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May 25, 1965
Lewiston, Maine
The rematch between Cassius Clay, who had changed his name to Muhammad Ali, and former champion Sonny Liston was scheduled for November, 16, 1964.
Three days before the bout, Ali was diagnosed of having an incarcerated inguinal hernia that had to be removed by an instant operation. The rematch had to be postponed seven months. It was to be held in Lewiston, a small town in Maine. Only 2,434 people found their way to St Dominick\'s Arena on fight night.
The story of the actual fight is a short one. The bout had just started when it was finished by a straight right by Ali. The two boxers had absolved merely 105 seconds when the fight was over - a period of time in which Ali had just thrown six serious punches before Liston hit the canvas. He had been hit by a so-called \"phantom-punch\" many of the spectators had not even seen. In slow motion one can see Liston jabbing. Ali moves backwards, Liston misses and his head falls down for a part of a second. In this time, Ali counters with a right that lands on Liston's jaw. Sonny, having not seen the blow and so not having prepared for it, goes down.
Seeing Liston on the canvas, Ali refused to go to the neutral corner but stood over Liston yelling: \"Get up and fight, sucker!\"
Former heavyweight champion Jersey Joe Walcott, who refereed the bout, unsuccessfully tried to push the rampageous Ali into the neutral corner and forgot to count Liston out who stood up after seventeen seconds. The fight was ended by Walcott after Nat Fleischer, editor of Ring Magazine, yelled into the ring that Liston had taken the count. Consequently, Walcott stopped the bout and declared Ali the winner.
Many spectators considered the bout fixed. The FBI investigated the case. More than one speculation circulated about Liston\'s fall.
1) While preparing for the fight, Liston was visited by Black Muslims who threatened to kill his daughter Eleanor if he should win the rematch.
2) Liston lay down for money.
3) Ali was supposed to be assassinated during the fight. Consequently, Liston decided to leave the ring as quick as possible to save his own life.
Ali contradicts: \"It's a matter of fact that no fight was less fixed than this one\".
Twenty-nine days after this bout and less than a year after he married Sonji, Ali divorced from her on January 10, 1966. Ali complained - amongst other things - about her refusing to follow rules that were proper for Muslim women, like wearing long skirts or not using make-up.
Ali's next opponent was Floyd Patterson who opined that \"the Black Muslims\' scourge [had to be] removed from boxing\" and was without a chance in a twelve round slaughter.
In 1966, Ali successfully faced five opponents: George Chuvalo in Canada, Henry Cooper and Brian London in England, Germany's champion Karl Mildenberger in Frankfurt, and Cleveland Williams in Houston.
Meanwhile, a far more important fight for Ali had started - outside the ring. It would strip Ali of everything he had worked so hard for all of his life. The first act had been staged in 1964 when Ali failed the mental aptitude test at a military induction center in Florida and was classified 1-Y (not qualified). In early 1966, the required level was lowered because the US needed more soldiers for the Vietnam War. All of a sudden, Ali was 1-A. When he was asked by journalists about his opinion of the Viet Cong, he just replied: \"I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong.\"
This statement is probably the most famous that ever passed Ali's lips. The media called him a \"draft dodger\" and demanded him to serve for his country as Joe Louis had done during World War II. Ali, however, insisted on his appeal for conscientious objector status because his religion didn't allow him to fight in any war.
Then, in autumn 1966, another incident enraged many whites; Herbert Muhammad, Elijah Muhammad's son, became Ali's new manager because the contract with the Louisville Sponsoring Group had expired.
Despite his trouble with the army, Ali fought \"the octopus\" Ernie Terrell on February 6, 1967. Terrell had been undefeated for five years and held the WBA\'s version of the title that had been taken from Ali. Before the fight, Terrell had refused to call the champ by his new name 'Muhammad Ali'. He still called him Cassius Clay. As a result, Ali kept yelling \"What's my name, Uncle Tom!\" during the whole fight while delivering a huge amount of blows to Terrell. Many spectators later blamed Ali for \"carrying\" Terrell to punish him worse. \"Carrying\" means to intentionally not knock out a weaker opponent.
One and a half month later, Ali defeated Zora Folley in New York. It was to be his last fight for long. On April 28, 1967, Ali refused the obligatory step into the US armed forces and thus was sentenced with five years\' imprisonment and a 10,000 fine. Plus, he was stripped of his title, his boxing license and his passport. Ali couldn\'t leave the USA and didn\'t know whether he would ever be allowed to fight again.
Despite various offers that he could go to Vietnam without ever coming near a battle field but merely entertain the troops while boxing, Ali didn't change his opinion that said he was against any form of war but holy war against enemies of the Islam. Plus, he opined a stay in Vietnam would prevent him from practising his religion because he was an Islamic preacher.
In August, 1967, Ali married his second wife, 17-year-old Muslim Belinda Boyd who he had first met when he visited her school in 1961.
Because he wasn't allowed to box, Ali had to look for other ways to earn his living. Soon after he was banned from boxing, he started to write speeches he held at colleges and universities all over the USA in which he explained his point of view on the war and the segregation of African Americans. Ali impressed his chiefly white audiences with his self-written speeches that were critical, political, religious, and often funny at the same time.
With his innate eloquence and charisma he convinced many of them of the values he believed in - justice and peace.
While the trial USA versus Muhammad Ali was still not decided, the defendant was sentenced to ten days imprisonment - not because of his claiming for conscientious objector status but for driving without a valid license.
The income of Ali's college lectures was not enough to pay his attorneys. A documentation of his life, a computer bout between Rocky Marciano and Ali, the leading part in the Broadway Musical Buck White and various public appearences provided financial support for the \"people's champ\" as Ali used to call himself.
As the years passed, the tide of public opinion turned. The Vietnam War was seen critically by more and more Americans. Also, Ali\'s image changed as more and more people began to realize he had been treated unjustly. Finally, after three-and-a-half years of useless trying, Ali's management got him a boxing license although the US Supreme Court had not judged yet whether Ali was guilty or not. Ali's first fight after his exile was to be against Jerry Quarry in Atlanta on October 26, 1970.
In 1970, when Ali returned to the ring, Joe Frazier was the undisputed heavyweight champion. He had won the WBA title in a unification bout against Jimmy Ellis.
Still in exile, Ali had been contacting Frazier and the two men had almost battled in a Philadelphia park.
Frazier's management were the first to offer Ali a fight. He was supposed to box Frazier in his first post-exile bout. However, when Ali got a license in autumn of 1970, they drew back. So Ali boxed Jerry Quarry, a strong fighter with a good stamina. It was Ali\'s first fight in three-and-a-half years. He had just six weeks time to prepare for this fight.
In the first round of Ali vs. Quarry the audience saw a \"floating\" Ali who hit Quarry whenever he wanted. Quarry got better in the second round and landed some blows. After round three referee Perez ended the bout because of a huge cut above Quarry's eye that was heavily bleeding.
After this not-convincing comeback, Ali faced Oscar Bonavena, a strong boxer from Argentina is described as a \'stubborn donkey\' because, after he had been hit, Bonavena would get even wilder and angrier and show not the least sign of weakness.
Ali ended an average fight with an impressing last round knockout but with this couldn't mislead the spectators that he lacked the speed that had provided for his successes before the layoff. Then, at last, a championship bout against Joe Frazier was to take place. It was declared the \"fight of the century\".
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