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The two fights between Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston for boxing's World Heavyweight Championship were among the most controversial fights in the sport's history. Sports Illustrated magazine named their first meeting, the Liston–Clay fight (Ali had not yet changed his name from Cassius Clay), as the fourth greatest sports moment of the twentieth century.[1]
The first bout was held on February 25, 1964 in Miami Beach, Florida.[2] Clay, who was an 8:1 underdog, won in a major upset, when the champion gave up at the opening of the seventh round. Their second fight was on May 25, 1965 in Lewiston, Maine, which Ali won with a first-round knockout. The infamous "phantom punch", as well as a botched count by the referee, aroused suspicions of a fix and have been subject to debate ever since.
- ^ "Sports Illustrated honors world's greatest athletes". CNN. December 4, 1998. Archived from the original on January 4, 2014.
- ^ "Quick look at facts, figures". Miami News. February 25, 1964. p. 2B.