Clay Made a Fool of Everyone With His Condescension State of PlayThe 22-year-old Cassius Clay,( Muhammad Ali) had a fight record of 19 wins with an average length of five rounds, he had been a professional boxer for just four years when he faced the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, Bad Boy Sonny for the first time. Sonny Liston wrote Clay off as a pompous windbag, electing not to train diligently for the fight Liston thought he would only have to get into the ring to beat Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) without having to throw a punch. It was said that during the traditional weigh-in on the morning of the fight, Clay went absolutely crazy. He shouted "I’m ready to rumble!" and "I’m gonna eat you alive!" and it seemed it took Clay’s entourage had to restrained Clay Muhammad Ali) in an effort to prevent him from attacking Sonny Liston. The doctor who was present at time, announced a pulse rate of 120 bpm and declared Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) "emotionally unbalanced and scared to death." But how wrong both the doctor and Sonny Liston were! When the contract had been signed, Clay however did not stop his condescension of Sonny Liston. Clay drove to Liston’s home at 3 a.m. in the morning and create an insurgence until the owner of the house went out with a poker in hand and smash one a window of one of the buses before the police pulled him back inside the house. Brash Young 22year Old Kid Relieved Liston of His World Heavyweight Boxing TitleIn fact, Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay) had made a fool out of everyone including the Big Bad Bear. Cassius Clay was far from crazy. Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay) had succeeded in making everyone think he was a crazy son of a bitch. They all believed the (Muhammad Ali) Clay performance showpiece he acted out, so much so that only 3 out of the 46 sportswriters covering the fight believed that Clay stood any chance against. The other majority 43 sportswriters felt that Muhammad Ali (Clay,) who was seven to one underdog, would be no match for Liston. The brash young 22year old Kid Relieved Liston of His World Heavyweight Boxing Title. The two met in February of 1964. The young 22-year-old Clay zaps Sony Liston with lightning-fast jabs, punishing him with his devastating power house shots. As Clay (Muhammad Ali) put it, “Clay comes out to meet Liston, and Liston starts to retreat. If Liston goes back any further, he’ll end up in the ringside seats!” Lo and behold, just before the seventh round, the big bad bear sat on his seat, threw in the towel and Cassius is pronounced the winner. Sonny Liston’s only window of opportunity to reek out a victory happened in the middle rounds, when he temporarily blinded his opponent with an illegal toxin or so it was thought. But after a few rounds clinching and running, Clay’s sweat washed out the banned substance from his eyes, and he reclaimed control of the fight, blasting Liston until he quit. As the young 22year old heavyweight boxer from Louisville had predicted: Boxing fans around the world. Witnessed … "A total eclipse of the once mighty insurmountable and overwhelming Big Bad Bear.” Phantom Punch From Ali Knockout the Ex-Champion in the RematchAfter Cassius Clay beaten Liston, he confirmed that he had joined religious sect Nation of Islam, to become Muhammad Ali. Muhammad Ali’s first title defense was a rematch with Sonny Liston in Lewiston, Maine. Ali knocked out the former champion in the first round with a blow he moniker as the “anchor punch. At first inspection, it didn’t seem to carry enough force to KO a veteran fighter ex-champion. This bout ranks among the most hotly disputed and disreputable match of all time, for the ex-champion was known as owning a cast-iron chin. For most of Ali's career he was a light-hitting boxer who relied solely on speed rather than punching power. Analysis of the fight indicates that Liston was cleanly hit by a punch that lifted his foot off the boxing ring canvas and knocked him to the ground. How hurt the ex-champion? Really was something that no one will ever know. As for Liston, he fade out of the boxing world into obscurity. It is noted that the ex-champion had rather disturbed life as a child. Sonny Liston had to endure numerous amount of whippings from his father. Floyd Patterson Was Running Scared of Sony ListonSonny began working at an early age because of his father's attitude: His father was lacking in education and his main dictum to Liston was: "If you can sit at the table, you can work. Sonny learnt his boxing while serving time in prison for armed robbery. He turned professional in 1953 and speedily mount the heavyweight ranks of boxing, leaving behind a stream of knockout victims in which he destroyed top contenders such as Cleveland Williams, Nino Valdes, Zora Foley and Eddie Machen to position himself for a championship title fight. He became heavyweight champion of the world on the 25th of September 1962 knocking out Floyd Patterson in one round. In the rematch 10 months later the result was again a knockout in the first round for Sonny Liston. Sonny Liston was one hell of an awesome looking boxer. Floyd Patterson was running scared of Sonny and try to avoid him as much as he could. Patterson handlers made excuses to avoid Liston getting a shot at Floyd Patterson's title by making comments about Liston's links with the mafia, Carbo and Palermo. The mighty man had appeared unconquerable to them. |
