Was 1964 Ali-Liston fight rigged?

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.