Ali-Liston II 50 Years Later: Sonny Got Hit, But Wasn’t KO’d

Published

9 years ago

May 25, 2015

It was the first time Cassius Clay entered the ring as Muhammad Ali, and the heavyweight champion of the world.

And it was the last time former champ Sonny Liston, 35-2, would ever participate in a world title bout. The date was May 25th, 1965 and Ali, 20-0 was making his first defense of the title versus the man whom he won it from 15 months earlier, Sonny Liston.

Prior to their first meeting, Liston was at the top of the food chain among the elite heavyweights in the world. Sonny was considered so formidable and dangerous during the late 1950s and early 1960s that heavyweight champ Floyd Patterson’s manager/trainer, Cus D’Amato, kept Floyd away from Liston as long as he could. Finally, upon Floyd’s insistence, due to the press labeling him as being afraid of Liston, he forced Cus to make the fight with Sonny. It turned out to be a disaster and no-contest. Liston knocked Patterson out in the first round to win the title and 10 months later dispatched Floyd again in the first round to retain the title. And it was shortly after Liston’s two demolitions of Patterson that many boxing aficionados and historians began proclaiming Liston as perhaps the greatest heavyweight champ of all-time, even greater than the immortal Joe Louis.

All these years later many forget how prior to the first Liston vs. Clay bout, Cassius Clay wasn’t taken all that seriously as a contender and fighter. He was considered to be charming and funny, but nowhere close to being a serious threat to Liston or even Patterson. It was assumed after getting torn apart by Liston when they eventually would fight, Cassius would be out of boxing shortly thereafter.

As a fighter Clay/Ali broke every rule in the boxing manual regarding his fundamentals and basics. He carried his hands at his waist. His movement was considered wasted and he was not a knockout puncher, something the hardcore boxing fanatics frowned at. On the other hand, Liston was a destroyer who held his hands high, applied steady pressure and was adept at cutting the ring off. He had an abundance of both short and long power….his left jab was straight and was thought to be the equal of getting hit in the face by a telephone pole. Liston was physically strong, thought to be impossible to hurt, and terrified his opponents just by staring at them. It was believed by many that Liston would hold the title as long as he wanted to and probably still be champ after Clay was gone from the sport.

And if the legend of Sonny Liston tumbled on February 25th, 1964, the night he couldn’t/wouldn’t come out for the seventh round against Cassius Clay because he injured his shoulder during the fight, thus relinquishing his heavyweight championship sitting on his stool, it’s obituary was written May 25th, 1965 when he was officially stopped by Muhammad Ali aka Cassius Clay in the first round of their rematch at St. Dominic’s Arena in Lewiston Maine. And it’s the loss to Ali in their rematch that really kills Liston’s perception and standing in the eyes of many boxing historians and observers as the truly remarkable all-time great fighter he was.

The loss to Clay in the first fight was often dismissed as Sonny starting to decline physically and unfortunately crossing paths with perhaps the greatest heavyweight ever (unknown at the time) who was entering his prime….Looking back in hindsight, it’s clear that Ali owned the style advantage over Liston. Add to that Sonny didn’t think too much of the young and boastful Clay as a fighter, especially after he was nearly knocked out in his previous fight against British heavyweight champ Henry Cooper. Ironically, Cooper’s management and advisers wouldn’t let him anywhere near or contemplate fighting Liston.

The Ali-Liston rematch 50 years ago, because of the way it ended, was the final shovel of dirt forever burying Liston’s persona as an all-time great fighter and champion. It wasn’t just that Liston was dropped by a punch that few sitting ringside saw, it was what happened while he was down and attempted to get up, that made the fight, should we say, appear to be a little fishy. The punch that felled Liston is known today as the “phantom punch.” However, countless replays over the last 50 years clearly show that Ali caught Liston leaning in with a short chopping right hand (Ali named it the anchor punch after the fight) on the point of his chin and he went down. The replay shows Liston’s chin jolt as the punch makes impact and he falls.

One can argue how hard the punch really was – what they can’t dispute is whether or not Sonny was actually hit by a punch. Liston ended up on his back when he went down, he then rolled over to his front, attempted to rise, failed, then tried again and succeeded. Once he was upright, he and Ali started exchanging punches. Soon they were broken up by referee and former heavyweight champion “Jersey” Joe Walcott, who was informed that Liston was down for more than a count of 10 and the fight was over. The official time was initially announced as one minute but a tape showed Liston falling at 1:44, rising at 1:56 and Walcott officially stopping the fight at 2:12.

Two things overlooked still, all these years later are: Liston was never given a count. A knockout isn’t in effect when a fighter has been down for 10 seconds, it’s the referee’s count of 10 which activates the call of KO.

Everybody counts at a slightly different tempo. Walcott never counted over Liston because Ali was running around the ring yelling at Liston to get up and fight. So the fact of the matter is, Sonny Liston was never counted out against Muhammad Ali during their rematch. And the other issue pertaining to the stoppage is, Liston was on his feet fighting and exchanging with Ali when the bout was officially ended by Walcott. Despite never counting over Liston, Walcott stopped the bout after Nat Fleischer, the founder of “Ring” magazine sitting ringside, yelled to Walcott that Liston was down for more than 10 seconds. So if Liston entered the ring with the intent of throwing the fight and taking a dive, why bother getting up and leaving things to chance?

There are no new revelations about the fight 50 later. It is conjecture as to whether Liston threw it or not. Sonny was never down as a pro before fighting Ali the second time. Marty Marshall broke his jaw during their first bout and he finished the fight on his feet. Cleveland Williams was a terrific puncher with both hands, and in five rounds of war in two fights, he didn’t do much more than get Sonny’s attention. So how could Ali, who only scored one other first round knockout in his entire career, get Liston out in less than two minutes of ring combat? The answer is, he didn’t. Liston was on his feet when the bout was halted.

I don’t know if Liston was in the tank for the fight, or even the first bout for that matter, because outside forces were supposedly backing and betting on Ali in both bouts. What I do know is, Liston was dropped by a good punch that he was moving into early in the fight while he was still a little stiff and tight. The referee never counted over him, nor did he attempt to because of Ali’s antics and theatrics. Liston was a bad actor on the canvas if he was acting, but he got up and resumed fighting it out with Ali. This points away from him looking for a way to dump the fight and lose.

One can draw any conclusion they chose to regarding both fights between Muhammad and Sonny. All I know for sure is, Liston, age 31, or older, was on the decline when they fought. Ali, age 23, was really beginning to fill out physically and was all muscle at that time. Looking back now, it’s easy to see that Ali had the size, speed, style and chin to be Liston’s stumbling block. And it’s quite evident that Liston’s two ugly losses suffered at the hands of Ali have wrongly held him down regarding his stature among the greatest heavyweight champions in history. Had there been no Muhammad Ali, Liston probably would’ve held the title another five years, through 1969. And that certainly would change things regarding his status among where he ranks among the greatest of the greats. Even with the two Ali fiascoes being part of his resume, I don’t think I can name five former heavyweight greats who I’d pick to beat Sonny Liston during his peak, circa 1958-62.

Frank Lotierzo can be contacted at GlovedFist@Gmail.com

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Frank Lotierzo

In a Massive Upset, Dakota Linger TKOs Kurt Scoby on a Friday Night in Atlanta

Published

1 hour ago

April 19, 2024

Arne K. Lang

In-a-Massive-Upset-Dakota-Linger-TKOs-Kurt-Scoby-on-a-Friday-Night-in-Atlanta

Although it was an 8-rounder on a show with two “tens,” Kurt Scoby’s match with Dakota Linger was accorded main event status on tonight’s card at the Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta. This had everything to do with Scoby (pronounced Scooby), a former record-setting college running back who was considered one of the brightest prospects in the 140-pound weight class. “[Scoby] works harder than almost anyone I’ve ever seen,” said veteran New York promoter Lou DIBella in a conversation with Keith Idec. “But he’s literally getting better after every fight and he’s got the hammer of Thor, man. He can punch through walls.”

The Duarte, California product who has relocated to Brooklyn and trains at Gleason’s Gym, was undefeated (13-0) heading in and was expected to make Linger his ninth straight knockout victim. But Linger, a 29-year-old Buckhannon, West Virginia policemen whose first ring engagements were in Toughman competitions, wasn’t intimidated by Scoby’s press clippings or by Scoby’s bodybuilder physique.

Linger, who improved to 14-6-3 with his tenth win inside the distance, took the fight right to Scoby and repeatedly found a home for his overhand right. In the sixth round, after Linger strafed the ever-retreating Scoby with a barrage of punches, referee Malik Walid determined that he had seen enough and waived it off. The decision seemed a tad premature, but neither Scoby nor his cornermen offered anything in the way of a protest.

Tournament results

In the first installment of an 8-man super welterweight tournament, Brandon Adams returned to boxing after his second three-year layoff and showed no ring rust whatsoever. Adams, a 34-year-old family-man who grew up in the Watts district of LA, dismissed Ismael Villareal with a wicked punch to the liver in the waning seconds of round three. The official time was 2:59.

A former wold title challenger, Adams who improved to 23-3 (16 KOs), has become the king of boxing tournaments. He first attracted notice in 2018 when he won the fifth edition of “The Contender” series, scoring a wide 10-round decision over Shane Mosley Jr in the championship round.

Villareal, a second-generation prizefighter from the Bronx whose dad fought the likes of Hector Camacho, declined to 13-3.

Adams next opponent will be Francisco Veron who will bring a record of 14-0-1 (10).

In an energetic 10-rounder, Veron, a Florida-based Argentine with a strong amateur pedigree, scored a unanimous decision over Mexico-born, LA southpaw Angel Ruiz (18-3-1). The judges had it 100-90, 99-91, and 96-94.

Ruiz certainly had his moments, but Veron launched and landed many more punches despite fighting the last six rounds with a damaged eye.

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 281: The Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia Show

Published

1 day ago

April 18, 2024

David A. Avila

Avila-Perspective-Chap-281-The-Devin-Haney-and-Ryan-Garcia-Show

Over the years bouts between old foes such as Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia tend to be surprising.

Yes, both are only 25 but have known each other for many years.

When undisputed super lightweight champion Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) steps into the prize ring at Barclays Center to meet challenger Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs) on Saturday, April 20, fans will be witnessing the continuation of a feud that began more than a decade ago.

And though the champion is a heavy favorite, familiarity is Garcia’s best weapon heading into their fight on the Golden Boy Promotions card that will be shown on PPV.COM with Jim Lampley and friends. DAZN pay-per-view is also streaming the card.

In many ways Haney and Garcia have ventured down the same path. From amateur sensations to fighting in Mexico while teens to asking for the biggest challenges available.

“Whichever version of Ryan shows up on April 20, I will be ready for him. Ryan Garcia is just another opponent to me,” said Haney who holds the WBC super lightweight title after his win over Regis Prograis.

The first time I saw Haney as a pro he battled the dangerous Mexican contender Juan Carlos Burgos at Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula. It was an impressive performance against a fighter who fought three times for a world title.

Haney was 19 at the time.

My first look at Garcia as a pro was in his first bout in the U.S. when he met Puerto Rico’s Jonathan Cruz at the Exchange in downtown Los Angeles. The Boricua looked at Garcia and tried intimidating him with stares, taunts and the usual patter. During the fight both swung and missed until the second round when Garcia zeroed in and took him out.

Garcia had just turned 18, the legal age to fight in California.

Both fighters did not have the Olympics credentials that lead to fame. But their talent has allowed them to fight through the dense smoke that is professional boxing.

Haney has defeated numerous world champions such as Prograis, Vasyl Lomachenko and George Kambosos Jr., while Garcia has stopped champions Javier Fortuna and Luke Campbell.

As amateurs, Garcia and Haney battled six times with each winning three.

“They know each other very well,” said Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions. “Ryan is going to beat Devin Haney.”

Haney has a buttery-smooth style with one of the best jabs in boxing. He’s very adept at keeping distance and not allowing anyone to fight him inside. His reflexes are outstanding, yet he seldom fights inside. That’s his weakness.

Garcia fights tall and has superb hand speed and a lightning quick left hook. Though his defense lacks tightness his ability to rip off three-punch combinations in a blink of an eye pauses opponents from bullying their way inside.

“These guys always just look at me and look at me like I don’t know how to box,” said Garcia on social media. “Why was I one of the best fighters in the amateurs. Why was I a 15-time National champion…why did I beat everyone I came across.”

Haney is a strong favorite by oddsmakers to defeat Garcia. But you can never tell when it comes to fighters that know each other well and are athletically gifted.

When Sergio Mora challenged Vernon Forrest he was a big underdog. When Tim Bradley fought Manny Pacquiao the first time, he was also the underdog. And when Andy Ruiz met Anthony Joshua few gave him a chance.

Haney and Garcia have history in the ring. It should be an interesting battle.

PPV.COM

Jim Lampley will be leading the broadcast on PPV.COM for the Haney-Garcia card at Barclays and texting with fans on the card live. He will be accompanied by journalists Lance Pugmire, Dan Conobbio and former champion Chris Algieri.

The PPV.COM broadcast begins at 5 p.m. PT. and is available in Canada and the USA.

Other News

MMA stars Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal will be holding a media day event on Friday, April 19, at NOVO at L.A. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.

Diaz and Masvidal will be boxing against each other in a grudge match on June 1 at the KIA Forum in Inglewood, Calif. The two MMA stars met five years at UFC 244 with Masvidal winning by TKO over Diaz due to cuts.

This is a grudge match, but under boxing rules.

Fight card in Commerce, Calif.

360 Promotions returns to Commerce Casino on Saturday April 20 with undefeated super lightweight Cain Sandoval leading the charge.

Sandoval (12-0) faces Angel Rebollar (8-3) in the main event that will be shown live on UFC Fight Pass. Also on the card are two female events including hot prospect Lupe Medina (5-0) versus Sabrina Persona (3-1) in a minimumweight clash.

Doors open at 4 p.m.

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Boxing Odds and Ends: The Heavyweight Merry-Go-Round

Published

3 days ago

April 16, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Boxing Odds and Ends: The Heavyweight Merry-Go-Round

There were few surprises when co-promoters Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren and their benefactor HE Turki Alalshikh held a press conference in London this past Monday to unveil the undercard for the Beterbiev-Bivol show at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on June 1. Most of the match-ups had already been leaked.

For die-hard boxing fans, Beterbiev-Bivol is such an enticing fight that it really doesn’t need an attractive undercard. Two undefeated light heavyweights will meet with all four relevant belts on the line in a contest where the oddsmakers straddled the fence. It’s a genuine “pick-‘em” fight based on the only barometer that matters, the prevailing odds.

But Beterbiev-Bivol has been noosed to a splendid undercard, a striking contrast to Saturday’s Haney-Garcia $69.99 (U.S.) pay-per-view in Brooklyn, an event where the undercard, in the words of pseudonymous boxing writer Chris Williams, is an absolute dumpster fire.

The two heavyweight fights that will bleed into Beterbiev-Bivol, Hrgovic vs. Dubois and Wilder vs. Zhang, would have been stand-alone main events before the incursion of Saudi money.

Hrgovic-Dubois

Filip Hrgovic (17-0, 13 KOs) and Daniel Dubois (20-2, 19 KOs) fought on the same card in Riyadh this past December. Hrgovic, the Croatian, was fed a softie in the form of Australia’s Mark De Mori who he dismissed in the opening round. Dubois, a Londoner, rebounded from his loss to Oleksandr Usyk with a 10^th-round stoppage of corpulent Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller.

There’s an outside chance that Hrgovic vs. Dubois may be sanctioned by the IBF for the world heavyweight title.

The May 18 showdown between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury has a rematch clause. The IBF is next in line in the rotation system for a unified heavyweight champion and the organization has made it plain that the winner of Usyk-Fury must fulfill his IBF mandatory before an intervening bout.

The best guess is that the Usyk-Fury winner will relinquish the IBF belt. If so, Hrgovic and Dubois may fight for the vacant title although a more likely scenario is that the organization will keep the title vacant so that the winner can fight Anthony Joshua.

Wilder-Zhang

The match between Deontay Wilder (43-3-1, 42 KOs) and Zhilei Zhang (26-2-1, 21 KOs) is a true crossroads fight as both Wilder, 38, and Zhang, who turns 41 in May, are nearing the end of the road and the loser (unless it’s a close and entertaining fight) will be relegated to the rank of a has-been. In fact, Wilder has hinted that this may be his final rodeo.

Both are coming off a loss to Joseph Parker.

Wilder last fought on the card that included Hrgovic and Dubois and was roundly out-pointed by a man he was expected to beat. It’s a quick turnaround for Zhang who opposed Parker on March 8 and lost a majority decision.

Other Fights

Either of two other fights may steal the show on the June 1 event.

Raymond Ford (15-0-1, 8 KOs) meets Nick Ball (19-0-1, 11 KOs) in a 12-round featherweight contest. New Jersey’s Ford will be defending the WBA world title he won with a come-from-behind, 12th-round stoppage of Otabek Kholmatov in an early contender for Fight of the Year. Liverpool’s “Wrecking” Ball, a relentless five-foot-two sparkplug, had to settle for a draw in his title fight with Rey Vargas despite winning the late rounds and scoring two knockdowns.

Hamzah Sheeraz (19-0, 15 KOs) meets fellow unbeaten Austin “Ammo” Williams (16-0, 11 KOs) in a 12-round middleweight match. East London’s Sheeraz, the son of a former professional cricket player, is unknown in the U.S. although he trained for his recent fights at the Ten Goose Boxing Gym in California. Riding a skein of 13 straight knockouts, he has a date with WBO title-holder Janibek Alimkhanuly if he can get over this hurdle.

The Forgotten Heavyweight

“Unbeaten for seven years, the man nobody wants to fight,” intoned ring announcer Michael Buffer by way of introduction. Buffer was referencing Michael Hunter who stood across the ring from his opponent Artem Suslenkov.

This scene played out this past Saturday in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. It was Hunter’s second fight in three weeks. On March 23, he scored a fifth-round stoppage of a 46-year-old meatball at a show in Zapopan, Mexico.

The second-generation “Bounty Hunter,” whose only defeat prior to last weekend came in a 12-rounder with Oleksandr Usyk, has been spinning his wheels since TKOing the otherwise undefeated Martin Bakole on the road in London in 2018. Two fights against hapless opponents on low-budget cards in Mexico and a couple of one-round bouts for the Las Vegas Hustle, an entry in the fledgling and largely invisible Professional Combat League, are the sum total of his activity, aside from sparring, in the last two-and-a-half years.

Hunter’s chances of getting another big-money fight took a tumble in Tashkent where he lost a unanimous decision in a dull affair to the unexceptional Suslenkov who was appearing in his first 10-round fight. The scores of the judges were not announced.

You won’t find this fight listed on boxrec. As Jake Donovan notes, the popular website will not recognize a fight conducted under the auspices of a rogue commission. (Another fight you won’t find on boxrec for the same reason is Nico Ali Walsh’s 6-round split decision over the 9-2-1 Frenchman, Noel Lafargue, in the African nation of Guinea on Dec. 16, 2023. You can find it on YouTube, but according to boxrec, boxing’s official record-keeper, it never happened.)

Anderson-Merhy Redux

The only thing missing from this past Saturday’s match in Corpus Christi, Texas, between Jared Anderson and Ryad Merhy was the ghost of Robert Valsberg.

Valsberg, aka Roger Vaisburg, was the French referee who disqualified Ingemar Johansson for not trying in his match with LA’s Ed Sanders in the finals of the heavyweight competition at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. Valsberg tossed Johansson out of the ring after two rounds and Johansson was denied the silver medal. The Swede redeemed himself after turning pro, needless to say, when he demolished Floyd Patterson in the first of their three meetings.

Merhy was credited with throwing only 144 punches, landing 34, over the course of the 10 rounds. Those dismal figures yet struck many onlookers as too high. (This reporter has always insisted that the widely-quoted CompuBox numbers should be considered approximations.)

Whatever the true number, it was a disgraceful performance by Merhy who actually showed himself to have very fast hands on the few occasions when he did throw a punch. With apologies to Delfine Persoon, a spunky lightweight, U.S. boxing promoters should think twice before inviting another Belgian boxer to our shores.

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