Was 1964 Ali-Liston fight rigged?

February 25, 2014 11:30 pm | Updated November 17, 2021 12:10 am IST - Washington:

In this Feb. 25, 1964 photo, Cassius Clay, left, who later became Muhammad Ali, fights Sonny Liston during their heavyweight title match in Miami Beach, Florida.

In this Feb. 25, 1964 photo, Cassius Clay, left, who later became Muhammad Ali, fights Sonny Liston during their heavyweight title match in Miami Beach, Florida.

A four-decade old document released under the Freedom of Information Act reportedly showed that the FBI suspected foul play in the boxing fight that saw Muhammad Ali (left) take out heavyweight champion Sonny Liston in 1964.

The victory of Ali had come as a shocker for everyone as he beat one of the most fearsome fighters ever.

However, the FBI believed that the fight may have been fixed by a Las Vegas figure tied to organised crime and to Liston. According to the Washington Times , the memos, so sensitive that they were addressed directly to Director J. Edgar Hoover, showed the FBI suspected Ash Resnick, a Las Vegas gambler with organised crime connections, of fixing multiple boxing matches, including the first Clay-Liston fight.

Meanwhile, the documents did not show any evidence against Ali, indicating that the boxer was not a part of the scheme and he probably wasn’t even aware of it.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.