Boxing · 1964 · Miami Beach, USA
I Shook Up the World
A 22-year-old challenger, a 7-to-1 underdog against a feared, unbeaten champion, wins the heavyweight title when Sonny Liston refuses to answer the bell for the seventh round.
Clay def. Liston, TKO round 7
Result
7-1 against Clay
Betting odds
22
Age
Sonny Liston was one of the most intimidating heavyweight champions in history, a bruising puncher who had destroyed former champion Floyd Patterson twice inside a round each time. Cassius Clay, the 22-year-old former Olympic gold medallist challenging him on 25 February 1964, was considered so unlikely to win that he was priced at 7-to-1 against by oddsmakers.
Clay used speed and movement to avoid Liston's power through the early rounds, opening cuts around Liston's eye and building a clear lead on the scorecards. After the sixth round, Liston, his shoulder injured and unable to effectively continue, stayed on his stool and did not answer the bell for the seventh, handing Clay a technical knockout win.
Clay leaned over the ropes shouting 'I am the greatest! I shook up the world!' to a press corps that had almost universally picked him to lose. Within days he announced his conversion to Islam and the adoption of the name Muhammad Ali, beginning the next chapter of what would become one of the most consequential careers in sports history.
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