Why did the mafia let clay beat liston?

[Rick Taylor]

were both fights fixed? was clay in on it?
was clay secretly a mafia fighter?

[Willie Pep 229]

1. Maybe Liston laid down in the second fight but it was his own decision. First fight was clean; Clay was like Dempsey redux, he brought to the game a new style (HWs anyway) and an old style champion wasn't ready/capable of dealing with it.

2. No!

3. No! (Unless you wish to apply the term as a metaphor to the Black ******s, then yes.)

[Anthony342]

1. Maybe Liston laid down in the second fight but it was his own decision. First fight was clean; Clay was like Dempsey redux, he brought to the game a new style (HWs anyway) and an old style champion wasn't ready/capable of dealing with it.

2. No!

3. No! (Unless you wish to apply the term as a metaphor to the Black ******s, then yes.)

Yeah in the first fight Liston even cheated to try to win with that solution. Once it was washed away with Clay's sweat, he was popping Liston with that jab again and Sonny quit on his stool after Round 6, giving up the title. The rumor with fight 2 has usually been that there was a bet on Ali for a first round knockout that Liston might have gotten some action on as well, hence the multiple falling down after the short right hand knocked Sonny down.

[Dariusz]

Second fight was definitely fixed. It required a much better directing though.

[Rick Taylor]

1. Maybe Liston laid down in the second fight but it was his own decision. First fight was clean; Clay was like Dempsey redux, he brought to the game a new style (HWs anyway) and an old style champion wasn't ready/capable of dealing with it.

2. No!

3. No! (Unless you wish to apply the term as a metaphor to the Black ******s, then yes.)

Why are you so sure?

[Rick Taylor]

Yeah in the first fight Liston even cheated to try to win with that solution. Once it was washed away with Clay's sweat, he was popping Liston with that jab again and Sonny quit on his stool after Round 6, giving up the title. The rumor with fight 2 has usually been that there was a bet on Ali for a first round knockout that Liston might have gotten some action on as well, hence the multiple falling down after the short right hand knocked Sonny down.

Never proven. Just another Ali lie.

[Willie Pep 229]

Why are you so sure?

What is history . . . lies agreed upon. -- You don't agree? Tell us what you saw; heard, read . . . I say Liston was left behind by a fighter who brought to the HW division speed and movement never before employed.

[Rick Taylor]

What is history . . . lies agreed upon. -- You don't agree? Tell us what you saw; heard, read . . . I say Liston was left behind by a fighter who brought to the HW division speed and movement never before employed.

It looks like both fights were fixed.

[HOUDINI563]

Neither bout was fixed. Ali beat Liston up in fight one. Very clear to see.

Fight two lots of evidence that the ko was legit:

Those sitting on the side of the ring where the punch could be clearly seen saw a ko blow. See Sports Illustrated the week of the fight.

You can clearly see Listons head jerk violently from Ali’s right hand. Liston was stepping into Ali at the time amplifying the force of the blow.

Liston staggers mid ring once the bout was stopped and the ring filled with spectators.

In his dressing room after the bout with no one around except his trainers Liston asked for smelling salts. Liston never asked for smelling salts before as per his trainers.

Finally BOTH bouts were investigated by both boxing commissions and the FBI. No evidence of a fix was found.

[The Old LefHook]

The phantom punch was no phantom. It lifted Liston's lead leg, ladies.