Muhammad Ali Clay
Feb 25, 2014
Before there was Muhammad Ali, there was Cassius Clay, a bombastic young boxer who was expected to lose to Sonny Liston when the two fought in 1964—but he didn’t. A startling report sheds new light on that stirring bout early in Ali’s career and the FBI investigation that was launched to determine its legitimacy.
The Washington Times’ Thom Loverro pored through documents released to the paper “under the Freedom of Information Act.”
What Loverro found was the FBI launched an extensive investigation following the first bout between Clay (who would later change his name to Ali) and the seemingly unbeatable Liston. What they uncovered is the very real possibility of a fix implicating Liston and LasVegas gambler Ash Resnick.
Before we continue, it’s important to stress the term possibility, because nothing was ever proven. It’s best to simply quote The Washington Times’ sports editor Mike Harris, who states in a video on the report’s page, “They never found any conclusive proof.”
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