Nov. 6, 1964 - Sonny Liston was working 15 rounds at his Plymouth, Mass., training headquarters. Muhammad Ali was talking 15 rounds.
Ali, sounding again like a one-man publicity department, made the modest claim that “I’m greater than Gene Tunney or Jack Dempsey.”
Ali predicted he will knock out Liston in their return match Nov. 16. And he’ll do it with a new punch — the short right to the heart.
Ali says the punch hasn’t been used for 30 years.
“That’s the same punch Tunney used to floor Dempsey,” Ali told the Associated Press. “But I’m greater than Tunney or Dempsey. I can box 100% better than Tunney and hit harder than Dempsey.”
Ali said he might end Liston’s career. “The old bear will fall down like he was shot with a bullet,” said Muhammad. “I am going to beat him pitifully. I feel sorry for Liston. I know what’s in store for him. His friends are all going to leave him when I get through with him because then he’ll be nobody, and the kind of friends he has just want to be with somebodies.”
After disposing of Liston, said Ali, “I’ll go on and destroy all the other heavyweight contenders.”
He seems to hold special disregard for Floyd Patterson.
“I’m really going after Floyd,” said Ali. “I’m going to torture him. I’m going to let him go for 10 rounds — eat him up little by little, just take pieces out of him. I’m going to embarrass him. He’ll wish he was back in the ring with Liston. I’ll show everybody that he is nothing; that what he believes is nothing.”
Then Muhammad brightened and announced that neither Floyd nor Sonny should worry — he would take care of them both.
“I’m going to have both Floyd and Liston in my camp,” he said. “Both of them will have jobs. They will be with ‘The King,’ and they will get their names in the papers. They won’t have to feel too bad. I will take good care of them.”
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