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Muhammad Ali vs Sonny Liston Sports Autograph
A great 16x20 Inch Colour Glossy Photograph
of Muhammad Ali in action against Sonny Liston. Classic
Sports Autograph from when Muhammad Ali first won the Heavyweight
Championship and Shook Up The World. Signed in Silver Sharpie
and comes complete with Online Authentics Certificate direct
from Ali's Management company. A Nice clear Signature.
We only have 2 of these signed photographs to ensure exclusivity.
All Postage costs will be calculated at checkout. This item
will be shipped Unframed in a protective tube within 7 days.
£1,495.00
MUHAMMAD ALI v SONNY LISTON
It was over 40 years ago that a boisterous
young boxer from Louisville, Ky. shook up the world.
Cassius Clay, the 1960 Olympic Gold Medalist,
entered the ring on Feb. 25, 1964, as a seven-to-one underdog
to reigning heavyweight champion Sonny Liston. While it
was later revealed that Clay was as nervous for this fight
as any other, he never let it show, confidently proclaiming
that, “if you wanna lose your money, bet on Sonny,”
and referring to Liston, a man with a checkered criminal
history, as “a big ugly bear.” At the weigh
in, he predicted Liston would lose in the eighth round.
With a trash-talking bravado that had not
been seen on the American sporting landscape since Jack
Johnson a half-century earlier, Clay endeared himself to
some and turned himself off to others. But this sense of
self-confidence did not convince the experts that he could
win. Most felt Liston would win rather easily.
The arena in Miami was barely half full as
not many felt this would be a fight worth paying for. Liston
would win easily and quickly and that would be that.
Yet Clay, despite at one point temporarily
losing sight during the fight because a liniment from Liston’s
eye got into his, more than held his own. After a strong
sixth round, Liston failed to get up from his corner for
the seventh round, claiming a shoulder injury.
Cassius Clay, in the final day in which he
called himself that, had won the world’s heavyweight
title. He had shaken up the world, much to the surprise
of a stunned crowd in Miami and watching on television.
Little did anyone know then what they came
to know about Muhammad Ali and what we know now about Muhammad
Ali. After beating Liston and screaming to everyone, “I
shook up the world!” Cassius Clay was little more
than another boxing upstart, one who was endearing to some
because of his Olympic victory and self-confidence, and
boorish to others because he was a modern day Jack Johnson
who threatened to topple everything that was decent about
sport. At the time, however, all anyone really knew was
that this guy had somehow defeated Sonny Liston and was
somehow the heavyweight champion of the world.
What would have happened if Ali lost that
fight? Would he have been the publicly lovable figure for
the next 40 years who received an epic ovation when he lit
the torch at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics? Would he have fought
an epic trilogy against Joe Frazier or rumbled in the jungle
with George Foreman? Would anyone outside of the courts
have cared that he didn’t have no problem with them
Vietcong?
That day in 1964 was one of those days where
millions of people saw an incredibly historic event, one
that not only changed the face of boxing but one that heavily
contributed to the changing face of the American landscape
and American culture, yet no one really knew about it. Today,
40 years later, its significance cannot be understated by
any measure.
Cassius Clay really did shake up the world.
