Ali v Liston 2

For boxing fans it's a topic that comes up periodically even though the original fight is long past and just a distant memory in the history of heavyweight title fights - the Muhammad Ali versus Charles 'Sonny' Liston, fight 2, on May 25, 1965, in Lewiston, Maine.

This was the rematch following Ali's defeat of the then heavyweight Champion, Liston, almost fifteen months earlier in Miami Beach. That fight sets the context for the second one. Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, was the underdog that nobody expected to defeat the fearsome and intimidating Liston who was the George Foreman/Mike Tyson invincible 'beast' of his day. The fact that Clay stopped Liston in six rounds, Sonny failing to emerge for the seventh, was a shock to the boxing world who thought that Clay was all mouth with no traditional boxing defence and was sure to get a brutal beating. A shock that is to all but Clay himself and his trainer Angelo Dundee. Clay outclassed and mesmerised Liston in that first fight with his speed, reflexes, fast hands, sharp jab and confidence. 

So the stage was set for the rematch. 

Perhaps it was the expectation that had developed over the build up to the first fight that led people to believe the second would be an even contest and consequently the abrupt end in the first round when Ali knocked out Liston after only one minute and forty-four seconds led to the ongoing debate that Sonny Liston took ‘a dive’ and the fight was 'fixed.'

A lot has been said and written about why it could have been fixed and, it seems, many fail to engage in any attempt to analyse the fight action and make the case for a legitimate knockout. So, let's attempt to do just that.

Ali was taller, younger and quicker than Liston and his style was always going to have Sonny chasing the fight whilst getting peppered in the face with shots which is exactly what happened in their first bout. If you imagine yourself in Liston’s boots, that would have been totally discouraging round after round and deplete, not only his energy but also his motivation and willpower. It also dismantled Liston’s aura of monstrous invincibility. So Sonny was probably on the mental backfoot against Ali going into the return bout and the initial postponement, after Ali had to have a hernia operation, probably didn’t help his motivation either.

So, a couple of observations about the second fight. At the opening bell, the same pattern as the first fight was unfolding with Sonny having to go looking for Ali. Then about 40 seconds before the final punch that ended it in round one, Ali caught Liston with a solid overhand right that stopped him moving forward. As for the punch that stopped Liston, the knockout shot, if you compare it to the punch that Andy Ruiz caught Anthony Joshua with on the temple in round 3 of their first fight in 2019, some logic can be applied. Joshua was disorientated by that blow and struggled thereafter. In modern HD viewing it is plain to see, a surprising shot that Joshua did not see coming and one that ‘discombobulated’ him. Joshua went on to lose that fight in seven rounds. Ali’s final overhand right (harder to analyse given TV clarity in the 60s) that caught Liston in more or less the same place on the head, may have had that exact same effect. Liston, coming forward, didn’t see the punch. It struck him in a sensitive part of the head (remember, he’d already been caught with an earlier right to the head that shook him) with devastating impact. So, again, if you put yourself in Liston’s boots, it is interesting. Your focus is on running down an elusive opponent and on working out how to close the gap between you to land a meaningful shot, in Liston’s case, a big 'bomb' that might slow his opponent down and weaken him. So with all that going on, it’s reasonable to assume he didn’t see the fast overhand right (which was thrown with some forward momentum from Ali). 

Another factor often not discussed is that because of some confusion about the count, Ali and Liston continued to fight on for a few moments after the knock down. If Liston was throwing the fight, why attempt to fight on? Also, it would have been more realistic and believable to throw the fight after two or three rounds, but that would also assume that Sonny was in control of the outcome. The pattern of the first fight and the same indications in that brief phase of round one in the second, suggests that Liston was never in control or ever would be against Ali.

It should be noted too that if you look at Ali's career he often threw that overhand right, even when moving backwards, although by positioning his right foot behind the left to pivot on he was able to create stability to 'ground' the shot. (Check out the fight with Zora Foley, for example). 

My point is, it’s too easy to call ‘fix’ (something never proven) without considering other possibilities. Not everything is a conspiracy!