Sonny Liston Defends Title Against Floyd Patterson

On July 22, 1963, boxer Sonny Liston defended his World Heavyweight title against Floyd Patterson in a rematch from the previous year.  The fight took place in Las Vegas, Nevada.

 Sonny Liston entered the first fight against Patterson as a heavy betting line favorite.  However, Sports Illustrated along with former heavyweight champions James Braddock, Ezzard Charles, Rocky Marciano and “Jersey” Joe Walcott all predicted that Floyd Patterson would come out victorious. However, Muhammad Ali predicted Liston would get a knockout in the first five rounds.

Ali was right on target as Liston used his power to dominate Patterson, knocking him out just 2:06 into the first round.

The one-sided nature of the bout was a major surprise. Patterson was expected to try to employ his speed and agility to counter Liston's size and power but in the event Patterson's tactics showed a complete lack of guile. Sports Illustrated writer Gilbert Rogin characterized the fight as "bathetic," claiming Patterson didn't punch enough, had inexplicably sought to clinch with his far heavier opponent and repeatedly made the basic error of failing to tie up both his opponent's arms in a clinch. Liston bulled Patterson around while using his free hand to batter him with body blows before shortening up and connecting with two double hooks high on the head.

It was the third-fastest knockout in a world heavyweight title fight and the first time the champion had been knocked out in round one. Rogin discounted speculation that Patterson had thrown the fight and suggested that "mental problems" had been responsible for his poor performance.

The rematch was a carbon copy of the first fight as Sonny Liston used his huge weight and reach advantage to once again knockout Patterson in the first round.  The fight lasted just four seconds longer that the first one as Patterson was counted out at 2:10 of the first round. After the victory the champion, Liston, was loudly booed.

After his victories against Patterson, Liston would go on to fight against Muhammad Ali, two times, and lost both. Fans and judges speculated that Liston took a dive during both fights, though Liston denies the claims.

Liston finished his career with a record of 50-4, with the only boxer he lost to more than once being Muhammad Ali, both times being for the World Heavyweight title.

Check out the video below of Liston and Patterson's bout:

"The Sound and The Fury" Mike Tyson Bites Evander Holyfield

On July1, 1997, the Nevada Athletic Commission suspends Mike Tyson for biting Evander Holyfield on June 28, 1997 during the "The Sounds and The Fury" bill that featured the much anticipated rematch between Tyson and Holyfield.

In the first Tyson-Holyfield fight, seven months earlier, Evander Holyfield, who opened as a 25-to-1 underdog (eventually pulling to 15-to-2), absolutely destroyed Mike Tyson, scoring a TKO over Tyson in round 11.

However, the rematch got most of its notoriety from the strange event that happened between Tyson and Holyfield. In the third round with Tyson on the attacking end of a clinch he rolled over Holyfield's shoulder and bit Evander's ear. With a one-inch piece of Holyfield's ear emerging from his mouth Tyson backed off and spit the bloody apendage onto the ring.

With Holyfield jumping in pain and Tyson reeling in for another attack Judge Mills Lane called a time out to the fight. As Holyfield turned to walk to his corner, Tyson shoved him from behind. Lane sent Tyson to a neutral corner as an enraged Holyfield gestured for Mills Lane to look at his bitten ear which was rapidly bleeding. 

The fight was delayed for several minutes as Lane debated what to do. Lane's original decision was to immediately disqualify Tyson, but after the ringside doctor determined that Holyfield was able to continue despite the massive bite, Lane announced he would be deducting two points from Tyson and the fight would continue. 

Bobby Czyz, who was calling the fight with Steve Albert for Showtime, said, "I wonder how this would have played in Mitch Halpern's eyes," and Albert told Czyz, "Oh my goodness, that's a thought, Bobby." 

As Lane explained the decision to Tyson and his cornermen, Tyson asserted that the injury to Holyfield's ear was the result of a punch. "Bullshit." retorted Lane. The fight was resumed.
 
During another clinch, Tyson bit Holyfield's left ear. Holyfield threw his hands around to get out of the clinch and jumped back. Tyson's second bite just scarred Holyfield's ear. Lane did not stop the fight this time, so the two men continued fighting until time expired. 

The men walked back to their respective corners when the second bite was discovered and the fight was then stopped.

With the fight stopped Tyson went on rampage at Holyfield and his trainer Brooks while they were still in their corner. Mills Lane told Tyson's corner and Tyson's relatives that he was disqualifying Tyson for biting Holyfield. 

Exactly 25 minutes after the brawl ended, announcer Jimmy Lennon Jr. read the decision: "Ladies and gentlemen, this bout has been stopped at the end of round number three, the referee in charge, Mills Lane, disqualifies Mike Tyson for biting Evander Holyfield in both ears, the winner by way of disqualification and still the WBA Champion of the world, Evander 'The Real Deal' Holyfield!" 

Holyfield won the WBA's boxing championship, prize, money and trophy because of Tyson's disqualification.

It was believed by many that Tyson was upset that he could not intimidate Holyfield and was himself scared enough that he deliberately got himself disqualified. However, Tyson continued to say it was retaliation for the headbutts.

As a result of biting Holyfield on both ears and other behavior, Tyson's boxing license was revoked by the Nevada State Athletic Commission and he was fined three million dollars plus legal costs. The revocation was not permanent; a little more than a year later on October 18, 1998, the commission voted 4–1 to restore Tyson's boxing license.

Watch the video below of the match where Tyson bit Holyfield's ear:

Lennox Lewis And Evander Holyfield Draw

On March 13, 1999, a heavyweight championship match between Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield took place at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York.

Evander Holyfield (left) and Lennox Lewis (right) pose for a promotional photo prior to their fight at Madison Square Garden.

The match seemed to be in favor of the taller Lewis as he dominated Holyfield all around the ring for 12 rounds.

However, the match went to the cards and ended up being determined by the judges.

One judge gave the match to Lewis 116-113, one saw it as a draw, and Eugenia Williams, saw it as Holyfield being the winner. Because all three cards differed and one was a draw, the outcome was a draw.

Lennox Lewis (left) and Evander Holyfield (right) went toe-to-toe in a 12 round fight at Madison Square Garden in 1999.

There was an incredible amount of outrage from the decision, with many questioning if the fight had been fixed. Williams, the long judge to have Holyfield as the winner, received an enormous amount of criticism.

Williams mentioned that the photographers were blocking her view and that she couldn’t see the fight properly.

Williams testified in court and admitted she had made a mistake, saying, “I couldn’t judge what I couldn’t see. I couldn’t go to the other side, and I even hit my head on a camera when I tired to get closer.”

Eight months later Lewis and Holyfield planned a rematch to face one another, one where Lewis prevailed as the undisputed winner of this match.

Ali And Frazier's "The Fight Of The Century"

On March, 8, 1971, “The Fight Of The Century” takes place between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York.

 

Joe Frazier (left) and Muhammad Ali (right) posing for picture before their 1971 fight.

Frazier, defeated Ali to retain his Heavyweight boxing belt. The fight went to the score cards after 15 rounds of boxing, and Frazier was unanimously declared the winner.

Muhammad Ali (right) giving a good blow to Joe Frazier (left) in their 1971 fight.

The fight between Ali and Frazier was the first fight in heavyweight boxing history to have both fighter enter the ring as undefeated and as champions.

Joe Frazier (left) landing one of the bigger hits in the 1971 fight against Muhammad Ali (right).

Ali did not lose his belt in the ring though. His belt was stripped went he refused to fight for his country in the armed forces.

This was the first of three epic fights between Ali and Frazier.

Louis Knocks Out Dorazio

On Feb. 17, 1941, Joe Louis knocks out Gus Dorazio in the second round for Heavyweight boxing title. Louis remarked of Dorazio, "At least he tried," after being leveled by a short right hand in the second round at Philadelphia's Convention Hall.

Joe Louis was an American professional boxer and the World Heavyweight Champion from 1937 to 1949. He is considered to be one of the greatest heavyweights of all time. 

A young Joe Louis in 1938.

Nicknamed the Brown Bomber, Louis helped elevate boxing from a nadir in popularity in the post-Jack Dempsey era by establishing a reputation as an honest, hardworking fighter at a time when the sport was dominated by gambling interests.

Louis' championship reign lasted 140 consecutive months, during which he participated in 26 championship fights; fight no. 27 was against Ezzard Charles and was a challenge to Charles' Heavyweight title and so is not included in Louis' reign. 

All in all, Joe was victorious in 25 successful title defenses, a record for the heavyweight division. In 2005, Louis was ranked as the no. 1 heavyweight of all-time by the International Boxing Research Organization, and was ranked no. 1 on The Ring's list of the 100 Greatest Punchers of All-Time.

Louis' career ncluded 72 total fights, with 69 wins, 57 by knockout, and only three losses. He had one no contest, and no draws.

His most remarkable record is that he knocked out 23 opponents in 27 title fights, including 5 world champions. In addition to his accomplishments inside the ring, Louis uttered two of boxing's most famous observations: "He can run, but he can't hide" and "Everyone has a plan until they've been hit.”

Louis is also remembered in sports outside of boxing. An indoor sports venue is named after him in Detroit, the Joe Louis Arena, where the Detroit Red Wings play their NHL games.

In 1936, a beat writer for the Winnipeg Tribune used Joe Louis's nickname to refer to the Winnipeg Football Club after a game. From that point, the team became known popularly as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

His recognition also transcends the sporting world. In 2002, scholar Molefi Kete Asante listed Joe Louis on his list of 100 Greatest African Americans.

On Aug. 26, 1982, Louis was posthumously approved for the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest award given to civilians by the U.S. legislative branch.

Congress stated that he "did so much to bolster the spirit of the American people during one of the most crucial times in American history and which have endured throughout the years as a symbol of strength for the nation."

Following Louis' death, President Ronald Reagan said, "Joe Louis was more than a sports legend -- his career was an indictment of racial bigotry and a source of pride and inspiration to millions of white and black people around the world."

In 1993, he became the first boxer to be honored on a postage stamp issued by the U.S. Postal Service.

Ali Steps In Ring For Last Time

On Dec. 11, 1981, Muhammad Ali's fights in his 61^st career fight, losing to Trevor Berbick. It would be his last fight in his professional career.

At the ripe age of 18 Cassius Clay, now known as Muhammad Ali, earned a Gold for the United States in the 1960 Rome Olympics in the Light Heavyweight class.

At the age of 22, Ali won the world heavyweight championship from Sonny Liston.

Ali changed his name from Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali after joining the Nation of Islam in 1964, subsequently converting to Sunni Islam in 1975.

In 1967, three years after Ali had won the heavyweight championship, he was publicly vilified for his refusal to be conscripted into the U.S. military, based on his religious beliefs and opposition to the Vietnam War.

Ali would go on to become the first and only three-time lineal World Heavyweight Champion.

Nicknamed "The Greatest," Ali was involved in several historic boxing matches.

Notable among these were three with rival Joe Frazier, which are considered among the greatest in boxing history, and one with George Foreman, where he finally regained his stripped titles seven years later. Ali was well known for his unorthodox fighting style, epitomized by his catchphrase "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee", and employing techniques such as the Ali Shuffle and the rope-a-dope.

Ali brought beauty and grace to the most uncompromising of sports and through the wonderful excesses of skill and character, he became the most famous athlete in the world.

He was also known for his pre-match hype, where he would "trash talk" opponents, often with rhymes.

In 1999, Ali was crowned "Sportsman of the Century" by Sports Illustrated and "Sports Personality of the Century" by the BBC.

Ali finished his career with 61 fights, winning 56 times, 37 by knock out, with only five losses. His fastest win came via knockout when he was just 19 years old. On Feb. 7, 1961, then Clay beat Jim Robinson in the first round just 1:34 into the fight.

Rumble In The Jungle

On Oct. 30, 1974, Muhammad Ali defeated George Foreman in eight rounds to win the world heavyweight title. The fight took place in Zaire and was dubbed the Rumble in the Jungle. The fight was famous for the promotional tour by both fighters. It also marked a return to glory for Ali after he had been suspended for dodging the draft.

The event was one of Don King's first ventures as a professional boxing promoter. He managed to get Ali and Foreman to sign separate contracts saying they would fight for him if he could get a $5 million purse. However, King did not have the money, so he began looking for an outside country to sponsor the event. Zaire's president Mobutu Sésé Seko asked for the fight to be held in his country, eager for the publicity such a high-profile event would bring. King had pulled together a consortium that included a Panamanian company called Risnelia Investment, the Hemdale Film Corporation, a British company founded by film producer John Daly and the actor David Hemmings, Video Techniques Incorporated of New York and Don King Productions. Although King is most closely associated with the fight, it is Hemdale and Video Techniques Inc. with whom King was a director, who were the official co-promoters of the fight.

Ali began the first round by attacking Foreman with unconventional (and provocative) 'right-hand leads'. This was notable, as Ali was famed for his speed and technical skills, while Foreman's raw power was his greatest strength; it seemed that close range fighting would inevitably favor Foreman and leave too great a chance that Ali would be stunned by Foreman's powerful haymakers. Ali made use of the right-hand lead punch (striking with the right hand without setting up the left) in a further effort to disorient Foreman. However, while this aggressive tactic may have surprised Foreman and allowed Ali to hit him solidly a number of times, it failed to significantly hurt him, and before the end of the first round, Foreman began to catch up to Ali, landing a few punches of his own. Foreman had also been trained to cut off the ring and prevent escape. Ali realized that he would tire if Foreman could keep making one step to Ali's two, so he changed tactics.

Ali had told his trainer, Angelo Dundee, and his fans that he had a secret plan for Foreman. As the second round commenced, Ali frequently began to lean on the ropes and cover up, letting Foreman punch him on the arms and body (a strategy Ali later dubbed the rope-a-dope). As a result, Foreman spent his energy throwing punches that either did not hit Ali or were deflected in a way that made it difficult for Foreman to hit Ali's head, while sapping Foreman's strength due to the large number of punches he threw. This loss of energy was key to Ali's "rope-a-dope" tactic.

Meanwhile, Ali took every opportunity to shoot straight punches to Foreman's face (this quickly took a toll on his face, which was soon visibly puffy), and when the two fighters were locked in clinches, Ali consistently out-wrestled Foreman, using tactics such as leaning on Foreman to make Foreman support Ali's weight, and holding down Foreman's head by pushing on his neck. He constantly taunted Foreman in these clinches, telling him to throw more punches, and an enraged Foreman responded by doing just that.

After several rounds of this, he began to tire. His face became increasingly damaged by hard, fast jabs and crosses by Ali. The effects were visible as Foreman was staggered by an Ali combination at the start of the fourth round and again several times near the end of the fifth, after Foreman had seemed to dominate that round. Although he kept throwing punches and coming forward, after the fifth round Foreman looked increasingly worn out. Ali continued to taunt him by saying "They told me you could punch, George!" and "They told me you could punch as hard as Joe Louis." According to Foreman, near the end of the fight, Foreman slammed Ali with a thundering body blow, and Ali whispered to him "Is that all you got, George?" to which Foreman thought "Yep...that's about it." After that, Ali began to dominate Foreman.

As the fight drew into the eighth round, Foreman's punching and defense became ineffective as the strain of throwing so many wild shots took its toll, and Ali pounced as Foreman tried to pin him on the ropes, landing several right hooks over Foreman's jab followed by a 5-punch combination culminating in a left hook that brought Foreman's head up into position and a hard right straight to the face that caused him to stumble to the canvas. Foreman did get up, but not before being counted out by referee Zack Clayton.

The fight showed that Ali was capable of taking a punch and also highlighted his tactical genius, changing his fighting style by adopting the rope-a-dope, instead of his former style that emphasized movement to counter his opponent. Film of the Zaire fight shows Foreman striking Ali with hundreds of thunderous blows, many blocked, but many others getting through. Foreman mostly struck to the sides and kidney region, but also landed some vicious shots to the head, seemingly with no effect.

This fight has since become one of the most famous fights of all-time because it resulted in Ali, against the odds, regaining the title against a younger and stronger Foreman. It is shown several times annually on the ESPN Classic network. After this fight Ali once again told the world he was the greatest. A year later Ali won an epic battle with Joe Frazier in the Thrilla in Manila. Although his skills and reflexes deteriorated noticeably in later bouts,^[4] he remained Champion until 1978, when he was dethroned by Leon Spinks. He regained the title for an unprecedented third time after beating Spinks in a rematch. However, his later comebacks proved less successful and he was beaten by Larry Holmes in 1980 and Trevor Berbick in 1981.

Despite repeatedly calling Ali out, Foreman was unable to secure a rematch with the champion before he (Foreman) abruptly decided to retire after a loss to Jimmy Young in 1977. (Ali did not hurry to set up a rematch, making title defenses against unheralded opponents such as Jean Pierre Coopman and Richard Dunne. However he would repeatedly state that his rematch with Foreman was one of the major fights he wanted to get to before retiring.) 10 years later, Foreman made an unlikely comeback, culminating in him regaining the world heavyweight championship at age 45 — at that time, the oldest man ever to win the title.

Ali Wins First Fight

On Oct. 29, 1960, Muhammad Ali also known as Cassius Clay makes his first professional fight. In that fight Ali would beat Tunney Hunsaker in six rounds.

At the ripe age of 18 Cassius Clay, now known as Muhammad Ali, earned a Gold for the United States in the 1960 Rome Olympics in the Light Heavyweight class.

At the age of 22, Ali won the world heavyweight championship from Sonny Liston. 

Ali changed his name from Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali after joining the Nation of Islam in 1964, subsequently converting to Sunni Islam in 1975.

In 1967, three years after Ali had won the heavyweight championship, he was publicly vilified for his refusal to be conscripted into the U.S. military, based on his religious beliefs and opposition to the Vietnam War. 

Ali would go on to become the first and only three-time lineal World Heavyweight Champion.

Nicknamed "The Greatest," Ali was involved in several historic boxing matches.

Notable among these were three with rival Joe Frazier, which are considered among the greatest in boxing history, and one with George Foreman, where he finally regained his stripped titles seven years later. Ali was well known for his unorthodox fighting style, epitomized by his catchphrase "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee", and employing techniques such as the Ali Shuffle and the rope-a-dope.

Ali brought beauty and grace to the most uncompromising of sports and through the wonderful excesses of skill and character, he became the most famous athlete in the world.

He was also known for his pre-match hype, where he would "trash talk" opponents, often with rhymes.

In 1999, Ali was crowned "Sportsman of the Century" by Sports Illustrated and "Sports Personality of the Century" by the BBC.

Ali finished his career with 61 fights, winning 56 times, 37 by knock out, with only five losses. His fastest win came via knockout when he was just 19 years old. On Feb. 7, 1961, then Clay beat Jim Robinson in the first round just 1:34 into the fight.

Muhammad Ali lighted the one hundredth anniversary Olympic torch in a very emotional moment in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia. Ali was also given a replacement gold medal for his boxing victory at the 1960 Summer Olympics. Ali had supposedly thrown his previous gold medal into the Ohio River after being refused entry into a restaurant.