Fights against Liston
By late 1963, Cassius Clay had
become the top contender for Sonny Liston's title. The fight was for
February 25, 1964, in Miami Beach. Liston was an intimidating personality,
a dominating fighter with a criminal past and ties to the mob. Based
on Clay's uninspired performance against Jones and Cooper in his previous
two fights, and Liston's destruction of former heavyweight champion
Floyd Patterson in two first-round knockouts, Clay was a 7-1 underdog.
Despite this, Clay taunted Liston during the pre-fight buildup, dubbing
him "the big ugly bear", stating "Liston even smells like a bear"
and claiming "After I beat him I'm going to donate him to the zoo."
Clay turned the pre-fight weigh-in into a circus, shouting at Liston
that "someone is going to die at ringside tonight." Clay's pulse rate
was measured at 120, more than double his normal 54. Many of those
in attendance thought Clay's behavior stemmed from fear, and some
commentators wondered if he would show up for the bout.
The outcome
of the fight was a major upset. At the opening bell, Liston rushed
at Clay, seemingly angry and looking for a quick knockout. However,
Clay's superior speed and mobility enabled him to elude Liston, making
the champion miss and look awkward. At the end of the first round,
Clay opened up his attack and hit Liston repeatedly with jabs. Liston
fought better in round two, but at the beginning of the third round
Clay hit Liston with a combination that buckled his knees and opened
a cut under his left eye. This was the first time Liston had ever
been cut. At the end of round four, Clay was returning to his corner
when he began experiencing blinding pain in his eyes and asked his
trainer, Angelo Dundee, to cut off his gloves. Dundee refused. It
has been speculated that the problem was due to ointment used to seal
Liston's cuts, perhaps deliberately applied by his corner to his gloves.
Though unconfirmed, boxing historian Bert Sugar said that two of Liston's
opponents also complained about their eyes "burning".
Despite
Liston's attempts to knock out a blinded Clay, Clay was able to survive
the fifth round until sweat and tears rinsed the irritation from his
eyes. In the sixth, Clay dominated, hitting Liston repeatedly. Liston
did not answer the bell for the seventh round, and Clay was declared
the winner by TKO. Liston stated that the reason he quit was an injured
shoulder. Following the win, a triumphant Clay rushed to the edge
of the ring and, pointing to the ringside press, shouted: "Eat your
words!" He added, "I am the greatest! I shook up the world. I'm the
prettiest thing that ever lived."
At ringside post fight, clay
appeared unconvinced that the fight was stopped due to a Liston shoulder
injury, saying that the only injury Liston had was "an open eye, a
big cut eye!" When told by Joe Louis that the injury was a "left arm
thrown out of its socket," Clay quipped, "Yeah, swinging at nothing,
who wouldn't?"
In winning this fight at the age of 22, Clay became
the youngest boxer to take the title from a reigning heavyweight champion.
However, Floyd Patterson remained the youngest to win the heavyweight
championship, doing so at the age of 21 during and elimination bout
following Rocky Marciano's retirement. Mike Tyson broke both records
in 1986 when he defeated Trevor Berbick to win the heavyweight title
at age 20.
Soon after the Liston fight, Cassius Clay changed
his name to Cassius X, and then later to Muhammad Ali upon converting
to Islam and affiliating with the Nation of Islam. Ali then faced
a rematch with Liston scheduled for May 1965 in Lewiston, Maine. It
had been scheduled for Boston the previous November, but was postponed
for six months due to Ali's emergency surgery for a hernia three days
before. The fight was controversial. Midway through the first round,
Liston was knocked down by a difficult to see blow the press dubbed
a "phantom punch". Referee Jersey Joe Walcott did not begin the count
immediately after the knockdown, as Ali refused to retreat to a neutral
corner. Liston rose after he had been down for about 20 seconds, and
the fight momentarily continued. However a few seconds later Walcott,
having been informed by the timekeepers that Liston had been down
for a count of 10, stopped the match and declared Ali the winner by
knockout. The entire fight lasted less than two minutes.