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Which great name had his last fight 50yrs ago today..?
Posted: 25 Feb 2014, 11:48
by n1ebf
no prizes I'm sorry

who is it then???

Re: Which great name had his last fight 50yrs ago today..?
Posted: 25 Feb 2014, 12:13
by Gazmac81
Cassius Clay ?
Re: Which great name had his last fight 50yrs ago today..?
Posted: 25 Feb 2014, 12:14
by n1ebf
Gazmac81 wrote:Cassius Clay ?
go to the top of the class
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/the ... 23739.html
good one

Re: Which great name had his last fight 50yrs ago today..?
Posted: 25 Feb 2014, 12:19
by edgey2009
His last fight wasnt 50 years ago. it was 50 years ago he won the heavyweight championship of the world for the first time wasnt it?
Re: Which great name had his last fight 50yrs ago today..?
Posted: 25 Feb 2014, 12:20
by milpool
edgey2009 wrote:His last fight wasnt 50 years ago. it was 50 years ago he won the heavyweight championship of the world for the first time wasnt it?
Yes, but that was the last time he fought as Cassius Clay.
Re: Which great name had his last fight 50yrs ago today..?
Posted: 25 Feb 2014, 12:20
by edgey2009
edgey2009 wrote:His last fight wasnt 50 years ago. it was 50 years ago he won the heavyweight championship of the world for the first time wasnt it?
Sorry finally understood what you meant. My mistake.
Re: Which great name had his last fight 50yrs ago today..?
Posted: 25 Feb 2014, 12:20
by stevedoc
edgey2009 wrote:His last fight wasnt 50 years ago. it was 50 years ago he won the heavyweight championship of the world for the first time wasnt it?
i think he means as clay before he became Ali
Re: Which great name had his last fight 50yrs ago today..?
Posted: 25 Feb 2014, 12:30
by n1ebf
correct guys, I have to admit I edited the title because technically of course, it was not Clay's last fight, he just changed his name. Interestingly a quick search of the date on Boxrec shows that Sonny Liston L RTD to
Muhammad Ali, even though he entered the ring (in fact wearing a robe wasn't he??) with Casius Clay on it.
50years is still always a great anniversary

Re: Which great name had his last fight 50yrs ago today..?
Posted: 25 Feb 2014, 12:40
by Gazmac81
i knew it would be something to do with Ali and was going trawl for other fighters on that bill but then had a little brain wave 8)
Re: Which great name had his last fight 50yrs ago today..?
Posted: 26 Feb 2014, 05:37
by bennie
Too fast, too big, too brave for Liston.
Re: Which great name had his last fight 50yrs ago today..?
Posted: 26 Feb 2014, 05:45
by thepocketrocket
I read somewhere that Liston was actually over the hill by the time he fought undersized Patterson for the title, and that he had been a lot better when he was younger, but was frozen out.
No idea if that is true or not
Re: Which great name had his last fight 50yrs ago today..?
Posted: 26 Feb 2014, 06:08
by JimStone
On his day Liston could've beaten any of them. Huge reach, great jab, devastating left-hook. Who knows how old he really was when he fought Clay.
Re: Which great name had his last fight 50yrs ago today..?
Posted: 26 Feb 2014, 06:21
by lefty
bennie wrote:Too fast, too big, too brave for Liston.
Doesnt sound good. Not that it's anything completely new
http://www.BS.com/fbi-suspecte ... xed--75035
Re: Which great name had his last fight 50yrs ago today..?
Posted: 26 Feb 2014, 06:41
by Gazmac81
See Ricky Burns Vs Nicky Cook
also Curtis couldve offered hamilton a large some off money knowing his bet comes in
these things can always be thrown out there without any real evidence
Re: Which great name had his last fight 50yrs ago today..?
Posted: 26 Feb 2014, 06:42
by lefty
Gazmac81 wrote:See Ricky Burns Vs Nicky Cook
also Curtis couldve offered hamilton a large some off money knowing his bet comes in
these things can always be thrown out there without any real evidence
True but if the FBI strongly suspected it, there must of been some decent evidence there. That on top of the fact that Liston had mob links.
Re: Which great name had his last fight 50yrs ago today..?
Posted: 26 Feb 2014, 06:47
by Gazmac81
yea i know mate and i wouldnt be surprised , more so back in those days
you basically do what the mob tell you , a loss isnt that big a deal if the cash is right or the Debt is paid back
i like to think its not true though and to be honest Clay was just a little bit off a decent fighter to be fair
Edit - are the talking about the first fight or the Phantom punch fight ?
Re: Which great name had his last fight 50yrs ago today..?
Posted: 26 Feb 2014, 06:51
by n1ebf
Gazmac81 wrote:yea i know mate and i wouldnt be surprised , more so back in those days
you basically do what the mob tell you , a loss isnt that big a deal if the cash is right or the Debt is paid back
i like to think its not true though and to be honest Clay was just a little bit off a decent fighter to be fair
Edit - are the talking about the first fight or the Phantom punch fight ?
the article states it was referring to the first fight.. I imagine it was very difficy=ult to escape the mob back then. Bucnh of cowardly gun-toting cants. Liston was found dead in unusual circumstances anyway wasn't he?? Spanish hotel room wasn't it? I wonder what made him go there..
Boxrec states that Liston lost RTD 6th, on his stool. I imagine prior to round 7, and not round 8 as in the link provided above. I'll check my books.
Re: Which great name had his last fight 50yrs ago today..?
Posted: 26 Feb 2014, 06:54
by Gazmac81
i think his wiki page says he was found in his las vegas house, with traces off herion sunstance in him
although again they reckon the police were paid to make this cause of death story
Re: Which great name had his last fight 50yrs ago today..?
Posted: 26 Feb 2014, 06:56
by n1ebf
i thought I read that he died in a hotel room in Madrid......in an Ali book. Seems a weird thing to imagine. Shrouded in mystery....drugs/ murder/ suicide. I thought he'd been killed..
Re: Which great name had his last fight 50yrs ago today..?
Posted: 26 Feb 2014, 07:15
by n1ebf
it was actually the 7th round Liston didn't come out for, not the 8th as it says in this.
Re: Which great name had his last fight 50yrs ago today..?
Posted: 26 Feb 2014, 07:16
by lefty
n1ebf wrote:
it was actually the 7th round Liston didn't come out for, not the 8th as it says in this.
I didnt write the article mate lol
Re: Which great name had his last fight 50yrs ago today..?
Posted: 26 Feb 2014, 07:42
by bennie
The sight of Liston looking up at Clay at the referee's instructions is etched in the memory. Liston looked in a state of semi-shock.
Re: Which great name had his last fight 50yrs ago today..?
Posted: 26 Feb 2014, 10:20
by n1ebf
Front page of the Times today, big photo! Wasn't expecting that sort of coverage lol. It is a brilliant photo to be fair, great move by the newspaper. I'd carry a picture of Ali on the front page each week..

Re: Which great name had his last fight 50yrs ago today..?
Posted: 26 Feb 2014, 10:25
by n1ebf
columbo wrote:n1ebf wrote:
it was actually the 7th round Liston didn't come out for, not the 8th as it says in this.
I didnt write the article mate lol
No you didn't but you were happy to share it
![[icon_e_biggrin.gif] :D](./images/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif)
D ...(relax Bluewater Kid, I'm having a joke wit ya!

)
Right....question.......who is this boxer who was found dead in a Madrid hotel room?? If it weren't American Sonny Liston (to avoid confusion with his Dutch couterpart) it must have been someone! I can even picture the book with Ali on the cover that I read it in. Think it was
When We Were Kings, though I confess I've not read it cover to cover.
Re: Which great name had his last fight 50yrs ago today..?
Posted: 26 Feb 2014, 22:13
by bennie
It sounds like Basque strongman Jose Urtain, former European heavyweight champion.