1964 bout which made Muhammad Ali world champ was fixed? : Sports, News - India Today
Who said match fixing was a recent scourge?
After fifty years of the legendary boxing match in which Muhammad Ali beat Sonny Liston to become world heavyweight champion for the first time, new documents have emerged which reveal that the FBI long suspected that the shock result was really a fix.
The fight between sitting world champion Liston and an upstart Ali - then known as Cassius Clay - took place on Feb 25, 1964, at the Miami Beach Convention Center, in the US.
Ali was just 22 then.
According to a report in Daily Mail, early in the fight Ali was in trouble early, losing his vision at one point, before he came back to convincingly beat Liston. The result was such a shock at the time that there was speculation that the outcome might have been manipulated.
The memorable match, named the fourth-greatest sports moment of the 20th century by Sports Illustrated, ended when Liston quit after the seventh round and Ali started jumping and waving his hands, shouting 'I'm king of the world! I'm king of the world!'
Now documents released to The Washington Times under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that the FBI suspected the fight may have been fixed by a Las Vegas figure tied to organised crime and to Liston.
The documents show the FBI suspected Ash Resnick, a Las Vegas gambler with organised crime connections, of fixing multiple boxing matches, including the first Clay-Liston fight.
The documents also reveal that Resnick and Liston both reportedly made over $1 million betting against Liston in the fight.
The documents, however, show no evidence that Ali was in on the scheme or even knew about it.
A US Senate subcommittee conducted hearings three months later but found no evidence of a fixed fight.
Liston was found dead by his wife in their Las Vegas home on Jan. 5, 1971. Police determined he died from a heroin overdose, but the cause of death remains controversial.
Liston's friends maintained it was a homicide covered up by police.
Read more at: 1964 bout which made Muhammad Ali world champ was fixed? : Sports, News - India Today
Who said match fixing was a recent scourge?
After fifty years of the legendary boxing match in which Muhammad Ali beat Sonny Liston to become world heavyweight champion for the first time, new documents have emerged which reveal that the FBI long suspected that the shock result was really a fix.
The fight between sitting world champion Liston and an upstart Ali - then known as Cassius Clay - took place on Feb 25, 1964, at the Miami Beach Convention Center, in the US.
Ali was just 22 then.
According to a report in Daily Mail, early in the fight Ali was in trouble early, losing his vision at one point, before he came back to convincingly beat Liston. The result was such a shock at the time that there was speculation that the outcome might have been manipulated.
The memorable match, named the fourth-greatest sports moment of the 20th century by Sports Illustrated, ended when Liston quit after the seventh round and Ali started jumping and waving his hands, shouting 'I'm king of the world! I'm king of the world!'
Now documents released to The Washington Times under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that the FBI suspected the fight may have been fixed by a Las Vegas figure tied to organised crime and to Liston.
The documents show the FBI suspected Ash Resnick, a Las Vegas gambler with organised crime connections, of fixing multiple boxing matches, including the first Clay-Liston fight.
The documents also reveal that Resnick and Liston both reportedly made over $1 million betting against Liston in the fight.
The documents, however, show no evidence that Ali was in on the scheme or even knew about it.
A US Senate subcommittee conducted hearings three months later but found no evidence of a fixed fight.
Liston was found dead by his wife in their Las Vegas home on Jan. 5, 1971. Police determined he died from a heroin overdose, but the cause of death remains controversial.
Liston's friends maintained it was a homicide covered up by police.
Read more at: 1964 bout which made Muhammad Ali world champ was fixed? : Sports, News - India Today
