A Funny Thing Happened This Week
Before I take you back in time 60 years for today’s episode I have to share a funny little thing that happened about 60 hours ago.
I started to go through my morning Sports Time Travel ritual of reading the newspapers hot off the presses from exactly 50 and 60 years ago today. I found my newspapers from 60 years ago no problem as usual. But when I went to look for the news from precisely 50 years ago I suddenly realized that 50 years ago today didn’t exist.
There was no February 29, 1974.
This was the first time since I started Sports Time Traveling that I had reached a leap day.
And now on to today’s episode which concludes 60 years ago today, a day that did happen in 1964.
Why I Love Sports Time Travel
As a Sports Time Traveler I enjoy parking myself in a long ago time period and then seeing how things develop day by day through the newspapers, the same way you would learn about it, and at the same daily pace, as if you were actually there.
This is what I’ve been doing here in Miami Beach precisely 60 years ago in 1964.
For the past few weeks I’ve been following the long lead up to, and now the aftermath of the Cassius Clay - Sonny Liston heavyweight title fight, which took place on February 25, 1964.
The build up to this fight was at the level of the Super Bowl in our time. This was attested to by the great running back Jim Brown, who attended the fight and when interviewed said there were more nerves ringside than for any championship football game.
Back here in February, 1964, boxing is one of the biggest of all sports.
And the man who holds the title of heavyweight champion of the world is held in awe.
That man for the past 2 years has been Sonny Liston.
Liston is considered unbeatable by most sportswriters. Some are ready to anoint him as the greatest of all-time. He has a record of 35 - 1, with 25 wins by knockout. Liston’s only loss was 10 years ago when he reportedly was laughing in the middle of a bout and was hit by a punch that broke his jaw.
More recently he has fought like a machine.
He won the title in 1962 by knocking out the former champ, Floyd Patterson, in the 1st round, in just 2 minutes and 6 seconds.
When Liston had a rematch with Patterson last year, in 1963, the result was different. The fight lasted 4 seconds longer. Liston knocked out Patterson at 2:10 in the 1st round.
One reason Liston is so tough is that he has largest fist size in the history of boxing with a circumference of 15 inches.
NOTE From The Sports Time Traveler™ - Liston’s 15 inch fist remains the largest measured fist size in the history of boxing. Now back to 1964.
Liston’s left hook is considered lethal. Some heavyweight contenders, most notably Henry Cooper, refuse to fight Sonny Liston.
But one fighter who was not afraid was the challenger for the title - Cassius Clay.
Clay turned 22 in January and has seemingly not stopped talking to the press for a single second since. Clay came into the fight unbeaten in 19 pro fights since winning the Olympic light heavyweight gold medal in 1960. 15 of Clay’s pro wins have been by knockout.
For the past several weeks leading up to the fight newspapers across the country carried stories about the “Louisville Lip” who calls himself, “The Greatest,” and whose antics are designed to antagonize his opponent to the point of driving him crazy.
On February 14th, the New York Times Robert Lipsyte quoted Clay proclaiming, “I’m the greatest thing in all history.”
On February 20th, the Miami Herald reported that Clay, “went shopping for a victory suit. It was black. He explained that this color was appropriate for funerals - Liston’s.
On February 21st, the New York Times reported that at Clay’s training site, the 5th Street Gym in Miami Beach, each day, “he mugs, he shouts, he gives the dollar-a-head spectators their money’s worth.”
Clay continuously spewed out original poetry about his virtues and how Liston was afraid of him and would lose in exactly 8 rounds.
In the February 22 Miami Herald, Clay was quoted in a press conference saying, “I’m going to float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.” He continued on, as he constantly does, to proclaim, “Yes, sir, I’m going to upset the whole world.”
The article described the non-stop chatter by Clay, “And so it went. On and on and on.”
Clay is a sportswriters dream. He provides provocative fodder for daily columns like no other athlete in American history. He is so brash and seemingly fearless that he is thought by some writers to be insane.
What rational person would have the audacity to excite a ferocious killer bear that you will have to come face to face with armed only with padded gloves.
Some sportswriters feared Clay was going to die in the ring against Liston. Others thought he might not fight at all, that his talk was a sign of fear and that he wouldn’t show up for the bout.
Sports Illustrated was so enamored with Cassius Clay’s character that they put him on the cover of the February 24th issue. Clay was pictured with $1 million in cash. And as the editor described in his column, the cash was real and required Secret Service permission to photograph.
You can see the cover at this link:
Cassius Clay on the cover of Sports Illustrated - February 24, 1964
Sports Illustrated even let Clay write the article himself. Beginning on page 14, the article was titled by Clay, “I’m a Little Special.”
Clay laid out his entire fight plan in the article, “The way I plan for things to go is to stay out of his way during the early rounds, and I count on him to wear himself out chasing me. I’ll circle him and jab and stick and fake, dogging him most of the time and tying him up when he gets too close. He won’t be able to hurt what he can’t even hit.”
He also addressed one of the key flaws in his fighting style that boxing experts predicted would be fatal against Liston.
“I’ve been criticized for leaning away from the other man’s punches instead of ducking, but I’m not going to change my style. Leaning away is a faster reflex than ducking.”
But no amount of Clay talk was changing the minds of any boxing experts. The February 21 Miami Herald sports section contained this passage, “No matter how the conversation starts, or among how many, it ends in a virtually unanimous opinion that Liston will knock Clay temporarily speechless in no time at all.”
On February 22, Jimmy Cannon wrote in his nationally syndicated column, “Clay will fold up as soon as he realizes the gymnasium vaudeville is finished and he must use his limited skills to stand off a guy who can muss up the face he incessantly describes as pretty.”
On the morning of the fight, at the weigh in, Clay’s antics reached a maniacal level. He was screaming, “You a chump, you a chump,” at Liston. The New York Times reported, “his ranting and jumping about brought punitive action from the Miami Beach Boxing Commission. Clay was fined $2,500.”
But no amount of pre-fight braggadocio by Clay could sway the boxing experts from their expected outcome.
Despite the fact that Clay was undefeated in 19 fights, 15 of them won by knockout, a headline in the Miami News on the day of the fight proclaimed Liston to be a 7 to 1 favorite to retain the title. Most experts anticipated the fight to last perhaps 2 rounds at best.
The fight took place in the 16,000 seat Miami Beach Convention Hall and was attended by many prominent athletes.
Joe DiMaggio and Yogi Berra were pictured ringside in the Miami Herald.
Artist Leroy Niemann was ringside sketching the fight.
Yet the arena was only a little more than half full, possibly because fans didn’t want to shell out big bucks for what most thought would be just another 2 minute affair.
Former heavyweight champions Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano were announcers for the fight. And one of the truly greatest boxers ever, Sugar Ray Robinson, was also in the house and interviewed before the fight.
Joe Louis, the champion from 1937 - 1949, was broadcasting on the Theater Television Network (called TNT). This was how fight fans across the country saw the fight, in movie theaters that sold tickets for a closed circuit viewing. Close to 1 million fans crowded into hundreds of theaters across the country.
Rocky Marciano, who retired undefeated as the heavyweight champion in 1956, was a guest on the ABC radio broadcast. The play-by-play announcer for ABC was Les Keiter, and the color analyst was a lawyer turned sportscaster, Howard Cosell.
I experienced the fight by watching the TNT broadcast but listening to the ABC radio announcers as I wanted to hear Cosell.
In his pre-fight show, Cosell referred to the “Liston Legacy of Invincibility.” He interviewed Joe Louis who said Liston could have fought him or any other heavyweight, meaning, he felt Liston was every bit as good as him.
Cosell also played a whirlwind of interview feedback clips he has pre-recorded with sports writers from more than a dozen newspapers across the country. All thought Liston would win easily in 5 rounds or less.
You can watch and listen to the fight as I experienced it in the links below.
The 1st link has the ABC radio broadcast. The 2nd link has the video of the fight as it was seen in the theaters by TNT (Theater Network Television).
Here is my summary of the highlights from the video with the time stamps noted for easy viewing:
9:30 on the video - As round 1 begins, Clay is doing a shuffle dance as he seemingly can’t wait for the fight to start. As soon as the bell rings Clay does exactly what he said he would do. He deftly evades Liston by leaning his body away from the punches, demonstrating amazing reflexes. Clay does this at least a half dozen times in just the first 30 seconds of the fight. These first 30 seconds of the fight are like nothing I have ever seen in boxing as Liston, the champion, comically misses on several lunging punches.
10:00 on the video - Clay dances around the ring, forcing Liston to chase him and use up energy. When Liston gets in close, Clay shoves him away.
10:20 - Liston misses wildly on a powerful left hook as Clay simply dances away from the punches.
11:38 - Liston chases after Clay but can’t touch him as Clay continues to back up and lean away from the punches.
11:55 - Clay steps in and lands a flurry of blows which excites the crowd.
At the end of the 1st round, the bell sounds but neither fighter hears it and finally the referee has to go in and break up the action at least 20 seconds after the round was officially over.
The 1st round has been shocking. Clay has successfully implemented a strategy no one thought possible against Sonny Liston. Clay has proven he can dance away from Liston’s punches and yet still get in for a few solid blows of his own on the champ. He has made Liston work hard. And he has made Liston look foolish with wild misses.
The 2nd round is not nearly entertaining as the 1st. Clay is still evading punches, but he’s doing it by leaning away with his head as opposed to tilting his entire body back as he did in the 1st. It’s as if he’s already tired. Liston also seems a little tired, he’s waiting more for his spots to throw punches, his misses are less wild. The round seems even.
At the end of the round ABC’s Les Keiter says, “50% of the experts have been proven wrong already,” meaning that most thought Liston would finish Clay in 2.
17:55 - 30 seconds into round 3 Clay moves in for a combination of punches and cuts Liston near his left eye. Les Keiter screams, “We may be in the upset of the century.”
But halfway through the round Clay seems to tire. Keiter twice mentions that Clay looks out of breath. Clay is no longer on the offensive, but he’s still able to avoid being damaged by Liston’s blows. And both of Liston’s eyes are now bleeding. Late in the round Keiter says, “Liston’s eyes look like they’ve gone through a meat grinder.”
The 4th round is uneventful. Both fighters are acting more cautious. The round consists mostly of Liston holding the center of the ring and Clay keeping his distance and constantly moving around the perimeter. Clay never allows himself to get too close to Liston and continues to evade punches by leaning away but in a much more economical manner than in the stunning 1st round.
In between the 4th and 5th rounds, at 40:25 on the ABC radio broadcast, Howard Cosell starts yelling, “Something is the matter with Cassius Clay. He is having trouble with his eyes.” As the bell rings to start the round, Keiter says, “One of his trainers says there was something on Liston’s gloves, Clay is blinking, says he can’t see.”
25:40 on the video - It is readily apparent that Clay can not see. He is doing everything he can to avoid Liston. He’s ducking, leaning in, and holding his arms tight to his head. He’s absorbing countless body blows and he looks like he could be done.
But then in the middle of the round Liston stops pressing his advantage. Clay can open his eyes now and he adopts a new strategy. He extends his left arm out and paws at Liston’s face. He doesn’t punch Liston. He just tries to keep his outreached glove on Liston’s face as long as he can.
26:45 on the video - See Clay pawing at Liston’s face in a move seemingly designed to taunt and annoy the champion.
27:45 on the video - Clay takes the pawing up a notch near the end of the round. He paws and then plays on Liston’s face twisting his glove around. Liston is seemingly tired as he doesn’t mash Clay’s arm away or attack.
30:30 on the video - After 30 seconds of no one throwing a punch to start the 6th round, Clay gets to Liston with a series of blows. Les Keiter on the radio says about Clay, “He may be dreaming now of going on to finish Sonny.” A moment later Keiter says, “It’s all Clay at the moment.” Liston seems unable or unwilling to mount a real effort to fight hard.
By the middle of the round the tables seem to be turned. For the first time in the fight it’s Liston who is backing away, and Clay seems to have a second wind. Clay is bobbing, ducking, leaning and then jabbing more like he did in the 1st round.
As the round ends there is no sign that the fight is going to end anytime soon. Neither fighter has come close to being knocked down.
But as the 7th round is set to begin, Clay dances out to the middle of the ring and starts raising his arms high in the air and shuffling his feet back and forth with lightning quick steps. Liston is still sitting on his stool.
Howard Cosell on the ABC radio broadcast seems to be the first person in the arena to grasp what is happening.
Listen to this audio clip at the 47:00 mark on the ABC radio broadcast. As the bell rings for round 7, Howard Cosell’s voice rises from calm and analytical to inquisitive and then to a complete frenzy in just a few seconds.
HOWARD COSELL’S CALL ON ABC RADIO
Here’s a partial transcript of Cosell’s call:
“This is hard to figure out as we come up to round 7. Clay looked like he’d about had it coming into the 4th round (he meant the 5th round)… Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Sonny Liston is not coming out! Sonny Liston is not coming out! He’s out! The winner and the new heavyweight champion of the world is Cassius Clay! Les, I’m going up into the ring!”
33:45 on the video - Watch the wild scene unfold in the ring as Clay’s team realizes the fight is over and Clay has won.
33:54 on the video - The camera focuses on Liston for a couple of seconds. He is still sitting motionless on his stool, and his eyes look so puffy he can barely see.
34:10 on the video - You can see Cosell wrap his arm around Clay and stick his head and microphone in Clay’s face and partition him off from the crowd for an exclusive interview.
On the radio broadcast listen at 47:47 as Cosell attempts to start his interview. Clay is yelling, “I am the greatest. I am the greatest. I am the king of the world. I have upset the world. I told you if you want to go to heaven I’ll get him in 7. I am the king. I am the king.”
Cosell is finally able to ask a question, “What made him so easy for you? Clay replies, “Because I’m too fast. He was scared.”
And so Cassius Clay pulled off one of the greatest upsets in the annals of boxing.
Robert Lipsyte in a front page article in the February 26th New York Times wrote, “Incredibly, the loud-mouthed bragging, insulting youngster had been telling the truth all along. Cassius Clay won the heavyweight title tonight when a bleeding Sonny Liston, his left shoulder injured, was unable to answer the bell for the seventh round.”
An injured shoulder was the reason the Liston camp gave for why Sonny did not come out for the 7th round.
Immediately, there were concerns of a fix. The purse was held up pending a medical review. Then Dr. Alexander Robbins, chief physician of the Miami Beach Boxing Commission, after examining an x-ray, gave a statement indicating that Liston had in fact suffered an injury to the “biceps tendon of the left shoulder… sufficient to incapacitate him.”
At a press conference on February 26th in Miami Beach Liston claimed that he injured the shoulder in the 1st round as he talked to reporters while wearing an arm sling and dark glasses to cover the 6 stitch cut below his left eye.
In the February 27th New York Times, Liston was quoted saying, “I made the mistake of coming out in the 1st round and swinging with everything I had.”
Also in the February 27th New York Times was an incredible post-fight story with an interview of the referee Barney Felix.
Felix indicated he came within 1 second of stopping the fight in favor of Liston at the beginning of the 5th round. Clay, who was having the vision trouble, did not get up from his stool when the bell sounded. Felix told the Times, “When the bell rang for the 5th Clay didn’t budge. He just sat there. He wouldn’t come out.”
Clay was saying to his team that he couldn’t see and he couldn’t continue the fight. In the Miami Herald, Clay told Edwin Pope, “I couldn’t see a thing. I told Angelo to cut my gloves off… there wasn’t any point in my getting knocked out.”
But Clay’s trainer Angelo Dundee told him, “This is a big one buddy. We aren’t going to quit now.” And he pushed Clay off the stool.
Felix said in the Times, “Good thing they did or Liston would still be the world champion today. If he hadn’t moved that split second - and I mean one second - he was all finished.”
Felix also discounted Clay’s accusation that there was liniment on Liston’s gloves in the 4th round that led to Clay’s not being able to see.
NOTE From The Sports Time Traveler™ - How incredible is it that both fighters had reached a point where they didn’t want to get off the stool for a round. Clay in the 5th was pushed out by his trainer. Liston in the 7th remained on his stool, partly because his trainers were so afraid of him they wouldn’t dare push him out.
And ponder this. If Clay had stayed on his stool one more second, his whole career might have been ruined. Cassius Clay, who would shortly take the name of Muhammad Ali, might have never reached superstar status. He might never have been able to overcome what would certainly have been branded as a cowardly exit.
Now back to 1964.
In the Friday, February 28 New York Times, columnist Arthur Daley focused on what happened in that 5th round in which Clay couldn’t see. Daley questioned why Liston didn’t take advantage of the situation to try and knock out Clay, instead of allowing Clay to paw at him and hold him at bay. He wrote, “The baffled Liston never once brushed aside the restraining barrier in order to surge in for the kill.”
The questions about Liston were such that nationally syndicated writer Jimmy Cannon started his February 28th article with this, “Nothing fits when you try to put it together. All I’m sure about is the Cassius Clay - Sonny Liston gag doesn’t come out right… there is something peculiar about it.”
Jimmy Burns reported in the Miami Herald on February 28th that a United States Senate subcommittee “may look into weird angles connected with the fight.”
He was not joking. Senator Phillip A. Hart announced there would be a probe regarding rumors the fight was fixed.
But Burns’ personal opinion was that the fight had been legitimate. He finished the article with this, “Frankly I put little credence in the rumors that the Liston-Clay fight was rigged, because the boxing people are too cunning to have pulled such a stupid climax.”
And if the controversy over Liston’s performance was not enough of a post-fight story, Cassius Clay continued to make national news when he announced after the fight that he had converted to become a Black Muslim. The March 2nd New York Times pictured Clay with Malcolm X in New York.
According to a New York Daily News article on March 2nd, prior to Clay’s meeting with Malcolm X, at the Hotel Theresa at 125th street and 7th avenue in Harlem, a crowd of fans chanted to Clay, “You are the greatest. You are the greatest.” The Daily News noted, “Cassius was quick to agree but added this newcomer, ‘Allah is the greatest.’”
And so there was something that actually could humble the new heavyweight champion.
POSTSCRIPT
In 1999, Sports Illustrated named Clay-Liston fight as the 4th greatest sports moment of the 20th Century.
Howard Cosell’s screams of Sonny Liston’s not coming out, don’t make most lists of greatest sports radio calls, but to me it’s one of the greatest.
Sonny Liston Is Not Coming Out!