Did Liston throw his 2nd fight with Ali?
From what I've heard, the Mafia fixed small fights. There's too much money for a big one. Ali was the heavy favorite, so what's the incentive? The 1st one, Ali was heavy underdog. That'd make more sense to fix? Winning, Liston stood to make millions. on all his next fights! And he'd finally get accepted as the man that beat the hated Ali. Mafia doesn't make sense
Ali vs liston II was it a fix?
ali clearly beat liston in the first fight liston retired on his stool frusturated and hurt in the rematch ali hit liston with what they call the phantom punch but if you watch the punch in slow motion the punch hit liston on the temple and did jolt his head a little bit i personally think liston could of gotten up but he did not want to take another long beating from ali
Did Sonny Liston take a dive in his 2nd fight with Muhammad Ali?
I’ve studied the Ali vs Liston II ‘dive’ controversy a lot over the years, and the one thing that baffles me about it is this:What was supposed to have happened in the first fight that would make me think that Liston even needed to take a dive in the sequel?Perhaps if the first fight was super close and Ali barely won a contested split decision or something similar, then the ‘dive’ rumors would actually make sense. But other than the ‘ointment in the eyes’ blip, the former Cassius Clay completely dominated Sonny Liston, dancing around him like the big man was standing still, each desperate counter-punch attempt catching nothing but the empty air where Ali used to be. Using his awkward, very non-traditional signature style, Ali made easy work of all of that previous generation’s fighters, and even if Liston had taken his brash young challenger as seriously as he should have and put in the gym work, it wouldn’t have gone any differently. Ali embarrassed Liston in that first fight, and if Liston was in top notch shape for the sequel, Ali was MORE so — he wasn’t giving up that belt.So the idea that Sonny Liston ‘took a dive’ so he wouldn’t win—as if he stood more than a fluke puncher’s chance at all— is so divorced from the reality of the two competitors’ skill levels, it can never be more than just a silly rumor no matter how much the faux-controversy persists through the annals of boxing gossip legend.
What was the "phantom punch" in the second Ali-Liston fight?
Ali moved around the ring for a 1 min 30 secs to 1 minute 45 secs of the 1st round, encircling Liston in the process and with Liston in hot pursuit(seemingly better than the first fight). Not much had happened up until that point: Ali unfurls the fastest punch ever clocked* as Liston is in hot pursuit that makes contact, it appears, on Liston’s temple(his back is turned from the camera). Liston goes down as THE PUNCH CLEARLY SNAPPED LISTON'S HEAD AND MADE HIS FEET LIFT UP OFF THE FLOOR for what would have been a 14 count, if Walcott had been counting the whole time. Problem was—Walcott(former fighter and ref for this fight) wasn't supposed to count, because Ali didn't go to a neutral corner. He stood over Liston in that famous picture pose, where he says something to the effect of “Get up, you, bum; nobody will believe this; get up and fight!” Anyway, he was right in not counting and that was a great move on Walcott’s part(OR DONE BY ACCIDENT), but somebody ringside tells Walcott that Liston had been down for more than 10 secs. He breaks the fighters up and stops the fight. I know this sounds like an article, but I wrote it myself without any aid.The phantom punch looked like Moore's punch on Marciano with one exception: Moore's knockdown punch landed on the chin and Ali's landed higher on the head than that. It's important to note that Ali had been tutored on some level by Moore early in his career and had soured on Moore's earn-to-learn mentoring style, eventually leading them to fight in ring. While Ali called it Johnson's anchor punch, he could have gotten it from Archie and didn't want to admit it. *This punch was the fastest punch ever clocked regardless of size in boxing history! That's an amazing stat--that the only meaningful punch in a particular fight for the title is a piece of boxing trivia and it scores a knockdown by Ali(who was only an average power puncher at best) putting down one of the greatest chinned fighters in history in Liston for a 14 count(HAD ALI WENT TO A NEUTRAL CORNER: HE WOULD HAVE A 1 PUNCH KO, HIS ONLY ONE AS A PRO--MAYBE EVER).
Which are Muhammad Ali top ten best fights?
1. Rumble in the Jungle with George Foreman - won back the heavyweight title as a 32-year old underdog. Best fight for Ali strategy-wise. 2. Thrilla in Manila with Joe Frazier - won the rubber match in the legendary trilogy in the most brutal and action-packed heavyweight title fight ever. 3. Fight of the Century with Joe Frazier - lost for the first time in the most anticipated title fight in history. 4. vs. Liston I - became heavyweight champion as a brash 22-year old 8-1 underdog. Beginning of the Clay/Ali era. 5. vs. Cleveland Williams - best ever fight for Ali skills-wise. Ali at the top of his game. 6. vs. Ken Norton I - endured a broken jaw for 10 rounds in his second loss. 7. vs. Floyd Patterson I - another showcase of Ali at his best. 8. vs, Frazier II - won the rematch with his first tormentor and biggest rival. 9. vs. Leon Spinks II - won the heavyweight title for the 3rd time at age 36. 10. vs. Earnie Shavers - won a close decision against the sport's hardest hitter.
Was Muhammad Ali's title defence fight against Sonny Liston fixed?
Well it was suppose to be, but it didn't turn out that way. The theory goes that Liston was paid to win the fight because people thought he threw the first one, he lost the fight that he was paid to win and got killed for it. Liston was really involved in crimes and was a real life gangster before he even entered boxing. Ali was just too good for any fighter to beat during that period and there were a great deal of good fighters, Ali had quick feet, quick hands, and really good endurance, not to mention he was fairly tall. So this made a situation where a heavyweight fighter like Liston would be fighting a guy who was both taller, and faster than you which is a horrible disadvantage to have in a fight.
Why was the Ali-Liston fight held in Lewiston, Maine?
This is actually kind of an interesting story. Let me briefly tell it. There were two fights between Ali (then Cassius Clay) and Sonny Liston. The first in Miami in 1964 which Ali won by TKO when Liston quit after the 6th round. It is generally believed that Ali dominated the fight and would have won regardless. However it was immediately felt that the fight was fixed. For many reason we won’t go into.Afterward Ali had joined the Nation of Islam and become Muslim. The organization was at the time regarded as a terrorist group of sorts. Liston was managed by a guy with mob connections and Liston had a very shady past with convictions and prison time. Shortly after the first fight he was arrested for speeding, had a loaded 22 and a young woman in the car. Basically both fighters were getting a lot of bad publicity.The second fight was originally scheduled for November 1964 at the Boston Garden. Most states being very reluctant to host a fight between the two controversial boxers. As the date for the fight approached Ali had surgery for a hernia so a new date of May 1965 was set. As the fight date drew near Liston was arrested again and more controversy about the involvement of organized crime and a pending injunction made the promoters for the fight pull it from Massachusetts.Now they had a predicament. They needed a new site quickly in order to honor closed circuit tv commitments. Governor John Reed of Maine came to the rescue and the next fight was arranged to be held in Lewiston Maine at the Central Maine Youth Center, now the Colisee. The rest as they say is history with another historic fight that ended quickly in the first round. Ali the victor. Thanks for the A2Asource: My head and wikipedia for the gaps.
Were Muhammad Ali's fights fixed?
He was given some very questionable decision victories --Norton fights and the Young fight but that was do to inept biased judging not a fix. To me the second Liston fight was fixed ---leading up to the fight Ali kept saying "Look for something incredible to happen in the first round". That is very suspicious. I know Ali always predicted stuff but that was too much. Ali had decent punching power but really let's be practical. He did not have the power to KO Liston. His KO's were due to fighters tiring themselves out chasing him. Look at all the Frazier fights. Ali pounded that man silly. Frazier never went down.