Date | February 10, 1962 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Venue | Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tale of the tape | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Clay won by TKO in 4rd round (0:26) |
Cassius Clay vs. Sonny Banks was a professional boxing match contested on February 10, 1962. [1] [2]
Clay, who was a 5 to 1 favourite going into the bout, predicted a fourth round stoppage. [3]
Clay won the fight through a technical knockout when the referee stopped the fight in the fourth round.
The event is remembered for being the first professional boxing match in which Ali was officially knocked down in the ring by his boxing opponent. [4] [5] [6] [7] [note 1]
Speaking after the bout Clay said "As you know, I think that I'm the greatest and I'm not supposed to be on the floor, so I had to get up and put him on out, in four as I predicted." [9] [10] [11] [12]
Confirmed bouts: [13]
Country | Broadcaster |
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United Kingdom | BBC |
Charles L. "Sonny" Liston, nicknamed "The Big Bear", was an American professional boxer who competed from 1953 to 1970. A dominant contender of his era, he became the undisputed world heavyweight champion in 1962 after knocking out Floyd Patterson in the first round, repeating the knockout the following year in defense of the title; in the latter fight he also became the inaugural WBC heavyweight champion. Often regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time, Liston was particularly known for his immense strength, formidable jab, long reach, toughness, and is widely regarded as the most intimidating man in the history of combat sports.
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