Muhammad Ali Sounds Off

May 4, 1965 - “People don’t know other fighters like they know me. Old women, little children, all sorts of men — the whole world knows me. I can make up a saying, and soon it becomes a household word.

Liston is a dirty fighter; I’m a clean fighter. I got such a surprise for that Liston. If I was to tell it, nobody would come to see the fight.”

That familiar-sounding litany came from the mouth of Muhammad Ali, the heavyweight champion, who will defend his title against Sonny Liston at the Boston Garden on May 25.

His flippant remarks drew laughter from the press gathering at the Schine Inn in Chicopee, Mass., but the “dirty fighter” charge leveled against the former champion provoked a query that demanded an explanation.

“The forces of evil are still at work,” Ali said. “When he lost the title to me, I beat him good. Liston was tired, exhausted, a beaten old man. He didn’t have a chance.

“When he saw that million-dollar championship slipping away, he got desperate. He tried to blind me. He and his corner men used carbolated Vaseline. When we clinched and my forehead rubbed his face and shoulders, the Vaseline rubbed on me. The sweat from my head mixed with it and rolled down into my eyes. That’s why I couldn’t see during the fifth round.

“I know he’s going to try something dirty again. He’s going to throw ‘hernial’ punches to hurt me.” This was a reference to the hernia operation that postponed the Boston fight last November.

Did Ali think he had taken anything out of Liston?

“No, he’s used to tough fights,” the champion responded. “I just scared the hell out of him.”

Informed that Liston also contends he has a secret for a quick victory, Ali flung his arms skyward and jested, “Ah, that’s just publicity!”

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