1960s Timeline

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6 days ago

Clay Defeats Powell in Three Rounds, As Predicted

Jan. 24, 1963 - Cassius Clay, self-proclaimed “Louisville Lip,” disposed of a former professional football player, Charlie Powell, in 2:04 of the third round in Pittsburgh tonight to fulfill a predicted knockout victory for the 13th time in 14th knockouts. Clay had boasted he would “annihilate” Powell in the third round, and he was true to his word. Teddy Brennan, matchmaker for Madison Square Garden, announced he would sign the third-ranked Clay to a fight with Doug Jones fo

Jan 23

Cassius Clay: Powell Must “Go In Three”

Jan. 23, 1963 - “So you people will believe in me, Powell must now go in three.” So reads the latest entry in the verse anthology of Cassius Clay (pictured), the fighting poet, who is unbeaten in 16 boxing bouts and, he says, in 12 predictions. Clay delivered his rhyme today in Pittsburgh as he neared the end of training for his 10-round heavyweight match with Charley Powell Friday night. The 21-year-old fighter from Louisville originally predicted Powell would fall in five r

Jan 22

Calls for Boxing Ban Get Louder

Jan. 22, 1963 - There was agitation in Illinois and New York today for the abolition of professional boxing. These are the two states that have hosted more major fights than any others. In Troy, Ill., State Senator Paul Simon said a bill would be introduced in the state legislature to outlaw professional boxing. He added that the bill was not aimed at the world heavyweight champion, Sonny Liston, or “anyone else.” Mr. Simon, a 34-year-old Democrat representing the 47th distri

Dec 25, 2022

Heavyweight Alejandro Lavorante Still in Coma

Dec. 25, 1962 - Heavyweight boxer Alejandro Lavorante (right), in a coma since Sept. 21, spent a silent Christmas today in California Lutheran Hospital. The Argentine boxer’s condition remains unchanged. On Sept. 21 at Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles, Lavorante was winning his bout with Johnny Riggins (left) all the way until the end of the fifth round, when a right hand from Riggins sent him spinning. In the sixth, Lavorante was still dazed and wobbling from light taps. A

Dec 22, 2022

Middleweight Rubin (Hurricane) Carter Wins Tough Decision Over Holly Mims at the Garden

Dec. 22, 1962 - Rubin (Hurricane) Carter (left), slugging middleweight contender, had to climb off the canvas in the fourth round tonight to win a unanimous decision over veteran Holly Mims, a late substitute, in their nationally televised fight at Madison Square Garden. The 33-year-old Mims of Washington, D.C., accepted the 10-round bout at 3 p.m. this afternoon and, although an underdog at 4-1, gave the 25-year-old knockout specialist from Paterson, N.J., one of the hardest

Dec 18, 2022

Psychiatrist: Heavyweight Boxer Eddie Machen “Dangerous to Himself”

Dec. 18, 1962 - Heavyweight boxer Eddie Machen (pictured in 1960 with his manager Sid Flaherty) is so mentally disturbed that he is “dangerous to himself” and should be confined to Napa State Hospital for further treatment, a psychiatrist recommended today. The opinion was made known by Dr. Theo Miller shortly before a hearing at Fairfield, Calif. “We are treating him now as if he were dangerous to himself and others,” Dr. Miller said. “We are of the opinion that he needs tre

Dec 17, 2022

Unbeaten Cassius Clay to Fight Former Football Player Charlie Powell

Dec. 17, 1962 - Unbeaten heavyweight contender Cassius Clay of Louisville, Ky., was matched Monday for a 10-round fight with former pro football player Charlie Powell (pictured) of San Francisco at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena Jan. 24. Clay became the fourth-ranked heavyweight contender after he knocked out Archie Moore in the fourth round at Los Angeles last month. The talkative Clay had picked the fourth for the knockout, and he has already predicted he will knock out heavywe

Dec 15, 2022

Light-Heavyweight Doug Jones Scores Major Upset Over Zora Folley

Dec. 15, 1962 - Light-heavyweight contender Doug Jones of New York climbed off the canvas in the first round tonight and scored the year’s major boxing upset by knocking out third-ranked heavyweight contender Zora Folley in the seventh round of their nationally televised rematch. With the victory, the 185-pound Jones avenged a decision won by Folley in Denver last Aug. 1. Jones dropped Folley, 196, for the full count with a left-right combination to the chin in the seventh. F

Dec 13, 2022

Heavyweight Eddie Machen Goes Berserk in Mental Hospital

Dec. 13, 1962 - Heavyweight fighter Eddie Machen (pictured) knocked two hospital attendants unconscious and injured a third in a wild and futile attempt to break out of California’s Napa State Hospital last night. The powerful slugger was finally overpowered and placed under sedation from which he did not revive until this afternoon, Dr. Theo K. Miller said. “He is in a very confused state of mind,” the hospital superintendent reported. He said the slugged attendants were all

Dec 12, 2022

Heavyweight Eddie Machen Taken Into Custody as Attempted Suicide

Dec. 12, 1962 - Third-ranked heavyweight boxer Eddie Machen (pictured in July) was taken into custody by the California State Highway Patrol today as an attempted suicide and taken to Napa State Hospital for his own protection. Machen, originally from Redding, Calif., was arrested on the Cummings Skyway near Crockett, Calif., by the highway patrol with a loaded pistol and a suicide note in the car. Machen said that things were not going well for him and that he did not wish t

Dec 9, 2022

Welterweight Emile Griffith Happy to Say Goodbye to 1962

Dec. 9, 1962 - Gloomy Emile Griffith, the haunted world welterweight champion, will not be unhappy to see 1962 come to an end. This has been a tragic year for the 23-year-old Virgin Islander from New York. It started with the death of Benny Paret following their title battle in March (pictured) and climaxed with his controversial ninth-round “foul TKO” over Jorge Fernandez in Saturday night’s nationally televised bout. “I didn’t want it to end that way,” Griffith said today.

Dec 8, 2022

Griffith Wins Controversial TKO Victory Over Fernandez on Low Blow

Dec. 8, 1962 - Emile Griffith retained his welterweight crown last night on a controversial ninth-round TKO over Argentina’s Jorge Fernandez before 4,840 bewildered fans at Las Vegas Convention Hall. Griffith, leading on two scorecards, uncorked a right hand that caught Fernandez well below the belt and squarely on his protective cup. The sound could be heard clear to the last row of the arena. Fernandez (pictured), who had been floored for a mandatory eight-count in the seve

Nov 30, 2022

Liston, Charging Police Harassment in Philadelphia, Moves to Chicago

Nov. 30, 1962 - Sonny Liston and his wife Geraldine moved to Chicago today because the heavyweight boxing champion of the world believes Philadelphia police are out to get him. Liston’s disenchantment with Philadelphia stemmed from three unhappy encounters with police and park guards in the last two years. In Chicago, the Listons will live on the South Side, not far from Comiskey Park. It was there that Sonny won the championship by knocking out Floyd Patterson in the first r

Nov 16, 2022

Liston: Clay Won’t Last Eight Seconds

Nov. 16, 1962 - World heavyweight champion Sonny Liston said today he would defend his title “wherever the price is right.” Both Liston and Jack Nilon (left), his adviser, said they felt they had a moral obligation to Floyd Patterson to give the ex-champion first chance. Sonny, however, termed “ridiculous” Patterson’s proposal to have the fight staged in New York by the same promoter who sponsored their first bout. New York has refused Liston a license to fight in that state.

Nov 16, 2022

Clay: I’ll KO Liston in 8 Rounds, Maybe 6

Nov. 16, 1962 - Following his devastating four-round victory over Archie Moore at the Los Angeles Sports Arena last night, cocky 20-year-old heavyweight Cassius Clay swaggered to his dressing room, slapping backs of fans. “Ain’t I beautiful?” Clay hollered to a feminine admirer. Clay told newsmen the fight proved “you can’t put a good old man against a great young man.” He repeated his boast that he would knock out champion Sonny Liston in eight rounds. “But the way he’s been

Nov 15, 2022

As He Predicted, Clay KO’s Moore in Fourth Round

Nov. 15, 1962 - Just as he predicted, brash young Cassius Clay knocked out aging Archie Moore tonight in 1 minute 35 seconds of the fourth round of their scheduled 12-round heavyweight bout at the Los Angeles Sports Arena. Clay, the 20-year-old Louisville speedster, outboxed and outslugged Moore from the opening bell. He put down Moore, the 45-year-old-plus San Diego slugger, three times for counts of 8 in the fourth round. After the third knockdown, Referee Tommy Hart steppe

Nov 15, 2022

Clay-Moore Fight a Sellout

Nov. 15, 1962 - Cassius Clay takes the biggest step in his brief boxing career tonight when he enters the ring against the experienced Archie Moore in a 12-round heavyweight bout. The bout has proved such a box office attraction that the promoter, Cal Eaton, said today it would be a virtual sellout in the Los Angeles Sports Arena and might gross a $180,000 live gate. Although he has had only 15 fights, Clay, 20, is undefeated. He could emerge as a major contender for Sonny Li

Nov 12, 2022

Cassius Clay to Fight Archie Moore Thursday

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

Nov 5, 2022

Patterson Wants Liston Rematch in New York

Nov. 5, 1962 - The former world heavyweight champion, Floyd Patterson, broke six weeks of silence today and said he wanted his rematch with Sonny Liston to be staged at Madison Square Garden before the end of March. Patterson, who lost the crown to Liston in Chicago Sept. 25 on a knockout (picutred) at 2:06 of the first round, said, “I believe I have a good chance of regaining the title for the second time, although I am by no means cocksure about it.” Floyd returned to New Y

Oct 27, 2022

Middleweight Rubin (Hurricane) Carter Flattens Fernandez at the Garden

Oct. 27, 1962 - Rubin (Hurricane) Carter (right), a middleweight from Paterson N.J., needed only 69 seconds to knock Florentino Fernandez flatter than a waffle tonight at Madison Square Garden. The first time Carter unloaded with a right directly on the point of the chin, Fernandez was bounced on the seat of his pants. The shock of it made Florentino react like a yo-yo. He bounced right up. That was his first mistake. Carter, apparently certain that he had his man, walked to