shot so fast. I have it as the lock screen on my phone!
Punch knocked him over, Liston thought "Should I get up? Nah, this guy'll kick my ass all over again, there's no point, let's roll over like a turtle now!"
Ali said in his book that the reason he was yelling at Liston to get up was because the crowd was shouting "Fix!" and he didn't want anything to think he was a part of it. Recently it was said that Liston should not have been counted out because Ali had not gone to the neutral corner, which is why the ref had not been counting, and this was proper. It was the timekeeper who informed the ref that Liston should have been counted out, and that was an error. Liston later said that he went down intentionally because of concerns about the Muslims, etc., but most people think that was sour grapes. A lot of people say Ali's punch never landed, but you can clearly see it in the film. A quick right hand over Liston's left jab. He never saw it coming. That's the one that always gets you. I think Liston is an all time great. But Ali beat him twice, fair and square.
I was 10 years old at the time. Dad and I watched Friday Night Fights each week so we were boxing fans. We waited for this fight (it was on the radio). We tuned in the station and were all excited. It was so disappointing when it didn't go one round. Dad was mad and said the fight was fixed. I had no idea what he meant by that.
@@JeffaHensley sonny liston was only chempion for two year ;; floyed pattersin was scary to fight sonnny liston ;; late 1950s / 1962 young sonny liston wouldve fought & knock out floyd patterson & cassiss clay same night
In 1965, I don't think many people realized how good Ali would be. But after the first Liston fight, it was pretty obvious that Liston didn't have a chance in the second fight.
Muhammad Ali was way ahead of his time. Heavyweight boxing would never be the same again for the heavyweight division. hand and foot speed, as well, as a good defense would determine a championship boxer. No more slow guys...
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There is a lot of speculation on how and why this fight ended the way it did. Liston no doubt was hit by a clean pull counter, but did it hurt as bad as it was made to look.
Yeah this is the fact many people didn't know they think that ali was loved from starting and it is also very tough for many to see a black being so loudmouth and confident at that time it was very tough it requires supreme confidence like the greatest
@LikeWiseLikeYou..amazing deception. I do not believe Ali knew the fight was fixed, he was an honest man, but in my opinion it was. It came out years later that Liston was owned by the mob, so the dive makes sense.
@@rainstormzee554 The fix would only apply if Ali was the underdog. Sonny was the underdog in their rematch, ie he was already expected to lose. His heart obviously wasn't in it, he just decided not to get up.
The punch was not nearly hard enough to knock out a bull like Liston. He was probably ordered to take a dive by the mob. Notice the bad acting when he tried to get up and then fell back down. Also, Jersey Joe Wolcott was an incompetent referee, certainly not someone you would pick for a championship fight. He never should have started to count until Ali went to a neutral corner. In addition, I don't think Liston was on the canvas for the full 10 seconds. In short, a complete travesty.
I showed my wife a freeze frame of Sonny in the corner against Leotis Martin and asked her how old she thought he was. She has no idea of who he is. She said 'about fifty'. That fight was in 1969. I think she's close to the money.
i live in maine and i live not even 10 minutes from lewiston. every time i drive through i always think of this amazing bout performed by the best boxer of all time
Liston obviously took a dive in the 1st round and threw the fight. Ali’s supposed “phantom punch” could not crush a grape. Sonny did not “say a word” because he feared for his life. This fight was clearly a farce.
@ 11:44 and even as a kid, I always thought that the way Ali raised his right hand was a signal to Liston that he was about to throw the phantom punch. However, I still think the punch was harder than what people can see in this video. Slowed down (in the color version of this), you can see that punch sent a shock wave through Liston's body. Here is the thing though. Liston got up like he wanted to still fight, but Jersey Joe stopped it. Keep in mind that Jersey Joe didn't ever really start the count. Part of me thinks Liston took a dive, but another part tells me, "If he took a dive, why did he even get back up?"
My point exactly they had started back fighting so Walcott and whoever he was talking to was the fixers Sonny was still fighting when Walcott stopped it
At all of the people saying this was fixed, the remastered footage clearly shows a right hand landing on the chin and the entire upper body rippling. He could barely stand after that. They even let the fight continue on until Ali swarmed him again, THEN it was stopped. There was no fix here.
it was... 1) legs and body not soft; 2) when falling, he was protecting himself with hand and elbow... check out how it looks when a fighter is knocked out for real - he falls like a wet towel, and it starts instantly after the hit
Lol liston got absolute destroyed , but can you blame him, look at Ali, hé was a monster and look how hé celebrates , hé knew , and later in his life hé was also one of the best, look at the first fight it is longer , and when you watch IT, liston Just gets destroyed , Ali is too fast but liston was old as hell
That was such a sweet punch. He does like a fake uppercut turning into an overhand right. He called it the anchor punch. I've never seen someone able to throw the kind of punches Ali did.
Its painfully obvious from Liston's bad acting that a fix was on, but it in NO WAY would have changed the outcome of the title defense. Liston wasn't in the same league with a 23 year old Ali, and its a shame there couldn't have been a better venue to display the greatness of a fighter who would spend the majority of his remaining prime out of the ring.
@@nicholasantonicello6903 maybe because Liston himself did bet against himself! Come on, ok the phantom punch, but he didn't even try to get up in a palusible way afterwards!
I was not Born till July 1965. But i remember my Dad and Grandpa Calling those 2 BUMS and the Fight Total Horse Shiza For Years. So many times. MMM Memories, Love ya Dad And Gramps.
Robert Israel Kabakoff. Exactly. Liston was not coward like you. A brave man and warrior he was. Liston saved himself from death by not continuing that fight. Well from Ali in the ring that night anyways. Whatever happened to him after was not Ali's fault. Your welcome!
What a mess! Jersey Joe runs off to see the timekeeper, leaving the two boxers staring at each other. Oh well, they start fighting again then he returns to break up the party. Amateur set up to say the least.
13:44 - Someone asks Ali, "Did you hit him?" Ali begins to scowl and says "Hit him?!" The other guy repeats the question again: "Did you hit him?" Ali indignantly shouts, "Did I HIT him?!!! Didn't you see the end?!!" Watch it in slow motion and try to read Ali's lips.
Good catch, dude. Clay/Ali was definitely repeating his buddy's words because of raucous crowd. Some of these "it was fixed" people should step into a ring with a well-trained boxer see what it is like to get short right cross square on the left jaw. When they wake up, we could ask them "Still think it was fixed?"
I remember in the week leading up to the fight, the training sessions were open to the public. My father took me and my brother to watch Clay jump rope, shadow box, and throw a medicine ball around. I was 6 years old and didn't really know all that was going on, but i can still close my eyes and see it. My father worked security at the Arena. He was at the fight. I was home listening to the radio. It still amazes me that one of the most ironic images in sports was taken that night, in my home town.
I have watched boxing since 1962, and this is the only fight I am convinced was fixed. Ali didnt him in the head, he didnt touch Liston. Loved the way Sonny got up, and then laid down again. Pure fix. Walcott was incompetant, and a timekeeper cant count out a fighter.PURE FIX.
On the other hand, Walcott NEVER counts to 10. Liston is up and fighting 12 seconds after falling but Walcott doesn't count him out. Ali never goes to a neutral corner. Rules stated that the count should have been delayed because Ali didn't go to a corner.
Liston took the fall because he was simply there for the payroll to turn up, he knew Ali would run rings around him and thought "hell, I ain't going through that again I'm going down in the first".
He should have waited until he got hit with a real punch before he put on his performance. That punch would barely have squashed the fly that was on his face.
You can see Ali's right leg pivot as he throws the KO right hook, so he gets a little bit of weight behind it, but you're right; it was a very on-the-go shot
But it wasn't even good acting! Those names are *true actors. Listen didn't even go down on an obvious punch. Then rolled over again and flopped! (Made more $$ off fix than reg. purse -if fix was indeed in). Ali: great but this was really an awkward way to win. The punch itself an absolute defensive reflex yet it somehow, was the shot Listen went and stayed down from.... not convincing. And if it was a fixed fight. The mob probably wasn't happy that he did it that way, so soon, so controversial.
Both fighters are legends! Sonny liston were 35 and Ali 23 on that fight! Sonny were an heroine addict and still managed to fight the greatest of all time and give him hard times! On the 2nd fight you can clearly see that heroine were destroying Sonny so badly that he couldn't last even 1 round! I give them both all the respect they deserve 💯 ✊🏽 Legendds
Liston was more like 45. His sister said that he was born one year after the great war which would be 1919 to 1920. Other testimonials back that up also.
It's true, that it was very difficult for white folks to take black folks seriously back in 1960s America. IMO, A black "prize fighter" just DID NOT change his name. It was confusing & rejected for a very long time. But when Ali referred to "Cassius Clay" as his former "slave"name, white folks really got worried that all blacks would try & emulate him. His desire for the freedom to choose even a fuckin' legal name & choice of religion for himself was rejected by all these hippocrates! An appalling time in post slavery America. Elder citizens &"good ol' boys" just despised Ali's bravery &steadfast conviction in something he had every RIGHT to change. He freed himself! Fought his way, and would not be quiet about it. America listened in amazment at his pre-fight predictions(which mostly came true) & waited for ANYBODY to "shut him up"! They would not. He made lots of people rich! He is a positive role model for all enslaved people. It's unfortunate in life that men must struggle to prove they are truly born equal. No matter what the U.S. constitution evidently proclaims. He is rightfully a true legend.
Ali didnt know ...Mob made Sonny throw this fight ;the whole Arena is pissed & Sonny was just tired of getting used anyways so they killed him. Rip Both Champs.
I don't think Ali was in on it, but a lot of signs point to Liston taking a dive, including Ali's initial reaction to Liston going down and Liston's excessive flopping on the ground. For an exceptionally tough fighter like Liston, betting on him getting KO'ed in the first round surely paid off huge for some mob characters somewhere. It's already accepted by many (including the FBI) that Clay-Liston 1 was likely to have been fixed as well. Ali seems to have never denied that it was, either, choosing to avoid interviews on the subject.
![Muhammad Ali vs Sonny Liston II (1965) [FULL FIGHT]](/img/logo.svg){kind=logo}
