The Ottawa Citizen from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada • 18

Page 18 Feb. 26, 1964 The Ottawa 0-izen Jim Coleman says: ilence has been a death blow dealt 1. I lir-ZJ door, to a hospital for X-rays on his left arm. The post mortem was conducted by Manager Nilon, who spoke into a microphone with all the stiff-faced solemnity of a politician delivering the annual eulogy at the grave of the unknown soldier. "In the closing seconds of the first round," croaked Nilon, "Sonny was throwing a punch and blocking a punch at the same time.

He was hurt by a blow, which landed just below the left shoulder. "Sonny complained at the end of the first round but we didn't pay much attention. He kept complaining as he came back at the end of each round. The pain crept down from the shoulder and Willie Reddish and I consulted Liston's personal physician, Dr. Robert C.

Bennett of Detroit. I decided to stop the bout." Nilon, surprisingly dry-eyed for a man who had just seen a couple of millions of dollars fly out of the window, gave a brave sigh and added: "Sonny's So were those innocents who had wagered on Liston offering odds of 6-to-l against Clay. I felt sorry for Liston, who lost the opportunity to convince the world that he was a worthy heavyweight champion. It is grossly humiliating for a big strong man to be sitting on a tiny stool when he is forced to surrender his fearsome reputation. It would have been more fitting if we had been able to write his temporary ring obituary thusly: "He who lives by the sword must die by the sword." frustrating him now.

Is Clay becoming a bit too cocky? He is dancing away with his hands dangling at his sides and, occasionally, he dusts Liston's face with a feathery left. Call the round even. Round 5: Clay is blinking and complaining that his eyes are smarting- as the round begins. His second, who appeared to stick a sponge in his eye, was late getting out of the ring. Liston chases Clay but looks pitiful.

Clay, blinking his eyes, just keeps dancing away and he doesn't throw a really decent punch. Disdainfully, he flicks Liston's nose with his long left. Round 6: Clay has taken the play away from Liston now. He is clearly outboxing his opponent. Liston seems confused, dull and muscle-bound.

While I was pondering that last note the bell sounded for the seventh round and there iiisbelief frnrn. the crowd- PICTURE OF HUMILIATION Clay was dancing and screaming in mid-ring. Liston was sitting on his stool feet wide apart, his face a picture of humiliation and dejection. The referee waved his arms to indicate that the bout was over Liston had capitulated. It was unbelievable.

Liston looked to be as strong as a bull. Apart from that cut in the third round, Liston hadn't appeared to have absorbed any really damaging punishment. There was no opportunity to see Liston after the fight. His dressing room was barred and he escaped, through a back towards the laughing but puzzled reporters, screaming: "Eat your words! Eat your words!" There is no point in analyzing this promotional fiasco in depth. Here is an edited copy of the notes which I wrote from 10 p.m.

until the bout ended at 10.38: Clay enters ring. He has the angelic face of a choir boy. He dances nervously but where is the fear which I expected to see in his face? There is a staring match when the fighters are called in to the centre of the ring for final instructions. Neither man permits the other to outstare him but, the whites of Liston's unblinking eyes are showing. A UPSET THE MAKIMG? Round 1: Clay ran and made Sonny look silly for the first two minutes.

Clay shook up Liston and made him wince with two sets of conibinatiofl-punchw. Clay" round;" Casr-this be an upset in the making? Round 2: Liston stood glowering in his corner during the rest interval, refusing to sit down. Sonny is chasing Clay and is inching closer now. His pawing lefts and awkward club-like rights are just missing. Call it even.

Round 3: Liston is cut! I didn't even notice it until I heard a woman scream. Liston had his back to me. He's hurt and angry and he appears to go coldly berserk in the last minute. Liston's round despite the cut. Round 4: Liston's seconds have stopped the bleeding.

But there's an ugly lump under his left eye. Clay really is MIAMI The golden virtue of silence has been dealt a death-blow. Cassius Clay, the Louisville loudmouth, has won the world's heavyweight boxing championship by default. Sonny Liston simply surrendered the championship Clay didn't win it conclusively. Liston gave up his title sitting puffy-faced on a stool in his corner as the bell rang for the opening of the seventh round.

Sweat, and something suspiciously close to tears of frustration, trickled down Liston's cheeks while Clay erupted in a wild war dance in the centre of the ring. It was a suitably nutty ending for one of the nuttiest promotions in the history of pugilism. Manager Jack Nilon took the blame (or credit) for stopping the fight, explaining that Liston had been complaining of creeping paralysis up his tree-like left arm, which had been injured by a punch in the very first round. Possibly, boxing may be saved by the timely intervention of the United States government. Clay is expecting a military draft call which could remove him from the prize ring for two years.

Pugilism may be saved but the United States armed services face disaster. The war department should soundproof all military installations before Clay is inducted. All the foregoing can be dismissed as a patently unfair appraisal of Clay who had been holding his own in the first six rounds. He had earned his moment of glorious vindication when he climbed on the first strand of ring ropes and leaned Cards rf f' i. Referee Barney Felix -jt Liston 9 10 9 10 10 957 1 day 10 9 10 9 9 1057 xi r-n Judge Bunny Lovett Liston 9 10 10 10 10 958 Clay 10 9 10 9 8 10-56 Judge Gus Jacobson Liston 9 10 9 9 10 956 Clay 10 10 10 10 9 1059 The Associated Press Liston 9 10 9 9 10 956 riau in in in a in to iv ti iv iv a vu I I 71 SfU i r- i I 1 rfVn King Sonny couldn't catch The 7 whupped that Big Bear9 Cassius.

Clay scores 'incredible' title fight triumph the end of the sixth round. But when Liston left the ring he told Dr. Alexander Rob-bins, the official fight physician, that he had sprained his qualifications and even his mental acumen. They finally made it official: Liston threw out his shoulder throwing a punch at shoulder in the first round and he felt a stab of pain in it every time he threw a punch. Dr.

Robert C. Bennett, Liston's own doctor from. Detroit, had gone to Liston's corner after Liston complained of pain after the first round. Liston said his left hand was getting numb. Dr.

Bennett finally advised him to quit. The fortress had fallen, victim of its own power in throwing a punch at a ghostly target that flitted out of reach with tantalizing evasiveness and deftness of foot. It made sense, that Liston had thrown out his left shoulder in the first, for he charged ferociously at the dancing, running, in-and-out Clay in that first round and missed dozens of full-arm punches. Prophetic Sonny How prophetic Liston had been in a pre-fight interview, when he said no fighter ever threw a punch as bard as he could, particularly at a moving target, because "you are apt to throw it away." He threw his left arm away, and the world heavyweight title went with it. second Tuesday night, who signalled the traditional finish, scissoring both hands laterally.

Chaos took possession of the ring, leaving spectators, who had paid $20 up to a record, outlandish $250, in complete mystification about the outcome of this contest, pegged a mis-match at 7 to 1 odds in Liston's favor. Clay's wild -eyed following poured into the ring. Security guards completely inundated the 18-foot square of real estate. A courier came dashing up with the news that Liston had sprained his left shoulder and would not continue. It was 15 minutes before any semblance of order was established and the announcer could get to the microphone.

Eat your words Meanwhile Clay and his handlers were pushing this way and that and the new champion finally came to the north side of the ring and screamed, his teeth bared in exultation, "Eat your words" over and over again to the press at ringside, who had demeaned his ability, his ton's glowering face and backing off. As he sat in his comer, treated by his seconds, Clay turned sideways to the ringside and shouted with that wild gleam in his eye: "I am the greatest: I'm going to upset the world." Far, far sooner than anyone could have foreseen, Cassius Marcellus Clay upset the cockeyed world which had called him a braying braggart of insufficient skills, discipline and experience. As the bell rang for the seventh round in the electric tension of the half-filled Convention Hall, all one could see behind the broad bottoms of photographers leaning on the apron, was a Clay who arose and raised his arms upward in the immemorial signal of the conqueror who had conquered. Was this another Gay gesture of inimitable braggadocio? A glance across the ring showed Liston stiil sitting on his stool, shrouded partially from view by his seconds. One caught the eye of Jack Nilon, Liston's adviser and a Out of the miasma of a million words of childish doggerel and seeming nonsense, Cassius Clay came through as he had promised he would, and almost in the round he had selected, or, at least, one of the rounds which he had selected.

Sullivan had dissipated himself out of his title; Baer had clowned his way to defeat; Liston threw his title away with a punch at a phantom who wouldn't stand still for him. This was a Liston who had blitzed Floyd Patterson in 2.06 and 2.10 of the first round to win the title in 1962 and retain it in 1963. But Clay was not a frozen aPtterson going to his doom. How he managed to convince himself he could beat this monster of a champion and how he did it will need telling and retelling for years to come. He will tell it and re -tell it.

It's idle to speculate what would have happened if Listen hadn't damaged his shoulder and decided to quit, for he had his chances and could not put Clay away, or catch By Jesse Abramson Herald Tribune News Scrvic MIAMI BEACH-Undefeated Cassius Clay perpetrated one of the incredible upsets of boxing history Tuesday night when the seemingly indestructible Sonny Liston failed to come out for the seventh round of their world heavyweight title bout. It was recorded as a knockout in the seventh round. With a wonderful exhibition of the time-honored tactics of a boxer nullifying the slugging power of his foe, the brash, defiant 22 year old Louisville Lip not only escaped disaster for six rounds of the wildly ballyhooed fight, but was ahead on points He had also cut the massive 30-year-old champion under the left eye, bruised his right eye and exposed his boxing deficiencies. Clay had miraculously survived a fifth round in which something got into his eye from the sponge used in his corner. His eye smarting, he grimaced and blinked and held off Liston's charges by sticking his left hand into Lis him for any pulverizing thumping, There was method If Clay acted mad, there was a method to his madness.

He came into the ring a trained fighter, ready to challenge. He had sad he would win the world heavyweight title and be the youngest man who ever did. In this prophecy he failed only because the fight was held Tuesday night instead of last November. He missed by 2 months, 13 days of being the youngest to win the heavyweight title. Floyd Patterson still holds this distinction.

It was Clay's 20th straight pro victory, his 16th knockout. Liston, beaten only once before on an 8-round decision when his jaw was broken by Marty Marshall nearly 10 years ago, was knocked out for the first time. That's the way it goes into the books K07. Marshall, the only previous man to beat Liston, sat at ringside, a guest of the promoters. He had predicted along with others that Liston would be too strong for Clay.

tV IV-: 'l i i I il ITI tclrpholos And havoc reigned Round by round, blow by blow of heavyweight title fight Third Second First Fifth Sixth Seventh Clay shot over mid-ring as the two jabs in third started, a volley of Liston. A cut Liston's left after Cassius Clay drove over punches that hurt was open under eye. Liston tore and pounded him but Clay turned ri to the body ght back with cut. The cut hard lefts to the Fourth Gay snapped over two left jabs to the head after Liston missed with two. Liston plodded after Gay who stabbed him with three left jabs.

Liston got Cassius in a corner but Gay got out without trouble. Gay stood even in mid-ring with Liston and snapped over three jabs. Liston was short with jabs as Gay circled him. Gay landed two jabs and took one back. Liston drove over a solid right and left to the jaw but the punches did not seem to bother Cassius.

Liston got in two light jabs before Clay moved away and got in two of his own. Gay looked much faster than the champion. Clay snapped a left hook to the jaw just before the bell sounded. Clay's round. Liston got in a left jab to the head and a right to the body as the second round started.

Liston scored with a short left hook to the head but took two left jabs in return. Liston missed with a tremendous left as Clay backed away. Liston missed two jabs but got in three others as Clay, hands down, moved away. Clay scored with two light left jabs to the head and a left to the body and then moved back. Liston pinned Clay to the ropes and pounded him with both hands to the ribs.

Clay got away and started moving again. Cay shot over four left jabs in mid-ring. Liston got in a jab but missed two others as Clay backed away. Liston got in a light left jab and hook to the head. Liston's round.

Liston's seconds had an ice bag on the cut and swollen left side of face. Gay blinked as if he couldn't see. Liston smashed him to the body with both hands. Gay got away and then held. Gay was blinking his eyes Liston stalked him.

Liston drove a hard left hook to the jaw and a right to the jaw-as Clay moved away. Gay held out his left hand as Liston moved after him. Gay was not punching. He was just holding out his left arm. Liston belted a left hook to the body and a left and right to the head.

But Gay appeared to know what he was doing as he circled away from the tiring champion. Liston's round. The referee looked around the ringside and asked somebody to get a doctor to look at Gay's eyes but the bell sounded and they started fighting. Clay missed a left hook but scored with a fast right and left to the jaw. Cassius snapped over three lefts and three rights to the head without return.

They were light punches, however. Liston got in a left jab but took two hard lefts to the head in return. Gay moved around Liston usually only about two feet away from the champion. He moved in and then out again on the lumbering Liston. Cassius missed a right that brought up an "oh" from the crowd.

Gay snapped four straight left jabs to Liston's face. Clav's round. Liston failed to come out for the seventh lound. It went into the record books as a controversial seventh round technical knockout. When the ring announcer told the crowd that Liston had "thrown his shoulder out" in the sixth round, the crowd booed.

Gay, the fourth fighter with a perfect record to win the world heavyweight crown, leaped into the air at the sudden ending and opened his mouth wide as he yelled to reporters "Eat your words." The press almost unanimously had picked Liston to beat back the brash Louisville Lip who had put on a frantic scene at the morning weigh-in. Liston was short with a jab as Clay ducked away. Cassius moved away as Liston stalked him. Liston landed a hard right to the ribs. Clay got in two jabs as be moved back.

Liston was short again with two jabs. Clay scored with a glancing left and right to the head. Clay got in another left jab as Liston missed with his attempted left jabs. Clay got in two more left jabs as he stood in mid-ring for a moment. Clay drove a volley of six punches to Liston's head and followed with another left and right to the head.

But las-ton seemed okay. They fought for several moments after the bell sounded. Neither fighter nor tfie referee apparently heard iL Clay's round. looked wide and deep. Clay moved nimbly around the heavy-footed champion.

Liston got in a left and right to the body and then a hard left to the jaw. Liston drove in a hard right uppercut to the jaw as the fans roared'. Liston stalked Gay and connected with a good right to the jaw and three stiff left jabs to the head. Gay got in a left jab. Gay's round..