Ali vs liston II was it a fix?

Question

ali clearly beat liston in the first fight liston retired on his stool frusturated and hurt in the rematch ali hit liston with what they call the phantom punch but if you watch the punch in slow motion the punch hit liston on the temple and did jolt his head a little bit i personally think liston could of gotten up but he did not want to take another long beating from ali

Answer 1

Remember the situation. It's 1965, and Ali has changed his name and announced he is working with the Black Muslims. If there was a group that no one in the establishment at the time wanted to see with a tie to the heavyweight championship of the world, that was the group.

Therefore, if the fight was going to be fixed, you would guess that the result would go the other way. Liston was an old man at that point, perhaps past 40 (he never knew his true age). It was a confusing fight, badly refereed by Joe Wolcott, I believe, but I am inclined to think Ali caught Liston perfectly.

Answer 2

no, i don't believe it was fixed.

having watched the fight on tape several times, i see a perfectly timed punch taken flush by liston who was off balance, and when the fight resumed, ali was all over him.

unfortunately, we will never know what would've happened if walcott hadn't messed up (or nat fleischer hadn't interfered).

Answer 3

I have watched the replay many times, and I have always thought, and still think to this day that Sonny Liston took a dive in that fight, and not from an Ali punch...  He was connected with the mob and everyone knew it, so that might have had something to do with it, but I think that the main reason why he took a dive is because he did not want to take another beating from Ali like he did in the first fight.  Liston knew what he was up against and I think that he was just looking for a way out of the fight.  Ali caught him with a good punch, but he was on the retreat, and Liston had a h**l of a chin that stood up to way harder shots than that.  And Liston actually DID get up, but the referee, Jersey Joe Walcott did not realize at first that he had been down for more than 10 seconds.  If Liston was really that dazed and shook from that punch, then I don't think that he would have gotten up and kept fighting Ali like he did.  The majority of the fighters who were ringside watching the fight said that Liston took a dive, and I believe them.

Answer 4

Liston had a good chin and Ali was not a heavy puncher.  To go along with that leading up to the fight Ali was telling everyone to watch out for something amazing in the first round.  Ali was always talking but it seems pretty suspicious.  In my opinion the second fight was fixed.  Liston was better than the man that showed up for that fight.

Answer 5

Put it this way, if Liston got KO'd like that, Liston was HIGHLY over rated.

Answer 6

I don't know about taking a beating from Ali, but anyone that

saw the actual fight ..to paraphrase sports writers: that punch

couldn't have crushed  a grape.