🚨Ali KO’s Liston In One Minute

May 25, 1965 - Muhammad Ali retained the heavyweight championship tonight when he knocked out Sonny Liston in the first round of their rematch at St. Dominic’s Arena in Lewiston, Maine.

Radio and television observers timed the knockout at 1:42, but Maine boxing officials said it came at one minute. However, the bout, which slipped from the control of Jersey Joe Walcott, the referee, was not declared over until 2:17 had elapsed. Ali and Liston actually squared off to fight again after it was over.

It will be listed as the fastest knockout on record in a heavyweight title bout, but some of the 4,280 spectators yelled “Fake, fake, fake!” Many were as angered by the controversial ending as were those who witnessed the confusing finish of their first bout 15 months ago.

The punch — a short right hand — that sent the 215¼-pound Liston to the canvas for the first time in his career did not seem to have knockout power.

As the crowd surged forward against a cordon of state and city policemen — some yelling “Fix! Fix!” — Ali stood against the blue velvet ropes, telling the fans to “shut up,” telling them his victory was a triumph of the “righteous life.”

He said the winning blow was an “anchor punch,” the secret weapon of the late Jack Johnson, taught to Ali by Stepin Fetchit, the 73-year-old comedian and old-time movie actor now in Ali’s entourage.

Liston said the punch did not hurt him as much as other punches had in his life, but it caught him high on the right cheekbone. Walcott, swamped by his first major refereeing assignment, said the winning punch was a left to the jaw and that it was followed by a right to the body.

“It was the easiest payday I ever had,” Ali yelled from the ring. “I told you I had a surprise.”

He had said through the final days of training that he had a surprise. But he had refused to make a prediction because, he said, people might have thought the fight was fixed when his prediction came true.

“I feel sorry for Sonny,” Ali said afterward. “He’s a good loser. I’m going to have to go and see him and comfort him. I have a few places I’m going to take him, and I have a lot to teach him.”

Former heavyweight champion Joe Louis said in a post-fight interview that Liston had taken harder blows than Ali’s without going down. Louis said he saw the knockout punch and did not think it powerful enough to put Liston away. 

“I don’t see how any man can get so much power while punching on his toes,” Louis said of Ali.

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