Nov. 12, 1962 - Twenty-year-old heavyweight Cassius Clay will face Archie Moore— who is anywhere from 42 to 50 depending on who you ask — on Thursday night in Los Angeles. Clay’s burning ambition is to become heavyweight champion at a younger age than Floyd Patterson did. Floyd was 21 years plus 10 months, and that makes Clay’s target date Dec. 12, 1963. The likable Cassius is well equipped. He stands 6 feet 3 inches and weighs 196 pounds, yet he is so fast that he proclaims himself the fastest heavyweight who ever lived. Modesty was never one of his virtues. The publicity-conscious youth dashed off some poetic verse as soon as Sonny Liston was crowned champion. “As the people left the park, you could hear them say, Liston will stay king, until he meets that Clay.” Sonny remains unimpressed by Clay, remarking recently: “I don’t fight children.” As for Moore, Clay originally said he would put him away in the eighth round, but Archie’s needling provoked him into shortening it to four. “I’ll put away the old man with a Pension Punch,” said Cassius. “It will make him see the light and retire.”
