The Greatest
The fight that made Muhammad Ali
In the weeks leading up to Cassius Clay’s heavyweight title bought against champion Sonny Liston, he was not given a chance. In fact, most experts saw the “Louisville Lip” getting knocked out in the first round by the ferocious Liston. For most fighters, even the thought of Liston scared them out of the ring and ran them away from the challenge.
But Clay was a different kind of fighter. He was not going to back down from Liston, who was pegged as a 7 to 1 favorite prior to the fight. LA Times journalist Jim Murray stated that the only thing Clay could beat Liston at was “reading a dictionary” and that Liston would win in the first round. Not only was this Clay’s first major fight in the spotlight, it was compared to a battle between Hitler and Stalin, with two of the most disliked men in boxing going toe to toe.
“If you even dream of beating me you better wake up and apologize.”- Muhammad Ali
While Clay’s loudmouth approach to the publicity for the fight damaged his image to the world, he was more concerned about beating who was considered the best fighter on the planet. Liston reportedly trained less and reduced his morning runs from 5 miles to 1 mile. He was also reportedly drinking beer and soliciting prostitutes while Clay kept up his normal training routine, and knew that this fight was going to be the most challenging of his life. Even though he was 19–0 as a boxer for his career, most critics believed he fought with an extremely sloppy style, and was not fit to fight in the heavyweight class. They mainly believed that he couldn’t generate enough force on his punches and deal damage to Liston, who destroyed former champion Floyd Patterson in the first round for two straight fights leading up to the fight with Clay.
Before the fight even became close to beginning, Clay took every opportunity to gain a mental advantage over his opponent. Whether it was putting up signs talking about how “Liston must go in 8” or pulling up to Liston’s house at 3 A.M. ready to brawl in the streets, Clay was ready to get in the ring. The anticipation for the fight was nearly as exciting as the fight itself, and both fighter’s sparring partners appeared on the TV show “I’ve Got a Secret” and Clay’s partner read off a poem describing how he would beat Liston in the fight. This poem increased the intensity of the fight due to the fact that it was the next night. Clay brought plenty of controversy into the fight, mainly because of reports that he had converted to Islam. People such as his father and Martin Luther King Jr. renounced his possible conversion and believed he was promoting racism and inequality. But he would let that speculation continue heading into the fight.
February 25, 1964. The time has finally come for Clay and Liston to battle it out in the ring. While many believed that he would pass out before he even stepped into the ring, Clay stepped in ready to accept the challenge and fight the heavyweight champ. The anticipation built as Clay walked out to chants of “Liston! Liston! Liston!” and there was no way he could win the fight with everyone and everything against him. But what they didn’t know was that he had been doing that his whole life.
The bell rang to begin the first round and Liston charged Clay quickly, hoping to end the fight in a decisive manner. Clay fought back, however, and was able to survive, a feat few other boxers could claim against Liston. While the first two rounds were in favor of Liston on the scorecard, Clay had already defied expectations by landing a solid amount of punches and hanging in the fight for longer than expected. With swift movements and punch dodges, Clay began to gain some ground in the third round. By this time, he was pounding Liston with deadly punches and when the bell finally rang, Liston had a bruised left eye and a cut on his right that required eight stitches. By the sixth round, the fight was virtually over and Clay was landing punches at will. Before the start of the seventh round, Liston yelled “That’s it” from his corner and spit out his mouthpiece. Clay had taken down the best fighter on the planet, and there was a new Heavyweight Champion of the world.
“When I beat Sonny Liston, I shocked the world. When I joined the Muslims, I shocked the world. I am the House of Shock.”
Not only did he become the champion of the world, he became one of the most popular and controversial figures in the world with his conversion to Islam just two days after the fight. As a result, Cassius Clay became Cassius X and Cassius X became Muhammad Ali, who we all know to be one of the most intimidating fighters in history. While many considered it a huge upset, Ali was not surprised at all by the result. After all, how could he be when he bragged about winning the fight all along? He knew exactly what he was getting into when he took on Liston, and he had been facing problems like that all his life. For Muhammad Ali, it was just another fight, but it made him a superstar.
