Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 23

"7 1 FIRST KNOCKOUT IN TITLE FIGHT DETROIT FREE PRESS Tuesday. Feb. 25. '64 romoter Out For the Record Sonny Liston For the Record Cassius Clay I960 pay about $300,000 for his own ticket. That is exactly $299,750 over the top price for a ringside seat.

Liston is a heavy favorite to knock out his brash 22 -year -old challenger. They're quoting odds of 11-10 that Clay won't be in an upright position after four rounds, 2-1 that he won't answer the bell for the seventh. Clay is expected to weigh in at about 218, and that would make him about three pounds heavier than the champion. Barring a surprise last-minute ticket rush, the Hall will only be about half-filled for the sched- Turn to Page 2C, Column 2 It's on WXYZ The heavyweight championship fight Tuesday night between champion Sonny Liston and Cassius Clay will be broadcast from Miami by radio station WXYZ (1270) at 9:35 p.m. 4 -JqIS ffe5 BY LYALL SMITH Free Press Sports Editor MIAMI BEACH Champion Sonny Liston fights loquacious a i Clay here Tuesday night and the loser already is known.

Call him Bill MacDonald. Color him blue. The Miami sportsman put up $625,000 to bring the world heavyweight title fight to this city of sun, sand and tourists. He figures that his total investment runs about As the fighters await official weigh-in Tuesday morning, the box office in the Miami Beach Convention Hall is the quietest spot in town. Less thah $400,000 was in the till as the day of the fight arrived.

A last-minute sale could push that figure up to a half million: meaning that MacDonald will Sept. 1 Don Smith Sept. 1 Ponce DeLeon Nov. 21 Benny Thomas 1954 Jan. Martin Lee March 31 Stan Howlett June 79 John Summerlin Aug.

10 John Summerlin Sept. 7 Marty Marshall IMS March 1 Neil Welch April 21 Marty Marshall Mar 5 Emil Britko May 25 Calvin Butler Sept. 13 Johnny Gray Dec. 13 Larry Watson l5 March 4 Marty Marshall 157 Did not fi9ht 1958 Jan. 29 Bill Hunter March 11 Ben Wise April 3 Bert Whitehurst May 14 Julio Mederos Aug.

4 Wayne Bethea Oct. 7 Frankie Daniels Oct. 24 Bert Whitehurst Nov. 18 Ernie Cab 1959 Feb. 18 Mike DeJohn April 15 Cleveland Williams Aug.

Nino Valdes Dec. 9 Willi Besmanoff 19M Feb. 23 Howard King March 21 Cleveland Williams April 25 Roy Harris July 18 Zora Folley Sept. 7 Eddie Machen 1961 March Howard King Dec. 4 Albert Westphal 1942 Sept.

25 Floyd Patterson (Won heavyweight title) 1943 July 22 Floyd Patterson (Title defense) Won 3fi. lost 1, knockouts 25. KO 1 4 4 KO 4 4 8 8 8 8 KO 4 KO 5 KO 2 KO 4 KO 4 18 KO 1 KO 4 10 KO 3 KO 1 KO 1 18 KO 8 KO 4 KO 3 KO 3 KO 7 KO 8 KO 2 KO 1 KO 3 12 KO 3 KO 1 KO 1 KO 1 Pistons Finally Subdue Celtics AP Photo DISTINGUISHED BYSTANDER Marty Marshall of Detroit, the only man who ever beat Sonny Liston, the only one ever to floor the world heavyweight champion, is an interested spectator at the Liston training site in Miami Beach. Marshall won an eight-round decision from Liston in Detroit, Sept. 7, 1954.

In two later fights, he knocked Liston down once, but lost twice. AS SCHRsiM SAID 1 4 5 ILyall niltli I "S-pv I How Long Will Cassius Last? LI Top Preps Run True to Form BY HAL SCIIRAM The hour of truth draws near both for Cassius Clay, he of turbulence and tirades, and the Free Press ratings, which have been known to stir up controversial storms of varying magnitude down through the years. In exactly one week, four' divisional leaders will attempt Oct. 29 Tommy Hunsaker Dec. 27 Herb Siler 4-KO 4 1961 Jan.

17 Tony Esperti Feb. 7 Jim Robinson Feb. 21 Donnie Fleeman April 19 Lamar Clark 24 Duke Sabedonq July 22 Alonzo Johnson Oct. 7 Alex Mitoff Nov. 29 Willi Besmanoff 1942 Feb.

10 Sonny Banks Feb. 28 Don Warner April 33 George Logan May 19 Billy Daniels July 20 Alejandro Lavoranta Nov. 15 Archie Moore 1963 Jan 24 Charlie Powell March 13 Doug Jones June 18 Henry Cooper Won 19, lost 0, knockouts 15. KO 3 KO 1 KO 7 KO 2 10 10 KO 4 KO 7 KO 4 KO 4 KO 4 7 KO KO 4 KO 3 10 KO School. Mullin went down to take a look.

One look was enough. He saw Brown play two games and hit four home runs off the wall of the mess hall. the fabric this cardigan waist. Choose a MIAMI BEACH THE BIG GUY with the sleepy eyes, in most books the greatest champ of all, allowed as how he was pushing 50, wasn't real happy about it. "I get there in May," Joe Louis slurred in his low, slow voice.

"But I ain't looking forward to it." He lives in Los Angeles when he isn't adding a touch of quiet class to title fights like the one on tap here. Joe's a Sonny Liston man. "Gotta be," he grinned. "My wife is his attorney." Old Jockevs Never Die Tigers' Gates Brown and Friend TEAM PULLS FOR GATES That isn't the only reason he is high on the current champion, low on the 22-year-old challenger with the loud voice. Like almost everybody, the ex Detroiter is convinced that Liston will button the lips of Cassius, the cras- A Very Special Tiger Pat Mullin "It wasn't easy to sign him," said Mullin.

"Two other clubs were after him the Indians and White Sox. Even Turn to Page 2C, Column 5 i ARCADIA, Calif. Fifty-s eve n-year-old jockey Johnny Longden picked on a jockey his own age Monday and lost. i y-e i t-year-old Charles Ralls rode a long-shot. Pump Jack, to victory in the fourth race at Santa Anita.

Longden's mount, Hi Shoo, finished fourth. It was Rail's first win 3 of the meeting. He be- came a jockey in 1923, re- tired to become a trainer and returned to riding about a year ago. which makes with a rib-knit sizes S.M,L,XL. 1BSS 4.

iS WOOl, the StitCh iS alpaca, and the panels are striped very handsome number. You'll like its classic six-button styling, here yours in blended stripes of bone, black, pewter, red, blue, or banana; in MAIL PHONE ORDERS -Add 4 Mich. Sales Tax End 2-Year Dry Spell, 115-113 Harding Helps Cut Boston's East Lead BY JACK SAYLOR And they said it couldn't be done! In just 48 minutes Monday night the Pistons accomplished what they hadn't done for more than two years. In fact, it had been 764 days since the Pistons defeated the world champion Boston Celtics. But the Pistons did it, 115-113, and had 3,200 witnesses at Cobo Arena, combination basketball fans and music lovers.

Until the epic upset, the Pis tons had taken 12 straight set backs from the Celtics, whom they last beat Jan. 21, 1962. THE GAME didn't start like an upset. The Celtics ran up a 14-0 lead as the Pistons were scoreless for the first 3'j minutes. As the Four Freshmen sing, "It's a Blue World." One astute observer noted that the Pistons should have played the Four Freshmen and let the Celtics sing.

But Reggie Harding had not yet warmed up to his meeting "old master," Bill Russell. Before he was finished, the Piston rookie had played Big Bill to a standstill. REGGIE looped in his pro high of 23 points to 21 for Russell. The rebound duel went to Russell, 25-19. But Reggie got 18 of his in the second half, and it was his board work and Ray Scott's that held off the Celtics in the late going.

The loss was a damaging one for the Celts, whose Eastern Division lead was trimmed to a mere half game over the Cincinnati Royals. As the Four Freshmen sing, "Looking Over My Shoulder." After the sickly start- the Pistons bounced back to trail by only six points at the quar ter. Then ex-captain Bailey Howell sparked a second-period drive that gave the Pistons a 54-53 halftime lead. HARDING began causing Russell grief in the third pe riod, scoring 11 points, but the Celtics hit for 36 and took an 89-82 lead into the finale. As the Four Freshmen Turn to Page 2C, Column 3 Race Issue KO's Fight Telecast NEW ORLEANS (LTD Two New Orleans movie theaters Monday night cancelled closed circuit telecasts of Tuesday night's Liston-Clay heavyweight title fight because of segregated seating.

Saenger and Lowe's Staite Theaters said the cancellation was over Liston's feelings over segregation. Liston acted on coraplaints by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). CORE appealed to both Liston and Clay Saturday night, urging them to force cancellation In segregated theaters. Intercontinental Promotions. headed by Liston, subcontracted the fight telecast to Theater Network Television Inc.

Saenger management said the position taken by Liston was incompatible with Louisiana's segregation laws. WO 5-7900 jt'J siest, scmetime shortly after 10:30 p.m. Tuesday night. They're scheduled to start swinging a half hour earlier. Down here, where you still can buy all the tickets you want, the backroom boys who dabble in such edifying things have made Liston an 8-1 favorite.

But they claim there's no money on either side of the titled odds. All that they have been getting is some wagering action on picking the exact round in which the feet of Clay will be seen soles up. E)oiit Stop for Anything, Cassius "SONNY SAYS IT WON'T last three rounds," Louis said. "Maybe he's a little too fast with that. I figure Clay will get on a bicycle and stay away from, holler at him and try to make Sonny rush after him.

"It might work for a while. Sonny's long right ain't the greatest. But his left hook is. Clay can't take many of them. He's gotta stop and fight sometime.

When he does, I figure he's had it Louis i3 confident that Clay poses no real test for the ponderous, pile-driving champion. Neither is he sure what fighter might have a chance to beat Liston. "3Iaybe some guy who is tough enough to take two punches to get in a big one of his own," Joe speculated. "Maybe somebody like Rocky Marciano. He cut pretty easy.

But he could dish it out and take it. That would have been a great one. I'd even pay to see it Nobody except Cassius and maybe not even him knows for sure what battle plan the challenger has charted. But the only man to go the distance with Liston in his last 14 fights was Eddie Machen, who went 12 in losing a decision back in 1960. You Tell Machen! IN TOWN AS PART of the pre-fight ballyhoo, Machen is a bit reluctant to explain how he did it.

"I talked to him a lot," Eddie said. "I cussed him every chance I got. It confused him, kept him from concentrating. He ain't the smartest guy in the world, you know Obviously forgetful of the fact that he lost the decision, Machen proved that it's hard for anybody Liston included to hit a moving target and that is what Cassius despite earlier claims that he'll kayo i i ifim na min i ii i I iT UlirimtMnriMiViMliir A 1 1 1 to prove what they and the Free Press have known for some time namely that their schools have the best basketball teams in Michigan. Back on Jan.

7, in the first weekly Free Press ratings print-' ed, Lansing Sexton in Class River Rouge in Class Grosse Pointe St. Paul in Class and Port Huron St. Stephens in Class were named the No. 1 teams in their divisions. i i AS THE WEEKS wore on only St.

Paul was to relinquish its top spot although you won'l convince anyone out along frozen Lake St. Clair that St Paul isn't the finest team on either peninsula. i Those who have chosen to ride the Lakers' bandwagon in Turn to Page 2C, Column 5 W.W"1 'jW NORTHLAND EASTLAND LINCOIN PARK W00DWRD. BY JOE FALLS Free press Staff Writer LAKELAND Pardon Pat Mullin if he shouts a little louder, claps a little harder, whenever Gates Brown comes to the plate for the Tigers this spring. Mullin wants Brown to make it.

He wants him to make it bad. Gates is sort of Pat's boy. The Tiger first base coach signed him out of Mansfield Reform School in Ohio and, well, it'd be nice if Gates won a job on the varsity. As you can understand, Mullin put himself on something of a spot back in 1959 when he suggested to the Tigers that they sign Brown while he was still in reform school. Brown was put there two years after being found guilty of and breaking and entering charge in his hometown of Crestline, O.

"WE STILL had a lot of owners on the Tigers in those days and if things didn't work ut with Gates, you could almost hear one of the owners ask, 'Who was the scout that signed that boy out of prison?" said Mullin, making a face at the prospect of what might have been. Today, there is no more popular player in camp with the Tigers than William Gates Brown. Certainly no player is more polite. He fills his conversation with such unathletic phrases as "Yes, sir," and "No, sir" and prefaces everybody's name with "mister." The only exception is Mullin; Brown calls him "P.J." for Patrick Joseph. It Is sort of a private bond between the two.

The players like Gates. When he got 4-for-4 against Los Angeles out on the coast last season, he was named star of the game and interviewed on an LA radio station. When the program came on, Al Kaline quieted everyone in the clubhouse. "C'mon you guys, Gates is on let's listen," said Kaline. "YOU NOTE the little things," said Mullin.

"After a game in Detroit, Gates came in and took off his uniform and guess who's undershirt he was wearing? Whitey Her-zog's. Now you don't do things like that unless you really like a guy." Mullin heard of Brown through one of the Tiger sub scouts, whose friend was a guard at Mansfield Reform A Helping Hand NEW YORK (UTD George Davidson, basketball coach at Lafayette College, will leave for Israel March 2 to help the Israeli national team qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. Sonny fairly quick-like is expected to be. He's a hand-eome-type fellow of 22. He likes what he sees in the mirror when he gazes into one.

He knows that Liston has a kick like a mule and that he (Clay) has been braying like one. Experts say he keeps his hands too low, one defect in his style. They claim he relies too much on leaning back from a punch, another flaw. They dispute his boasts that he is the fastest thing the heavyweight ring has seen. They credit him with size, much ability, a lot of agility and brashness unmatched anywhere.

But they're all wondering what he will do when the bell rings for round one and there will be only two other men in the ring who really count. One of them will be Liston. He counts. He's the champion. The other will be the referee.

He counts, too. All the way up to 10 WONDERLAND. ARBORUNO AND P0NT1AC MALL OPEN TUESDAY TO 9 P.M. SHELBY i MACK STATE I MOROSS WOODWARD AT MONTCALM WONDERLAND WESTBORN GRAND RIVEk GREENFIELD ARBORLAND fONTIAC MALL AiOk A IS.MAAAAJ A n' f. i i.