Muhammad Ali vs Sonny Liston 1 || Fight of the Year || HIGHLIGHTS

Sonny Liston 218 lbs lost to Muhammad Ali 211 lbs by RTD at 3:00 in round 6 of 15
Date: 1964-02-25
Location: Convention Center, Miami Beach, Florida, USA
Referee: Barney Felix 57-57
Judge: Gus Jacobson 56-59
Judge: Bunny Lovett 58-56
Unofficial AP Scorecard: 56-58
Unofficial UPI Scorecard: 56-58
World Heavyweight Title (2nd defense by Liston)
Sonny Liston became World Heavyweight Champion in 1962 by knocking out Floyd Patterson at 2:06 of the first round. His first title defense was a rematch with Patterson, who lasted four seconds longer than he did the first time. Many considered Liston to be invincible. With an impressive knockout record, Liston was a fighter whom many other heavyweights were reluctant to meet in the ring.
Clay worked himself into a frenzy during the official examination and weigh-in the day of the fight. His antics were so wild that the commission fined him $2,500. Clay's heart rate registered at 120 beats per minute and his blood pressure was 200/100. Dr. Alexander Robbins, The chief physician of the Miami Boxing Commission, determined that he was "emotionally unbalanced, scared to death, and liable to crack up before he enters the ring." He said if Clay's blood pressure didn't return to normal, the fight would be canceled. A second examination conducted an hour later revealed Clay's blood pressure and pulse had returned to normal. It had all been an act. Clay later said, "Liston's not afraid of me, but he's afraid of a nut."
The fight began with Clay showing a lot of movement, using his fast and effective jab and quick combinations, making it difficult for Liston to score with his slower jab and heavy punches. In the third round, Clay opened up his attack and hit Liston with several combinations that caused a bruise under Liston's right eye and a cut under his left. During the fourth round, Clay coasted, keeping his distance. However, when he returned to his corner, he started blinking wildly and complained that there was something burning in his eyes and that he could not see. Angelo Dundee rinsed Clay's eyes with a sponge and pushed him off his stool to begin the fifth round, telling him to stay away from Liston.
"I didn't know what the heck was going on," Dundee recalled on an NBC special 25 years later. "He said, 'cut the gloves off. I want to prove to the world there's dirty work afoot.' And I said, 'whoa, whoa, back up baby. C'mon now, this is for the title, this is the big apple. What are you doing? Sit down!' So I get him down, I get the sponge and I pour the water into his eyes trying to cleanse whatever's there, but before I did that I put my pinkie in his eye and I put it into my eye. It burned like hell. There was something caustic in both eyes."
The commotion wasn't lost on referee Barney Felix, who was walking toward Clay's corner. The challenger, his arms held high in surrender, was demanding that the fight be stopped and Dundee, fearing the fight might indeed be halted, gave his charge a one-word order: "Run!"
Many theorized that a substance used on Liston's cuts by Joe Pollino, his cutman, may have inadvertently caused the irritation. "Joe Pollino had used Monsel's Solution on that cut," Dundee said. "Now what had happened was that probably the kid put his forehead leaning in on the guy—because Liston was starting to wear in with those body shots—and my kid, sweating profusely, it went into both eyes."
Heavyweight contender Eddie Machen said he believed that Liston's handlers made deliberate use of illegal medication to temporarily blind Clay. "The same thing happened to me when I fought Liston in 1960," Machen said. "I thought my eyes would burn out of my head, and Liston seemed to know it would happen." He theorized that Liston's handlers would rub medication on his shoulders, which would then be transferred to his opponent's forehead during clinches and drip into the eyes. "Clay did the worst thing when he started screaming and let Liston know it had worked," Machen said. "Clay panicked. I didn't do that. I'm more of a seasoned pro, and I hid it from Liston."
Pollino later confessed to reporter Jack McKinney that Liston ordered him to rub an astringent compound on his gloves before the fourth round. Pollino complied, and Liston shoved his gloves into Clay's face in the fourth.
Clay managed to survive the fifth round and by the sixth, his eyes had cleared and he resumed control of the fight. During the sixth, Clay landed several effective combinations, seemingly at will. On his stool following the sixth round, Liston told his cornermen that he couldn't continue, complaining of a shoulder injury. He failed to answer the bell for the seventh round and Clay was declared the winner by technical knockout. Clay sprang to the center of the ring and did a victory dance with his hands held high. He then quickly ran to the ropes and began yelling at the ringside media, saying, "I am the greatest" and "I shook up the world!"

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