Neither was Liston’s excuse that he didn’t hear the count and even if he did, Ali’s stance over him meant he could never have got up in time to make it.
ICONIC OR A DIVE? Sonny Liston lies out for the count after being KO’d in the first round of his return title fight by world heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali in Maine on May 25, 1965. Pic: Hulton Archive/Getty Images
It’s the 60th anniversary of the most iconic photo in sport; Muhammad Ali standing over Sonny Liston in their second world heavyweight championship fight on 25 May 1965. It’s Achilles over Hector. It’s Clay becoming Ali.
It’s a boxer living up to his hype – shaking up the world, again. Or maybe, just maybe, it’s an image of a fixed fight. A phony phantom punch. A boxer taking a dive.
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