Date February 25, 1964
Location Convention Hall
Miami Beach, Florida[2]
Title(s) on the line WBA/WBC Heavyweight Champion
Sonny Liston vs. Cassius Clay
"Big Bear" "Louisville Lip"
Tale of the tape
Sand Slough, Arkansas From Louisville, Kentucky
35–1 (24 KOs) Pre-fight record 19–0 (15 KOs)
6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
218 lb (99 kg) Weight 210 lb (95 kg)[16]
WBA/WBC Heavyweight Champion Recognition non
When a young boxer named Cassius Clay walked into the ring on Miami Beach; few gave him much of a chance against the heavyweight champion of the world. By the time he left the ring, Cassius Clay was well on his way to becoming arguably the greatest boxer in history.
From the beginning of the fight on February 25, 1964, something was different about this fight. Liston came out swinging and Clay used superior speed to outmaneuver the champion. Despite having a problem with his eye in one round, by the sixth round, Clay’s vision had cleared and he was on offense.
After the sixth round, Liston didn’t answer the bell for the seventh round spitting his mouthguard out in disgust as the 22-year-old Clay immediately began celebrating as only the man known as the “Louisville Lip” could.
What Clay did on February 25, 1964 was change the face of not only boxing, but to some degree sports in general. Boxing, and sports in general, went from bland to bombastic. The idea of a boxing match as an event or spectacle was born when Clay captured the heavyweight title that night.
For Clay, it was the last time he would fight in the ring under that name. Around a week or two after the fight, he was given the name Muhammed Ali and he has since used the rest of his life and his stardom to impact issues around the globe.
What was billed by many in the media to be a mismatch turned out to be one of the biggest events in the history of boxing. It gave rise to heavyweight superstars like Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman and laid the groundwork for boxers like Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield.
That February 25, 1964 night in Miami will forever be remembered as the night a brash and boastful boxer named Cassius Clay announced his presence to the world. What happened after that night changed not only boxing, but many things in society as well.
