Ali was the greatest, his funny yapping was the best. I loved watching all of his fights in the good old days for free on TV. What a great guy he was and a really good fighter. He made boxing popular.
Our grandfathers/great-grandfathers only got to see this ONCE, when it was live. Now Its 2024 and I can re-watch this whenever I want.... living in the future is great having access to these historical gems!
@@MrMarco855 no it wasnt. Second fight possibly. Sonny was trying to take Ali out in the 5th before he got his vision back. It didnt work and Sonny eventually gave up.
As unbelievable it may seems, there are young people who came to this videos not knowing the outcome. Please, don't mention the results in the introduction of the video. Thanks for keeping these good fights available. Keep it up.
literally don’t care, just needed the outcome. i didn’t know the outcome but i didn’t think to just look it up on google. because of this comment i forgot i could just go back to the beginning and find out who won. though even typing this now, i realize i could have just looked it up. more time wasted.
I'm one of those younger watchers, 22 years old and recently got an interest in watching this old boxing fights. I think it's super cool to see two machines clash. It's the pinnacle of strength and being a man. Amazing to see two dudes in their prime of their lives throwing punches at eachother that would kill a regular human. I'll watch the fight now for the first time ever, I know ali will win the world title but it doesn't matter let's go!!!!
Cassius clay grew up in a place where he was adored ! Sonny liston was born to a big violent sharecropper who beat him like a mule! ! His father tobe liston! Nobody new how old he was . Ali owed that man an apology as he got older ! Sonny liston never new real love other than Mrs Geraldine!
It helps to watch this fight in half speed to really pick up the movements of the Ali, the hand and foot speed mixed with the head movements etc...Heavyweight division had never seen anything like it before or since.
I recorded this fight on vhs tape from ESPN classic in 1999 and I asked my 70 year old uncle why did Cassius bow to that one fighter(Ray Robinson)? He just laughed and said because"that guy was pretty good in the ring."
Marciano was only beat washed up fighters and one of his relatives several times. In my opinion he is not even in the top 25 heavy weights. Now no white person would agree because they love this guy. Would not have done well with any of the recent fights.
WOW! I got to the part in Malcom X's autobiography that talks about this fight so I descided to look it up. This is straight up fucking anime! The skill on display and the drama! Amazing!
Eliis: "You're not that pretty" ha ha! What was *beautiful* was Clay's (calling him Ali then is anachronistic) technical mastery. The Modern Martial Artist covered it very well. Not just artfully docking, parrying, and moving, but also controlling Liston's body to keep him off balance and defuse his haymakers. Ali was to use that technique to great effect a decade later against Foreman.
WATCHING THIS FIGHT IN IRELAND 2024 CASSIUS WAS THE " THE BEST " UNBELIEVABLE FOR HOWARD COSSEL RIP SAYING TELL US THE TRUTH CASSIUS UNBELIEVABLE ???? SO SO PROUD OF MOHAMMED .. A REMARKABLE PERSON !!!
@@daviddennen7479 I fact braver to draft dodge than enlisting at that time his decision to stick to his guns and not fight in a war that he does not believe is for the right reasons is one of the bravest things a person could have done back then particularly with ali being a man of color he was hated by many for that at the time, and guess what he turned out to be correct, The Vietnam war was proven to be a senseless false flag based unnecessary war
Its crazy they boo'd Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay) at the time before the fight. That shows when you're about to peak into your greatness, you will be doubted but still push thru & overcome 💯💯
Sonny Liston couldn't even beat Ali when he cheated and put the stuff on Ali eyes Ali was hungry he wanted that title and Liston didn't train right for that fight and he was older than what they said here but still if he shouldn't have tried to cheat he couldn't even beat Ali cheating Ali was fast
"A bizzare ending to a bizzare night." What the heck are you talking about, Lampley??? CLAY BEAT UP LISTON & WON THE FIGHT!!! "Later that year..." NO, Liston-Clay 2/25/1964; Ali-Liston 5/25/1965.
Sonny didn't want to get knocked out and seriously hurt.. If he had continued his eyes could have been seriously damaged and eventually he would have succumb to the punches anyway.
I don't like to think Liston cheated, even Angelo Dundee says he thinks it was likely an accident that the ointment from Liston's corner got into Ali's eyes
That tells you how good Liston was. One judge had it tied 3-3 after 6 rounds, in a fixed fight. Liston won 3 rounds without fighting, he was ordered to quit, it was fixed by the mob.
@@MrMarco855 man be quiet you probably wasn’t even born yet and if you were you didn’t have any inside information on the fight fixing side of things. You going by what you heard not what you know which is nothing But this I know was true and facts and not something I heard. Black Muslim’s were there in that crowd low key there to support and protect young Cassius Clay and they had no fear of fight fixers or mafia members so that’s my point that paints your argument and lack of proof simply a false narrative. And one question. How old were you then? I was ten. Don’t lie. The one thing I have never heard my whole life is the first fight was fixed. Maybe the second fight but not the first so get outta here with that.
@@jessegibson7734 I was 8 when the fight took place, 68 today. That hardly matters. What matters is that I see a fix with my own eyes because I have good hand/eye coordination. I was a good athlete but more than that, I see things within a sporting event that others often miss. Not bragging, any skills we have came from God and we're all good at certain things. Sports is my thing. You talk about only knowing what I've heard, yet you say that you've never heard anyone say the first fight was fixed. If you never heard anyone say that then doesn't it make sense that I probably never heard it either? Nobody told me anything, I see the fix from a mile away. There were others, however, that were suspicious at the time. The boxing commission withheld Liston's purse until later, proving they were suspicious. The FBI investigated the fight, they made a report stating the fight was fixed. That report remained sealed for 50 years until the Washington Post received a copy thru the FOIA. Also, one of the men in Liston's corner that night came clean late in life. He said he wanted to clear his conscience before he died. He said the shoulder injury was made up; it was part of the fix. Watch the last 30 to 40 seconds of the last round. Liston threw 5 or 6 punches with his left hand. He was under no pressure from Ali at the time, they were fighting at a distance. Liston threw a left hook and 4 or 5 jabs. The bell rang, he went to sit down and within a few seconds he quit the fight. You tell me, would the HW champion quit on his stool from a severely injured arm/shoulder, right after throwing 5 or 6 punches with that arm when he didn't have to? How could he have been in such pain that he quit when 30 seconds before he was using his left arm freely? There's other evidence and unlike most Ali fans who come here and chastise me, I did a lot of research. I didn't need to do any research for my own sake, I did it for the naysayers who were too lazy to do it themselves. The first time I saw the fight was right after I retired. By the second round I nearly fell off my chair. The acting by Liston is so obvious that a blind person can see it. You guys are blinded by your man-crush on Ali. You're too invested emotionally to see what's right in front of you. Liston was guiding his jab left, right and too high. He held back many wide-open KO shots ( ask and I'll show you several times that he held back KO shots ). He intentionally followed too far away to land a decent shot. When he was right on top of Ali he held back and threw no punches, or a soft body shot instead of a left hook to the head. Liston threw far more body shots in this fight than in his other fights. Body shots are safe because you can 'hold' them without it being too obvious. It looks like you're landing something, he was intentionally not landing hard shots to the head. This was the easiest of fights to fix. Liston's management was the mob. Ali's trainer Angelo Dundee had mob friends. Angelo's brother was the promoter of the fight and he also had mob friends. The mob fixed almost all of the fights and the 50's and 60's were loaded with fixed fights. Both Liston/Ali fights were fixed. Ali was in one other fixed fight. The last fight before suspension with Zora Folley was fixed. Ask me if you want to know why the Folley fight was fixed......................... I always research things before I talk.
I’m a big Ali fan I always go back & watch his fights he’s the 🐐in my book that’s not even up for debate but the movie was very good I actually enjoyed it!
@@wesleypresley1000 I had an interesting encounter with a couple Aussie officers in Vietnam. We were in an officers club and wanting to be friendly I said to them, hello Diggers. They appeared shocked and Said, “We’re not diggers, we’re officers.” I thought I had insulted them. And asked what are Aussie officers? They said, “We’re a bunch of bloody bastards.” I had a good time with them.
Ali was so much better than Liston that Liston couldn't turn the fight around, even with Ali having to make it through the entire 5th round with both eyes "tied behind his back". Earlier in his career, Liston had stuck it out in fight with a broken jaw, but he didn't even want to come out for the 7th round against Ali, even to defend the heavyweight title. Not surprising that Liston wasn't enthusiastic about a rematch or that in the second fight he went down and out after a "phantom punch".
@@sunnymccoy9327 That is about right. According to Wikipedia, 7-1. Wikipedia says the odds against George Foreman were 4-1, which surprises me a little. I would have though he would have been an even bigger underdog in the later fight, but the betting odds against him vs Listen were even longer.
People talk about big bad Sonny and no doubt he was but they also forget that Ali was a big man also. 6'3" tall and for this fight 210 lbs. Plus he moved like nobody's business and his hands were blazingly fast. Add to that the fact that there was no way Sonny was "31" during this fight; more like 38 - 40 and Ali was 22. I hear people talking all the time about how Ali wasn't a big puncher like Liston, or Foreman, or Tyson. Well, very few people are but still a 6'3", 200 + lb man with blazing speed and who knows how to throw a punch is going to cause damage when he hits you.
This wasn't originally aired on HBO HBO wasn't even around or at least didn't broadcast its first boxing event until 1973 Joe Frazier versus George Foreman so he's kind of funny when you have HBO version like it's an HBO broadcast or something like that anyway just wanted to let you know that probably sounded like a jerk but...
Umm, sure. Though it's evident you know nothing about Intellectual Property, media or master rights, copyright, licensing or anything like that. But sure, complain about nothing, I guess. I'm happy to be be able to watch this. Easily. Right here on demand at home.
Liston was absolutely, completely, and totally outclassed. Embarrassing. Clay wouldve knocked him out in the 7th or 8th anyway. Bad shoulder or not. No doubt.
Were we watching the same fight because it looked pretty even to me and then Liston quit, so I don't see where he was outmatched. I think Liston would've knocked him down in the 7th or 8th by that perspective and I don't say that.
The only reason I know Ali would win against Mike Tyson, is because Ali may float like a butterfly, but he built himself up a tank, and doesn't go down unless you kill him. Its exactly why his body was destroyed in his last days That's why while Mike Tyson revered Ali, Sonny was his Idol. Mike wanted to be a monster like him, not a beast hunter like Ali.😂
Just before the bell rang to end the 3rd round, at 21:10 with 6 seconds left in the round, Liston leaps with a jab that missed. They're face-to-face, Ali bends forward and the left side of his face/head is wide open. Ali isn't moving his feet or his head, he's a stationary target at that point. Liston's right arm is free, he holds it up as if to throw a bomb to the side of Ali's face. He could have blasted Ali to the ear/temple, but he didn't. Instead, he tucked his head next to Ali's head, taps Ali with a soft left to his arm, then another left that misses to the left of Ali's head. That's the last few seconds, but let's go back to earlier in the 3rd round. 4 instances in which Liston could have hurt/KO'D Ali but he held back each time. At 19:26 he has Ali against the ropes, Liston's right hand is free. He taps Ali to his side twice, the referee breaks them apart. The left side of Ali's head was right there, wide open but Sonny throws twice to the body, nothing to the head. Right after that at 19:32 Liston is chasing while throwing 3 jabs. Ali is backed against the ropes, a sitting duck. Liston has to throw a punch because he's right on top of Ali. He softly floats a right that lands on Ali's head. Does anyone think that was Liston's full power, the hardest punch he could have thrown? He obviously held that punch. Right after that at 19:37 he chases Ali again, throwing 3 jabs that miss. At this point Ali is trapped in a corner. He can't slip away to the left or to the right. Liston has him pinned and Sonny's left arm is free. The referee is a bit late arriving, Liston could have thrown a huge left hook, but he throws nothing. Instead, he backs away and let's Ali walk out of the corner without having thrown a decent punch. It's ridiculous. Normally the ref would have had to scrape Liston off of Ali, Liston would have gone after him hard and landed at least one big shot. At 19:51 watch Sonny throw 3 pathetic jabs and a sissy right hand. Those aren't the fierce punches of Sonny Liston. At 20:20 Liston throws 4 more silly punches, all intentionally missed. Liston's throwing punches far too late, over Ali's head, guiding his jabs to one side or the other, holding back when a heavy shot is wide open. The next few seconds is the most obvious intentional failure by Liston. At 19:35 Liston chases Ali to the ropes, throwing a left that lands short on Ali's chest. Ali is bent over a little, in a vulnerable situation. The left side of Ali's head is wide open, Liston cocks his big right arm. He moves his right fist forward, the fight should have ended right there. Liston does something you'll never see again; after moving his right about a foot toward Ali's head, he stops the punch, switching to throw a love tap to Ali's body. A few seconds later he does the same thing again. At 20:42 he chases Ali again, throws 3 punches on the run as he's closing down on Ali. Ali is backed up to the ropes, at 20:46 Liston cocks his right arm, the left side of Ali's face is again wide open. Liston moves his right forward a bit before holding it back one more time...........The fight should have ended in the 3rd round, if not earlier. Liston held back his own KO shot twice, let Ali walk out of a trap in the corner and he floated a soft right down onto Ali's head in another sequence. Liston missed numerous jabs throughout the round, guiding them to intentionally miss. Was this fight fixed?
Ali was smothering Liston in most of you timestamps, grabbing onto him and clenching whenever he couldn't escape. I won't go through every point individually but at the moment at 21:10 , Liston was smothered. Ali held onto him so that he most likely couldn't put his hips into his right. He could have still thrown his right, but from that position, it could have landed to the back of Ali's temple, which would've been a fowl. Since Ali didn't have the strongest grasp on him, Liston COULD have stepped back to make room for his right, but like you said it was the towards the end of the fight and he could have been tired or reeling from that shoulder injury he had during and even before the fight. You were saying that "Those aren't the fierce punches of Sonny Liston". Well, that might be the reason for it. Sonny notoriously had a shoulder injury coming into the fight and was the reason the fight was stopped. If you want to argue about fixed fights, watch the rematch
@@godlion9808 Show me some hard shots that Liston landed. I saw 2 or 3 in the entire fight. One was a left hook but when it landed Liston froze the punch so there was no follow through. He landed it by mistake but was careful to hold it so as not to hurt Ali. Otherwise, I saw a jab or two, and a bunch of pitty-pat body punches. He ordinarily didn't throw many body shots but in this fight he threw a large number. He did that because body punches are easy to 'hold' and it's difficult to tell if that's what he's doing. It gave the appearance of Liston landing something rather than nothing, but it was designed to prevent him from having to throw a higher number of head shots. It's easier to see if punches to the head are being held or guided to miss, and if a solid head shot lands by accident it could screw up the arrangement. Watch Liston's jabs closely, he missed them left or right, curling his fist to one side or the other every time. You can see him doing it, many times he was straight in front of Ali and he threw a jab that he curled left or right at the last second. He was known for his powerful and accurate jab, everyone thinks Ali's head movement was the problem but that's ridiculous. Watch Henry Cooper in their first fight just 2 fights before this fight. You'll see Henry landed jabs and left hooks time after time. Cooper had slow feet and slow hands, a much shorter reach than Liston and yet he had a lot of success landing punches on Ali. It makes no sense. The same is true of Ali's fight with Doug Jones in Ali's last fight before this fight. Jones almost decked Ali in the first round as Ali tried to back away with his hands down. Jones and Cooper each had no problem landing numerous punches against Ali, both of them came close to beating Ali, but the great Sonny Liston couldn't land a decent punch, not even in a round where Ali 'saw only faint shadows', according to Ali himself. I see comments saying how amazing Ali was to avoid getting hit in that 'blinded' round, they say it's unbelievable. They're right, it's not believable that the great Sonny Liston, or any fighter for that matter, couldn't lay a glove on a blind man for an entire round. Anyone who accepts that Liston couldn't land a decent shot for 3 full minutes while Ali saw only shadows, is not being honest with themselves. Ali fans never consider the absurd circumstances of that round, they were elated that Ali survived and don't care how he managed it. They can make up an excuse with no problem, but the truth is that's not how it would have gone, no matter who the opponent was. No fighter can escape being hit for 3 minutes against another pro fighter if their vision was badly compromised, it's not the least bit plausible. That situation alone should raise a ton of red flags but it's only one small piece of an overall ton of evidence that proves the fight was fixed. The FBI said it was fixed. A few years ago the Washington Post obtained an FBI report that had been sealed for 50 years. In the report the agents working the case all believed the fight was fixed. A man named Ash Resnick was known to be the fight fixing man in Las Vegas for the mob. Years later a friend of his named Barnie Magids told a story about the fight. He said that Resnick asked him to join him in Miami for the weekend of the fight. Resnick initially told Magids that Liston would KO Ali in one or 2 rounds, Magids was planning to lay down a bet on Liston. Resnick changed his story before the fight took place, he called Magids and told him to forego betting on Liston, saying he would explain it later. One of Liston's cornermen on that night made a confession late in life. He said he wanted to clear his conscience before he died, saying the claim of a shoulder injury was an invented lie to accommodate the fix. A story was published in Life magazine after the fight, it claimed that Ash Resnick lost a bundle betting on Liston in the fight. A mobster later revealed that this story was planted as a cover for Resnick's involvement in fixing the fight. The logic being if it was accepted that Resnick lost a lot betting on Liston, he certainly wouldn't be suspected of being involved in a fix that had Liston losing. How did the story find its way into the magazine? The mob had tentacles everywhere. This was among the easiest of fights to fix, and at 7 to 1 odds there was a truckload of cash to be made. Liston was managed by the mob, Ali's trainer Dundee was known to have mob friends. Dundee's brother also had mob friends, and he was the official promoter of the fight. There were mob connections on all sides involved, and the mob was fixing most/all of the fights. There's more evidence, but in my opinion the best evidence was the fight itself. To a diehard Ali fan, he won and they refuse to hear anything else about the fight. That's understandable to a degree, the 2 fights with Liston were the foundation for Ali's legacy. Wherever Muhammad Ali is today, he agrees with me. He doesn't need nor want those fixed fights on his record, he knows that now. He was one of the best HW fighters in history, he doesn't need fake fights to add to an already great legacy. He wasn't the architect of the arrangement, but he had no choice but to go along. The mob didn't take no for an answer. Ali had one more fixed fight in his career, there was a reason for it, I'll share the story if anyone cares to hear it. This is too long already, some will let me know in a response that 'they won't read all of that'. Reading is bad for some people I guess.
It's too bad there isn't a better quality tape of this fight. It doesn't have enough frames. You can't see just how fast and hard they are throwing their punches because of the very slight time delay in the recording.
Scored it 58 to 56 for ali liston did not have a shoulder injury he made it up on the spot so they could the rematch his cornermen said that when interviewed and someone sin him throwing a chair in the dressing room with the same arm
In the intro the guys says that young Cassius 'declared himself the greatest, and no one could argue with him'. I can argue with him. HBO and Sports illustrated should be ashamed of themselves. Sports illustrated named this as one of the greatest sporting events of all times. HBO is here touting this as a huge upset by Ali. These are 2 of the biggest entities in the world of sports, and yet both of them have egg on their faces for not recognizing this as a fixed fight. I'm not guessing, I did a lot of research. It wasn't done for my benefit; I saw that the fight was fixed the first time I watched it. I did the research for the naysayers, almost everyone is convinced that this was a real fight. I'll bet my house that it was fixed.
The people owned ALL of boxing not just a fighter. Rocky Marciano an Italian who grew up with mobsters was clean in a mob run sport as you claim but Ali wasn't lmao and what about his more dangerous fights like Foreman, Frazier, Norton, those were fixed too LMAO sit down
@@ronmatthews If you disagree with me that's fine, but don't add things that I didn't say trying to make me look bad. The fights with Foreman, Frazier and Norton were not fixed. You must have forgotten that Ali lost 2 of those fights, many think he lost to Norton at least twice. There's no reason to claim those fights were fixed since Ali lost 2 of them. Ali had 3 fixed fights in his career. Both against Liston and the fight against Zora Folley. The Liston fights were fixed so the mob could make a ton of cash. The Folley fight was a completely different thing. I'll explain if you want to hear it. I said I did research but you call me a liar without knowing anything about it. Why is that? You're reacting emotionally, not with respect. There's only one truth, being mean-spirited has no effect on the truth of the matter. I've been a fight fan for 60 plus years. I listened to this fight with my dad on a very old radio when I was 8 in 1964. I thought Ali won the fight, case closed. Until, that is, I retired about 10 years ago. I saw the fight for the first time, about fell off of my chair. I saw the fix within 2 rounds, still can't believe others don't see it. Nobody believed me, so I decided to research it. I like the truth, don't want to say things I can't back up, will apologize if I'm proven wrong. I found a lot of evidence, you have to search for it. About 10 years ago the Washington Post obtained a letter that had been sealed for 50 years. It was a report by the FBI regarding this fight. The agents on the case unanimously believed that the fight was fixed. Also, one of Liston's cornermen on that night made an admission late in life. He didn't want to die with something on his conscience. He said the Liston shoulder injury was not real, they made it up. The shoulder injury has aways been the primary excuse to explain Liston quitting on his stool, but his shoulder was fine. Watch the last 30 or 40 seconds of the last round. You'll see Liston throw several jabs and a left hook, all with his 'badly injured' left shoulder. The bell rings to end the round, within 30 seconds the same shoulder Liston just used to throw 4 or 5 punches suddenly becomes so painful he has to surrender his coveted title. Why did he use his left in those last few seconds when he didn't have to, if it was so severely injured? There's no logical reason, and the fact that he used it matches the story given by one of his cornermen, that the injury did not exist. Years after the fight a man named Bernie Magids told a story. He was good friends with Ash Resnick, the man known to be the mob's fight-fixing guru in Las Vegas. Magids said he was invited by Resnick to spend that weekend with him in Miami. He said that Resnick told him that Liston would KO Ali in a couple of rounds. Magids was set to make a wager on Liston until Resnick called him again a few days before the fight. He told Magids to cancel his plan to bet on Liston, said he would explain later. Right after the fight Joe Louis went to get an interview with Sonny in the ring. When Joe returned, he reported that Liston's doctor wouldn't permit him to be interviewed. This is ridiculous, that Liston's doctor was right there not allowing interviews after the fight. Was his shoulder so badly injured that he couldn't speak? They didn't want Liston to be interviewed for fear that he would say something wrong to give away the fix. Watch Liston on his stool after the 6th but before the fight was ended. He was calm, not complaining, not pointing to his shoulder. Nobody was inspecting his shoulder, nothing. How could his doctor say he wasn't able to give an interview? All of these things can be found just as I found them, and there are other things. For example, an oft used excuse to explain how Ali beat this juggernaut was that Liston was much older than reported. Some claim he was as old as 45 or even older. It's all nonsense, they needed to invent these things to explain away the extreme unlikelihood that Ali could beat Liston. Sonny was born in May of 1932, he was 31 for this fight and in fine condition. His mother confirmed that he was born in May of 1932. Others say he took Ali lightly and didn't train. He had a reputation for training hard for every fight. Others said he was out drinking the night before, Liston took every fight seriously, he did no such thing. Some even claim he feared Ali because of how wild Ali was acting. Liston got into an altercation with a uniformed cop once. The cop called him a nxxxxx, Liston dumped the cop head first into a garbage can, relieving him of his revolver in the process. Does that sound like a man that would fear the b.s. of a 21 year old kid? One thing nobody ever considers; Ali's team kept him away from Eddie Machen at this time, thinking that Machen was too strong and experienced for the very young Cassius Clay. Every management team does the same thing, they would never put a very promising 21 year old fighter in with a highly ranked, rugged opponent. What's the hurry? It could only screw up/end the career of a young talent by rushing him along too fast. This can be verified, and Ali never fought Machen. The question is, would any team have put Ali in with a much tougher opponent like Liston at the age of 21, risking his entire career by rushing him along too quickly? The answer is no, no manager in his right mind would have put Ali in with Liston, who was thought of by the entire world as unbeatable. Why sacrifice this talented young fighter against a proven destroyer like Liston so early in his career? There is no answer to this mystery, ask 100 trainers today, they will all tell you it would be absurd to do such a thing.
Liston shows more athleticism here than Frazier and arguably as good as Tyson...I think Liston would have outpointed Foreman...just outclassed by prime or near prime Clay/Ali.
I don't see Liston having more athleticism than Frazier and Tyson here. He was always flat-footed and stiff in my eyes. His two greatest weapons were his jab and power (which were aided by his exceptionally long reach for his height). I think Tyson had more torque and speed to his punch followed by Frazier. Liston simply had heavy hands the same way Foreman didn't look like he had great speed but he just had a lot more power than his opponents. Frazier had more bobbing and weaving while Tyson had more side to side movement under his Pea-a-boo stance too.
@@seniordavidmanderson9232 A young Lennox Lewis was knocked out by Oliver McCall. An older Lennox Lewis was better. Neither would have beaten Ali in his prime. I would put anybody in the ring on Nov. 14, 1966 and they would have lost. That was the night Ali dismantled Cleveland Williams
@@seniordavidmanderson9232 You're fighting the good fight against nothing :-) What do liberals and the Black Lives Matter Movement have to do with Muhammad Ali fans? Who's brainwashed here? He was the most popular and recognizable athlete in the world in the 20th century. His fans have all kinds of global political views. Stick to boxing with your commentary. You seem to have some knowledge there. Outside of that topic, you are a biased, and blathering fool. The world doesn't care about your dopey culture wars.
@@seniordavidmanderson9232 Good info on Williams. Makes sense now why Ali was so dominant. As for the rest of your biased ramblings. I suggest some yoga and a vacation. It takes a whole lot less energy to be less judgemental and biased. Carrying around all that hate will give you angina.
@@seniordavidmanderson9232 Yet, that same man who was in diapers at 50, was the most feared man in sports when he fought Ali. Nobody believed Ali had a chance. He dismantled Paterson twice and looked to be invincible.
Always so frustrating to watch. Why did he quit? No reason to give up the fight. He was still strong, and the match was almost even with his long reach compensating Alis speed.
The makings of Muhammad Ali. " Love it he wouldn't give them So,and,So mf a chance to talk. Ali didn't give a #u@k about all those who thought that Muhammad Ali would get knocked out. Sunny Liston stop, because he didn't want to get knocked out.
Liston's true age was uncertain because it was not recorded, but he surely appeared much older than the 31 years of age at the time. For comparison, Tyson was 31 when he fought Holyfield in 1997 and Tyson looked much younger in that fight than Liston looked in this fight. Based on the way Liston looked, he was probably closer to between 38 and 40 at the time of this fight in 1964. This meant the 24-year old Cassius Clay beat a 38-year old Liston. Liston was no longer in his prime.
![MUHAMMAD ALI vs SONNY LISTON [ 1 ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/UTqWvCJT0B8/mqdefault.jpg)
Anyone watching in 2024!? Love Ali! My dads favorite and also one of mine
Yep...still watch it in 2024. Must have been amazing live.
Yup
@@Brett-zh5rz
Can't imagine having Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano watching ringside. So many boxing historical figures in one video.
Ali was the greatest, his funny yapping was the best. I loved watching all of his fights in the good old days for free on TV. What a great guy he was and a really good fighter. He made boxing popular.
You saw Ali fight, LIVE!? You're a lucky man, sir (assuming you are a man.) I wish you all the best.
I was just 7 years when the fight took place. Ali was indeed a very good fighter.
Bro this f*cking video is like gold now glad someone kept it after this long. 🙂
Invaluable
Our grandfathers/great-grandfathers only got to see this ONCE, when it was live.
Now Its 2024 and I can re-watch this whenever I want.... living in the future is great having access to these historical gems!
yes.
I was 3 days old during this fight
“If you like to lose your money be a fool & bet on Sonny” 😂😂
wasn't that for rocky marciano "if you like to lose your money bet against rocky"
@@yes-qw6omlmao just sf b
@@yes-qw6om علي افضل من روكي
i know i am just comparing the quote@@ahmedahmed-rr2wp
Liston must have heard Ali say that, because he bet against himself and made about 1 million$.
Ali’s victory dance 33:15 is legendary!
The “Ali Shuffle”
I used to love these HBO specials back in the day.
Round 5- the best display of keeping away from an opponent I've ever seen.
It was fixed, Liston was being careful to avoid hitting Ali.
Moron 🤦 Ali wasn't even well known at that time, he was basically a bum @@MrMarco855
@@MrMarco855 no it wasnt. Second fight possibly. Sonny was trying to take Ali out in the 5th before he got his vision back. It didnt work and Sonny eventually gave up.
@@MrMarco855 Ali fixed it with his right hook and jab lol
@@ronmatthews Haha. You tell him, Ron!
The greatest of all time!!
Using Dirty tactics.
@@Facelessman254 like? Was staying in the ropes against Foreman a dirty tactic?
Agree
Cus D’Amato claimed Ali was the boxing wizard.
@Crappie Chancellor you just don't see it
60 years to the day today since that fight.
As unbelievable it may seems, there are young people who came to this videos not knowing the outcome.
Please, don't mention the results in the introduction of the video.
Thanks for keeping these good fights available.
Keep it up.
Thank you!
literally don’t care, just needed the outcome. i didn’t know the outcome but i didn’t think to just look it up on google. because of this comment i forgot i could just go back to the beginning and find out who won. though even typing this now, i realize i could have just looked it up. more time wasted.
I'm one of those younger watchers, 22 years old and recently got an interest in watching this old boxing fights. I think it's super cool to see two machines clash. It's the pinnacle of strength and being a man. Amazing to see two dudes in their prime of their lives throwing punches at eachother that would kill a regular human. I'll watch the fight now for the first time ever, I know ali will win the world title but it doesn't matter let's go!!!!
@@Dripxo Congratulations: you just played yourself.
Me ✌🏼 haha
Cassius clay grew up in a place where he was adored ! Sonny liston was born to a big violent sharecropper who beat him like a mule! ! His father tobe liston! Nobody new how old he was . Ali owed that man an apology as he got older ! Sonny liston never new real love other than Mrs Geraldine!
I agree but Liston was kind of an A hole. Sonny pissed of the government just as much as Clay did but he doesn't get the praise.
Yup he shook up the world! Huge underdog in this. Became the Greatest Heavyweight Champ ever for sure!
This post fight is the greatest piece of sports cinema in history
No matter how hard the audience tried to disrespect Ali he was always the greatest of all time.
I typically watch this bout five or six times a year. It had so many plot twists in such a short time.
It helps to watch this fight in half speed to really pick up the movements of the Ali, the hand and foot speed mixed with the head movements etc...Heavyweight division had never seen anything like it before or since.
man all the goats were there joe louis rocky marciano sugar ray robinson damn even ali bowed to ray!! when greatness meets greatness
I recorded this fight on vhs tape from ESPN classic in 1999 and I asked my 70 year old uncle why did Cassius bow to that one fighter(Ray Robinson)? He just laughed and said because"that guy was pretty good in the ring."
joe Louis would be a cruiser weight by today’s standard and rocky Marciano would be a small slow light heavyweight by today’s standard .
Marciano was only beat washed up fighters and one of his relatives several times. In my opinion he is not even in the top 25 heavy weights. Now no white person would agree because they love this guy. Would not have done well with any of the recent fights.
What's in the food champ?@@protectorategeneral
Joe Calzaghe..Cuck Much?@@proplayer566
WOW! I got to the part in Malcom X's autobiography that talks about this fight so I descided to look it up. This is straight up fucking anime! The skill on display and the drama! Amazing!
Eliis: "You're not that pretty" ha ha! What was *beautiful* was Clay's (calling him Ali then is anachronistic) technical mastery. The Modern Martial Artist covered it very well. Not just artfully docking, parrying, and moving, but also controlling Liston's body to keep him off balance and defuse his haymakers. Ali was to use that technique to great effect a decade later against Foreman.
crazy he predicted the round
WATCHING THIS FIGHT IN IRELAND 2024 CASSIUS WAS THE " THE BEST " UNBELIEVABLE FOR HOWARD COSSEL RIP SAYING TELL US THE TRUTH CASSIUS UNBELIEVABLE ???? SO SO PROUD OF MOHAMMED .. A REMARKABLE PERSON !!!
thanks to admin for this precious video ❤
A young fighter with great reflexes. Sonny didn't have a chance.
Did that ring announcer say “two more bouts will follow” ?? The heavyweight championship of the world wasn’t even the co-main event?
"He wanted to go to heaven so i took him in seven"😂
Ali was a man born brave
Simply put, "The Greatest."
أحسنت قول
Brave at draft dodging 😂
@@daviddennen7479 I fact braver to draft dodge than enlisting at that time his decision to stick to his guns and not fight in a war that he does not believe is for the right reasons is one of the bravest things a person could have done back then particularly with ali being a man of color he was hated by many for that at the time, and guess what he turned out to be correct, The Vietnam war was proven to be a senseless false flag based unnecessary war
@@daviddennen7479 Ask the US Supreme Court, you phony “patriot.”
Its crazy they boo'd Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay) at the time before the fight. That shows when you're about to peak into your greatness, you will be doubted but still push thru & overcome 💯💯
The crowd also booed Liston before he fought Patterson
Ali wasn't liked back then like he is today back then he was like what Floyd Mayweather is today every body wanted to see him loose
Sonny Liston was a very good boxer, unfortunately for him Ali was much better.
and half his age
Age was a factor vs the earlier liston. Similar to leonard hagler when hagler was too slow
Sonny Liston couldn't even beat Ali when he cheated and put the stuff on Ali eyes Ali was hungry he wanted that title and Liston didn't train right for that fight and he was older than what they said here but still if he shouldn't have tried to cheat he couldn't even beat Ali cheating Ali was fast
Preach
@@roisingtommyali was eight years younger than sonny. Everybody thought ali was gonna get destroyed
Who's here after the Fury Wilder 3? Just to see how it used to be done back then.
nobody even watches today's fights they all boring
"A bizzare ending to a bizzare night." What the heck are you talking about, Lampley???
CLAY BEAT UP LISTON & WON THE FIGHT!!!
"Later that year..."
NO, Liston-Clay 2/25/1964; Ali-Liston 5/25/1965.
0:47 clay will make the prediction about the ringside crowd
Sonny didn't want to get knocked out and seriously hurt.. If he had continued his eyes could have been seriously damaged and eventually he would have succumb to the punches anyway.
To think sonny cheated and still gave up. Ali was such a boss. "He wanted to go to heaven, so i took him in the 7th" - Ali
I don't like to think Liston cheated, even Angelo Dundee says he thinks it was likely an accident that the ointment from Liston's corner got into Ali's eyes
Alis’ bow to sugar ray robinson what a moment!
The interview was definitely better than the fight.
My favorite boxing match of all time
Same 👌🏾
My favorite fight with Ali was when he fought Joe Frazier
The Thrilla was the best for me. Brutal.
Mine is Buster Douglas beating Mike Tyson.
"The man stopped it just to keep from making me look so great!" Lol
Classic line👍
My scorecards
Rnd 1: 10-9 cassius clay
Rnd 2: 10-9 Sonny Liston
Rnd 3 10-10 Draw
Rnd 4 10-9 Cassius clay
Rnd 5 10-9 Sonny Liston
Rnd 6 10-9 Cassius clay
(And we got the tko rnd 7 clay wins) 58-57
I would say Ali won the third round
That tells you how good Liston was. One judge had it tied 3-3 after 6 rounds, in a fixed fight. Liston won 3 rounds without fighting, he was ordered to quit, it was fixed by the mob.
@@MrMarco855Liston was a monster man
@@MrMarco855this one wasn’t fixed. The rematch was
@@KG33573 I respect your opinion but I did a lot of research, both Liston/Ali fights were fixed.
Sonny’s lack of respect to Ali was his downfall, he was not ready for Ali’s unorthodox boxing style.
Why was he not ready? He had film to study, it's not plausible to say that he didn't know Ali's boxing style.
That iconic expression on his face after he defeated Liston is priceless...lol
Amazing! His jab was awesome
Ali made Liston look like a street brawler, and Liston paid the price! And these commentators suck.
If these two fought 10 times in a row Ali would have won nine
Liston would probably have died on the canvas or through the ropes second or third march against Ali.
Liston would probably have died on the canvas or through the ropes second or third march against Ali.
The excuses made for Sonny are mind boggling and Joe the Brown Bomber Louis is co signing them.
You're right. No excuses were necessary because the fight was fixed.
fixed fight my as, why the heck would the mob want sonny to lose, in fact they would want him to in so they could get money@@MrMarco855
@@MrMarco855 man be quiet you probably wasn’t even born yet and if you were you didn’t have any inside information on the fight fixing side of things.
You going by what you heard not what you know which is nothing But this I know was true and facts and not something I heard. Black Muslim’s were there in that crowd low key there to support and protect young Cassius Clay and they had no fear of fight fixers or mafia members so that’s my point that paints your argument and lack of proof simply a false narrative.
And one question. How old were you then? I was ten. Don’t lie. The one thing I have never heard my whole life is the first fight was fixed. Maybe the second fight but not the first so get outta here with that.
@@jessegibson7734 I was 8 when the fight took place, 68 today. That hardly matters. What matters is that I see a fix with my own eyes because I have good hand/eye coordination. I was a good athlete but more than that, I see things within a sporting event that others often miss. Not bragging, any skills we have came from God and we're all good at certain things. Sports is my thing.
You talk about only knowing what I've heard, yet you say that you've never heard anyone say the first fight was fixed. If you never heard anyone say that then doesn't it make sense that I probably never heard it either? Nobody told me anything, I see the fix from a mile away. There were others, however, that were suspicious at the time. The boxing commission withheld Liston's purse until later, proving they were suspicious. The FBI investigated the fight, they made a report stating the fight was fixed. That report remained sealed for 50 years until the Washington Post received a copy thru the FOIA. Also, one of the men in Liston's corner that night came clean late in life. He said he wanted to clear his conscience before he died. He said the shoulder injury was made up; it was part of the fix.
Watch the last 30 to 40 seconds of the last round. Liston threw 5 or 6 punches with his left hand. He was under no pressure from Ali at the time, they were fighting at a distance. Liston threw a left hook and 4 or 5 jabs. The bell rang, he went to sit down and within a few seconds he quit the fight. You tell me, would the HW champion quit on his stool from a severely injured arm/shoulder, right after throwing 5 or 6 punches with that arm when he didn't have to? How could he have been in such pain that he quit when 30 seconds before he was using his left arm freely?
There's other evidence and unlike most Ali fans who come here and chastise me, I did a lot of research. I didn't need to do any research for my own sake, I did it for the naysayers who were too lazy to do it themselves. The first time I saw the fight was right after I retired. By the second round I nearly fell off my chair. The acting by Liston is so obvious that a blind person can see it.
You guys are blinded by your man-crush on Ali. You're too invested emotionally to see what's right in front of you. Liston was guiding his jab left, right and too high. He held back many wide-open KO shots ( ask and I'll show you several times that he held back KO shots ). He intentionally followed too far away to land a decent shot. When he was right on top of Ali he held back and threw no punches, or a soft body shot instead of a left hook to the head. Liston threw far more body shots in this fight than in his other fights. Body shots are safe because you can 'hold' them without it being too obvious. It looks like you're landing something, he was intentionally not landing hard shots to the head.
This was the easiest of fights to fix. Liston's management was the mob. Ali's trainer Angelo Dundee had mob friends. Angelo's brother was the promoter of the fight and he also had mob friends. The mob fixed almost all of the fights and the 50's and 60's were loaded with fixed fights. Both Liston/Ali fights were fixed. Ali was in one other fixed fight. The last fight before suspension with Zora Folley was fixed. Ask me if you want to know why the Folley fight was fixed......................... I always research things before I talk.
Fast moving "Catch us!" Clay!🙃
Who looking at this fight cause you seen “A Night In Miami movie”
I’m a big Ali fan I always go back & watch his fights he’s the 🐐in my book that’s not even up for debate but the movie was very good I actually enjoyed it!
Godfather of harlem
The guy who played Muhammad did a great job in that film as well!
The beginning......
How can a guy that pretty be willing to get in the ring and get his face messy
I watch this every time I get I love Ali
Ali got mad in round 6
That’s so AWESOME
Joe sounding salty af🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Ali the Greatest!!
READING NOW MOHAMMED ALI AUTOBIOGRAPHY " I AM THE GREATEST _ MY OWN STORY" ......... hard to believe the GUTS & LOVE OF ALI for HUMAN RACE
So scum of Liston to play dirty with the fluid on his gloves to blind Ali
Ali: Am I pretty, Sam?
Cook: You are beautiful
Ali: Did I shook up the world?
Cook: You are beautiful
Cute little conversation.😀
De esa pelea hacen 60 años, y Listón fue uno de los boxeadores más desalgonizado que Ali peleó, la es bisto varias veces, Tony Llano.
I listened to this while in a tent on the Dominican Republic capital grounds. We (American Forces) were fighting DR Rebels.
Wow mate.what a story.I'm aussie.,V VET.
@@wesleypresley1000 I had an interesting encounter with a couple Aussie officers in Vietnam. We were in an officers club and wanting to be friendly I said to them, hello Diggers. They appeared shocked and Said, “We’re not diggers, we’re officers.” I thought I had insulted them. And asked what are Aussie officers? They said, “We’re a bunch of bloody bastards.” I had a good time with them.
Robinson 5x middleweight champ and Louis almost 12 year reign .......guy's reading from a card too
This scene was enacted in an entirely diff manner in the movie named Ali(starring Will Smith).
Ali was so much better than Liston that Liston couldn't turn the fight around, even with Ali having to make it through the entire 5th round with both eyes "tied behind his back". Earlier in his career, Liston had stuck it out in fight with a broken jaw, but he didn't even want to come out for the 7th round against Ali, even to defend the heavyweight title. Not surprising that Liston wasn't enthusiastic about a rematch or that in the second fight he went down and out after a "phantom punch".
Liston was also old over the hill by the time of this fight
Was Liston not 8 to 1 odds on favourite for this fight...?
@@sunnymccoy9327 That is about right. According to Wikipedia, 7-1. Wikipedia says the odds against George Foreman were 4-1, which surprises me a little. I would have though he would have been an even bigger underdog in the later fight, but the betting odds against him vs Listen were even longer.
The fight was fixed.
"Liston is on the retreat, if he goes back any further, he'll be in a ring side seat!"
People talk about big bad Sonny and no doubt he was but they also forget that Ali was a big man also. 6'3" tall and for this fight 210 lbs. Plus he moved like nobody's business and his hands were blazingly fast. Add to that the fact that there was no way Sonny was "31" during this fight; more like 38 - 40 and Ali was 22. I hear people talking all the time about how Ali wasn't a big puncher like Liston, or Foreman, or Tyson. Well, very few people are but still a 6'3", 200 + lb man with blazing speed and who knows how to throw a punch is going to cause damage when he hits you.
The good era of boxing
This wasn't originally aired on HBO HBO wasn't even around or at least didn't broadcast its first boxing event until 1973 Joe Frazier versus George Foreman so he's kind of funny when you have HBO version like it's an HBO broadcast or something like that anyway just wanted to let you know that probably sounded like a jerk but...
Umm, sure. Though it's evident you know nothing about Intellectual Property, media or master rights, copyright, licensing or anything like that. But sure, complain about nothing, I guess. I'm happy to be be able to watch this. Easily. Right here on demand at home.
magnificent M😎
he said cassius clay is not his name stop calling him that his name is muhammed ali.
Actually his name, by that time, was indeed Cassius Clay...
fiucik1 but he did not like people calling him Cassius clay after he became muslim
@@fiucik1 But after liston's match he become "Muhammad Ali", that's his name, we're not in 1963
@@seniordavidmanderson9232 because you are a dumb moron don’t even understand HISTORY
@@seniordavidmanderson9232 And I care about him because he inspired me but you could stay there just talking ugly
Mike Tyson summed it up perfectly Muhamed Ali was the greatest boxer God put on Earth.
Liston was absolutely, completely, and totally outclassed. Embarrassing. Clay wouldve knocked him out in the 7th or 8th anyway. Bad shoulder or not. No doubt.
Listing was too old by the time of that five; similar to Hagler fighting Leonard when Leonard delayed for a long time until Hagler got slow
Were we watching the same fight because it looked pretty even to me and then Liston quit, so I don't see where he was outmatched. I think Liston would've knocked him down in the 7th or 8th by that perspective and I don't say that.
He knew they comment the way he want it so he did it by himself i am the greatest, i shook the world ,i am pretty ❤
The only reason I know Ali would win against Mike Tyson, is because Ali may float like a butterfly, but he built himself up a tank, and doesn't go down unless you kill him. Its exactly why his body was destroyed in his last days That's why while Mike Tyson revered Ali, Sonny was his Idol. Mike wanted to be a monster like him, not a beast hunter like Ali.😂
I shook up the world... I must be the greatest.
Just before the bell rang to end the 3rd round, at 21:10 with 6 seconds left in the round, Liston leaps with a jab that missed. They're face-to-face, Ali bends forward and the left side of his face/head is wide open. Ali isn't moving his feet or his head, he's a stationary target at that point. Liston's right arm is free, he holds it up as if to throw a bomb to the side of Ali's face. He could have blasted Ali to the ear/temple, but he didn't. Instead, he tucked his head next to Ali's head, taps Ali with a soft left to his arm, then another left that misses to the left of Ali's head.
That's the last few seconds, but let's go back to earlier in the 3rd round. 4 instances in which Liston could have hurt/KO'D Ali but he held back each time. At 19:26 he has Ali against the ropes, Liston's right hand is free. He taps Ali to his side twice, the referee breaks them apart. The left side of Ali's head was right there, wide open but Sonny throws twice to the body, nothing to the head. Right after that at 19:32 Liston is chasing while throwing 3 jabs. Ali is backed against the ropes, a sitting duck. Liston has to throw a punch because he's right on top of Ali. He softly floats a right that lands on Ali's head. Does anyone think that was Liston's full power, the hardest punch he could have thrown? He obviously held that punch.
Right after that at 19:37 he chases Ali again, throwing 3 jabs that miss. At this point Ali is trapped in a corner. He can't slip away to the left or to the right. Liston has him pinned and Sonny's left arm is free. The referee is a bit late arriving, Liston could have thrown a huge left hook, but he throws nothing. Instead, he backs away and let's Ali walk out of the corner without having thrown a decent punch. It's ridiculous. Normally the ref would have had to scrape Liston off of Ali, Liston would have gone after him hard and landed at least one big shot.
At 19:51 watch Sonny throw 3 pathetic jabs and a sissy right hand. Those aren't the fierce punches of Sonny Liston. At 20:20 Liston throws 4 more silly punches, all intentionally missed. Liston's throwing punches far too late, over Ali's head, guiding his jabs to one side or the other, holding back when a heavy shot is wide open.
The next few seconds is the most obvious intentional failure by Liston. At 19:35 Liston chases Ali to the ropes, throwing a left that lands short on Ali's chest. Ali is bent over a little, in a vulnerable situation. The left side of Ali's head is wide open, Liston cocks his big right arm. He moves his right fist forward, the fight should have ended right there. Liston does something you'll never see again; after moving his right about a foot toward Ali's head, he stops the punch, switching to throw a love tap to Ali's body.
A few seconds later he does the same thing again. At 20:42 he chases Ali again, throws 3 punches on the run as he's closing down on Ali. Ali is backed up to the ropes, at 20:46 Liston cocks his right arm, the left side of Ali's face is again wide open. Liston moves his right forward a bit before holding it back one more time...........The fight should have ended in the 3rd round, if not earlier. Liston held back his own KO shot twice, let Ali walk out of a trap in the corner and he floated a soft right down onto Ali's head in another sequence. Liston missed numerous jabs throughout the round, guiding them to intentionally miss. Was this fight fixed?
Ali was smothering Liston in most of you timestamps, grabbing onto him and clenching whenever he couldn't escape. I won't go through every point individually but at the moment at 21:10 , Liston was smothered. Ali held onto him so that he most likely couldn't put his hips into his right. He could have still thrown his right, but from that position, it could have landed to the back of Ali's temple, which would've been a fowl. Since Ali didn't have the strongest grasp on him, Liston COULD have stepped back to make room for his right, but like you said it was the towards the end of the fight and he could have been tired or reeling from that shoulder injury he had during and even before the fight. You were saying that "Those aren't the fierce punches of Sonny Liston". Well, that might be the reason for it. Sonny notoriously had a shoulder injury coming into the fight and was the reason the fight was stopped. If you want to argue about fixed fights, watch the rematch
I agree, that wasn’t the Sonny we knew. Not very aggressive and not landing or even really trying to land some of his major shots
@@amosdraak3536Ali just got a chin, sonny threw bombs that landed
Sonny was throwing punches from the grassy knoll, but Elvis stepped in to save Clay. Fixed fight.
@@godlion9808 Show me some hard shots that Liston landed. I saw 2 or 3 in the entire fight. One was a left hook but when it landed Liston froze the punch so there was no follow through. He landed it by mistake but was careful to hold it so as not to hurt Ali. Otherwise, I saw a jab or two, and a bunch of pitty-pat body punches. He ordinarily didn't throw many body shots but in this fight he threw a large number. He did that because body punches are easy to 'hold' and it's difficult to tell if that's what he's doing. It gave the appearance of Liston landing something rather than nothing, but it was designed to prevent him from having to throw a higher number of head shots. It's easier to see if punches to the head are being held or guided to miss, and if a solid head shot lands by accident it could screw up the arrangement.
Watch Liston's jabs closely, he missed them left or right, curling his fist to one side or the other every time. You can see him doing it, many times he was straight in front of Ali and he threw a jab that he curled left or right at the last second. He was known for his powerful and accurate jab, everyone thinks Ali's head movement was the problem but that's ridiculous. Watch Henry Cooper in their first fight just 2 fights before this fight. You'll see Henry landed jabs and left hooks time after time. Cooper had slow feet and slow hands, a much shorter reach than Liston and yet he had a lot of success landing punches on Ali. It makes no sense.
The same is true of Ali's fight with Doug Jones in Ali's last fight before this fight. Jones almost decked Ali in the first round as Ali tried to back away with his hands down. Jones and Cooper each had no problem landing numerous punches against Ali, both of them came close to beating Ali, but the great Sonny Liston couldn't land a decent punch, not even in a round where Ali 'saw only faint shadows', according to Ali himself.
I see comments saying how amazing Ali was to avoid getting hit in that 'blinded' round, they say it's unbelievable. They're right, it's not believable that the great Sonny Liston, or any fighter for that matter, couldn't lay a glove on a blind man for an entire round. Anyone who accepts that Liston couldn't land a decent shot for 3 full minutes while Ali saw only shadows, is not being honest with themselves.
Ali fans never consider the absurd circumstances of that round, they were elated that Ali survived and don't care how he managed it. They can make up an excuse with no problem, but the truth is that's not how it would have gone, no matter who the opponent was. No fighter can escape being hit for 3 minutes against another pro fighter if their vision was badly compromised, it's not the least bit plausible. That situation alone should raise a ton of red flags but it's only one small piece of an overall ton of evidence that proves the fight was fixed.
The FBI said it was fixed. A few years ago the Washington Post obtained an FBI report that had been sealed for 50 years. In the report the agents working the case all believed the fight was fixed. A man named Ash Resnick was known to be the fight fixing man in Las Vegas for the mob. Years later a friend of his named Barnie Magids told a story about the fight. He said that Resnick asked him to join him in Miami for the weekend of the fight. Resnick initially told Magids that Liston would KO Ali in one or 2 rounds, Magids was planning to lay down a bet on Liston. Resnick changed his story before the fight took place, he called Magids and told him to forego betting on Liston, saying he would explain it later.
One of Liston's cornermen on that night made a confession late in life. He said he wanted to clear his conscience before he died, saying the claim of a shoulder injury was an invented lie to accommodate the fix. A story was published in Life magazine after the fight, it claimed that Ash Resnick lost a bundle betting on Liston in the fight. A mobster later revealed that this story was planted as a cover for Resnick's involvement in fixing the fight. The logic being if it was accepted that Resnick lost a lot betting on Liston, he certainly wouldn't be suspected of being involved in a fix that had Liston losing. How did the story find its way into the magazine? The mob had tentacles everywhere.
This was among the easiest of fights to fix, and at 7 to 1 odds there was a truckload of cash to be made. Liston was managed by the mob, Ali's trainer Dundee was known to have mob friends. Dundee's brother also had mob friends, and he was the official promoter of the fight. There were mob connections on all sides involved, and the mob was fixing most/all of the fights. There's more evidence, but in my opinion the best evidence was the fight itself. To a diehard Ali fan, he won and they refuse to hear anything else about the fight. That's understandable to a degree, the 2 fights with Liston were the foundation for Ali's legacy.
Wherever Muhammad Ali is today, he agrees with me. He doesn't need nor want those fixed fights on his record, he knows that now. He was one of the best HW fighters in history, he doesn't need fake fights to add to an already great legacy. He wasn't the architect of the arrangement, but he had no choice but to go along. The mob didn't take no for an answer. Ali had one more fixed fight in his career, there was a reason for it, I'll share the story if anyone cares to hear it. This is too long already, some will let me know in a response that 'they won't read all of that'. Reading is bad for some people I guess.
Ali was too quick!
Also, liston was old, slow and over the hill much like Hagler by the time he thought Leonard
28:33 Ali's vision returns - 'No you dont'
I shook up the world, I am the greatest.
After all these fucking years, you still use the name Cassius Clay.
This fight was before he changed his name.
It's too bad there isn't a better quality tape of this fight. It doesn't have enough frames. You can't see just how fast and hard they are throwing their punches because of the very slight time delay in the recording.
The greatest of all time
Scored it 58 to 56 for ali liston did not have a shoulder injury he made it up on the spot so they could the rematch his cornermen said that when interviewed and someone sin him throwing a chair in the dressing room with the same arm
Sonny seems like a grandpa of mike tyson. Very heavy punches he was throwing. Some says His left hand was the most deadly
On round 5 Ali was very passive, was this on behalf Ali on purpose to wait Sonny to gas out?
He had something in his eyes and couldn’t see round 5 and part of 6
In the intro the guys says that young Cassius 'declared himself the greatest, and no one could argue with him'. I can argue with him. HBO and Sports illustrated should be ashamed of themselves. Sports illustrated named this as one of the greatest sporting events of all times. HBO is here touting this as a huge upset by Ali. These are 2 of the biggest entities in the world of sports, and yet both of them have egg on their faces for not recognizing this as a fixed fight. I'm not guessing, I did a lot of research. It wasn't done for my benefit; I saw that the fight was fixed the first time I watched it. I did the research for the naysayers, almost everyone is convinced that this was a real fight. I'll bet my house that it was fixed.
both
@@@wesleypresley1000
In light of how stupid this comment is, I’m guessing your house ain’t worth a whole lot.
The people owned ALL of boxing not just a fighter. Rocky Marciano an Italian who grew up with mobsters was clean in a mob run sport as you claim but Ali wasn't lmao and what about his more dangerous fights like Foreman, Frazier, Norton, those were fixed too LMAO sit down
@@ronmatthews If you disagree with me that's fine, but don't add things that I didn't say trying to make me look bad. The fights with Foreman, Frazier and Norton were not fixed. You must have forgotten that Ali lost 2 of those fights, many think he lost to Norton at least twice. There's no reason to claim those fights were fixed since Ali lost 2 of them. Ali had 3 fixed fights in his career. Both against Liston and the fight against Zora Folley. The Liston fights were fixed so the mob could make a ton of cash. The Folley fight was a completely different thing. I'll explain if you want to hear it.
I said I did research but you call me a liar without knowing anything about it. Why is that? You're reacting emotionally, not with respect. There's only one truth, being mean-spirited has no effect on the truth of the matter.
I've been a fight fan for 60 plus years. I listened to this fight with my dad on a very old radio when I was 8 in 1964. I thought Ali won the fight, case closed. Until, that is, I retired about 10 years ago. I saw the fight for the first time, about fell off of my chair. I saw the fix within 2 rounds, still can't believe others don't see it. Nobody believed me, so I decided to research it. I like the truth, don't want to say things I can't back up, will apologize if I'm proven wrong.
I found a lot of evidence, you have to search for it. About 10 years ago the Washington Post obtained a letter that had been sealed for 50 years. It was a report by the FBI regarding this fight. The agents on the case unanimously believed that the fight was fixed. Also, one of Liston's cornermen on that night made an admission late in life. He didn't want to die with something on his conscience. He said the Liston shoulder injury was not real, they made it up. The shoulder injury has aways been the primary excuse to explain Liston quitting on his stool, but his shoulder was fine.
Watch the last 30 or 40 seconds of the last round. You'll see Liston throw several jabs and a left hook, all with his 'badly injured' left shoulder. The bell rings to end the round, within 30 seconds the same shoulder Liston just used to throw 4 or 5 punches suddenly becomes so painful he has to surrender his coveted title. Why did he use his left in those last few seconds when he didn't have to, if it was so severely injured? There's no logical reason, and the fact that he used it matches the story given by one of his cornermen, that the injury did not exist.
Years after the fight a man named Bernie Magids told a story. He was good friends with Ash Resnick, the man known to be the mob's fight-fixing guru in Las Vegas. Magids said he was invited by Resnick to spend that weekend with him in Miami. He said that Resnick told him that Liston would KO Ali in a couple of rounds. Magids was set to make a wager on Liston until Resnick called him again a few days before the fight. He told Magids to cancel his plan to bet on Liston, said he would explain later.
Right after the fight Joe Louis went to get an interview with Sonny in the ring. When Joe returned, he reported that Liston's doctor wouldn't permit him to be interviewed. This is ridiculous, that Liston's doctor was right there not allowing interviews after the fight. Was his shoulder so badly injured that he couldn't speak? They didn't want Liston to be interviewed for fear that he would say something wrong to give away the fix. Watch Liston on his stool after the 6th but before the fight was ended. He was calm, not complaining, not pointing to his shoulder. Nobody was inspecting his shoulder, nothing. How could his doctor say he wasn't able to give an interview?
All of these things can be found just as I found them, and there are other things. For example, an oft used excuse to explain how Ali beat this juggernaut was that Liston was much older than reported. Some claim he was as old as 45 or even older. It's all nonsense, they needed to invent these things to explain away the extreme unlikelihood that Ali could beat Liston. Sonny was born in May of 1932, he was 31 for this fight and in fine condition. His mother confirmed that he was born in May of 1932.
Others say he took Ali lightly and didn't train. He had a reputation for training hard for every fight. Others said he was out drinking the night before, Liston took every fight seriously, he did no such thing. Some even claim he feared Ali because of how wild Ali was acting. Liston got into an altercation with a uniformed cop once. The cop called him a nxxxxx, Liston dumped the cop head first into a garbage can, relieving him of his revolver in the process. Does that sound like a man that would fear the b.s. of a 21 year old kid?
One thing nobody ever considers; Ali's team kept him away from Eddie Machen at this time, thinking that Machen was too strong and experienced for the very young Cassius Clay. Every management team does the same thing, they would never put a very promising 21 year old fighter in with a highly ranked, rugged opponent. What's the hurry? It could only screw up/end the career of a young talent by rushing him along too fast. This can be verified, and Ali never fought Machen.
The question is, would any team have put Ali in with a much tougher opponent like Liston at the age of 21, risking his entire career by rushing him along too quickly? The answer is no, no manager in his right mind would have put Ali in with Liston, who was thought of by the entire world as unbeatable. Why sacrifice this talented young fighter against a proven destroyer like Liston so early in his career? There is no answer to this mystery, ask 100 trainers today, they will all tell you it would be absurd to do such a thing.
هر کاری میکنه بهش میاد. روحش شاد پادشاه بوکس. ❤Mohammad ali
Ali....inmortallllllll
Liston shows more athleticism here than Frazier and arguably as good as Tyson...I think Liston would have outpointed Foreman...just outclassed by prime or near prime Clay/Ali.
I don't see Liston having more athleticism than Frazier and Tyson here. He was always flat-footed and stiff in my eyes. His two greatest weapons were his jab and power (which were aided by his exceptionally long reach for his height). I think Tyson had more torque and speed to his punch followed by Frazier. Liston simply had heavy hands the same way Foreman didn't look like he had great speed but he just had a lot more power than his opponents. Frazier had more bobbing and weaving while Tyson had more side to side movement under his Pea-a-boo stance too.
@@seniordavidmanderson9232 A young Lennox Lewis was knocked out by Oliver McCall. An older Lennox Lewis was better. Neither would have beaten Ali in his prime. I would put anybody in the ring on Nov. 14, 1966 and they would have lost. That was the night Ali dismantled Cleveland Williams
@@seniordavidmanderson9232 You're fighting the good fight against nothing :-) What do liberals and the Black Lives Matter Movement have to do with Muhammad Ali fans? Who's brainwashed here? He was the most popular and recognizable athlete in the world in the 20th century. His fans have all kinds of global political views. Stick to boxing with your commentary. You seem to have some knowledge there. Outside of that topic, you are a biased, and blathering fool. The world doesn't care about your dopey culture wars.
@@seniordavidmanderson9232 Good info on
Williams. Makes sense now why Ali was so dominant. As for the rest of your biased ramblings. I suggest some yoga and a vacation. It takes a whole lot less energy to be less judgemental and biased. Carrying around all that hate will give you angina.
@@seniordavidmanderson9232 Yet, that same man who was in diapers at 50, was the most feared man in sports when he fought Ali. Nobody believed Ali had a chance. He dismantled Paterson twice and looked to be invincible.
Always so frustrating to watch. Why did he quit? No reason to give up the fight. He was still strong, and the match was almost even with his long reach compensating Alis speed.
The referee said that he dislocated his arm.
He is the kinge
The Greatest Of All Time
2:11 why I thought the whole time it’s was at MSG or at the Boston Garden or Chicago Stadium.
booing sonny liston like he cant get out the ring and put you to sleep forever 💀💀
Sonny cheated and still lost. He was a crook from the beginning. A sad disgrace.
The makings of Muhammad Ali. " Love it he wouldn't give them So,and,So mf a chance to talk. Ali didn't give a #u@k about all those who thought that Muhammad Ali would get knocked out.
Sunny Liston stop, because he didn't want to get knocked out.
Liston's true age was uncertain because it was not recorded, but he surely appeared much older than the 31 years of age at the time. For comparison, Tyson was 31 when he fought Holyfield in 1997 and Tyson looked much younger in that fight than Liston looked in this fight. Based on the way Liston looked, he was probably closer to between 38 and 40 at the time of this fight in 1964. This meant the 24-year old Cassius Clay beat a 38-year old Liston. Liston was no longer in his prime.
Although I agree, age defo played part
Thing is many still though Liston was definitely knocking ali out. It was still a shock to many
20:39 dmm just stamping where i left off
Pretty sure you can watch Muhammad Ali get a concussion in the third round 20:21
1:40 what that announcer doing let the man talk we don’t care what you have to say 😂
1st n only time Sonny Liston being turned into a China man
There's Howard Cosell without his toupee at 33:43.
Yes, Cassius Clay brought being a COWARD to a new level.
Then how come I see you in the comment section of every video that has anything to with Ali😂
Il était rapide comme l'éclair. Impossible pour l'autre de pouvoir l'atteindre