22-year-old Cassius Clay from Kentucky became heavyweight champion of the world after he won the fight against Sonny Liston in one of the biggest surprises of boxing history on 25 February 1964.
Liston was famous because of the first round knockouts of Floyd Patterson and in the boxing world he was thought to be invincible. Liston was the reigning World Champion when he was challenged by former Olympic gold medallist Clay, who ring experts said was only a loud mouth. Before the bout everyone thought that Clay, was a 7-1 underdog, and would be no match for Liston. Only about 8,000 people witnessed the fight and only half the seats were occupied.
The fight which was held at the Convention Hall in Miami Beach started at 0310 GMT and Liston was widely expected to easily retain his title.
But when the fight began, Clay’s speed and sting soon turned the tables on Liston. Initially, Liston had managed to pin Clay to the ropes during the first two rounds but in round three Liston was forced to retreat, with his left eye pouring blood. Rounds 4, 5 and 6 were dominated by Clay and Liston was reeling.
At the start of the seventh round, Liston refused to budge from his corner and did not want to continue. Clay was declared the winner after the sixth round in Miami. Clay was a big mouth and he hollered at his opponent with all sorts of sarcastic remarks. He shouted that he was born to be great. Cassius Clay would sing aloud, "I’ll float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.” This line was later to become his trademark quote which he repeatedly sang before the start of a bout. He had been earlier fined nine hundred pounds for shouting at his opponent during the weigh-in.
Shortly after the fight, Clay announced to a surprised World that he had joined the religion of Islam and had changed his name to Muhammad Ali.
Now, at the end of this fight Florida State Attorney Richard Gerstein launched an inquiry against this World Championship fight because Clay had recently been humiliated by being knocked out by Henry Cooper and this sudden prowess seemed surprising.
The World Boxing Association declared Cassius Clay as heavyweight champion despite the controversy over his fight with Sonny Liston at Miami Beach after Miami State attorney Richard Gerstein said that there was no evidence of match fixing after a month-long inquiry.
However, it was discovered that Liston was suffering from a sore shoulder during the fight. The President of the World Boxing Association, who had earlier demanded the stripping of the Champion’s title, recommended giving it back to him if he improved his conduct over the next five months.
Both the original fight and the rematch a year later in Maine, which Clay won with a first-round knockout, have been dogged by allegations of rigging.
Muhammad Ali, said the victory in Miami over Liston was the most important of his career and no doubt he was the champion of the world. In his boxing career which lasted 20 years, he won 56 fights and scored 37 knockouts.
In December 1981, Ali decided to retire from the ring after he was diagnosed to have Parkinson's disease.
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