FEATURE: The Fight That Launched Muhammad Ali As legend, But Was It The Fix Of The Century?

*Ali jubilateing: AFP

*liston, ali:AFP

  But was it all a sham? Was Muhammad Ali’s victory over Sonny Liston in 1964 which ended with him leaping about the ring shouting to the heavens “I Am The Greatest’’ a pre-arranged rort fixed by Las Vegas gamblers?

It certainly makes sense and answers riddles half a century old.
Ali, then still known as Cassius Clay, was 22 years old and a 7-1 underdog when he won the world heavyweight title in Miami on February 25, 1964 by forcing Liston, a hulking standover man with fists like bowling balls, to surrender.
Liston quit in his corner after six rounds, claiming a sore shoulder.
In a rematch that still has an overpowering stench of chicanery around it, Liston flopped in the first round from the infamous “phantom punch’’, a seemingly harmless tap to the side of the head that still raises eyebrows 50 years later.
Documents released this week by the FBI reveal their long-held suspicions over Ali’s first title win.
There is no evidence that Ali, now 72, knew of any scheme but the FBI long suspected that Las Vegas mob figure Ash Resnick, one of the team who built Caesars Palace, fixed several big fights including the first Ali-Liston bout.
Memos addressed to FBI director J. Edgar Hoover detail an interview with Houston gambler Barnett Magids, who talked to Resnick before the fight and was warned not to back Liston.
The FBI was given information that Resnick and Liston both reportedly made over $1 million from the outcome, although the Miami boxing commission investigated the fight and found no wrongdoing.
Liston died from a drug overdose in mysterious circumstances in Las Vegas in 1970. Friends believe the former champ, who was terrified of needles, was murdered by gangsters with a fatal “hotshot’’ of heroin.