That year the young boxer Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. knocked out Sonny Liston to become the heavyweight champion of the world.

The following week's show was broadcast from Miami Beach where Muhammad Ali ( then Cassius Clay ) was in training for his first title bout with Sonny Liston.

The film begins with Cassius Clay before his championship debut against then heavyweight Sonny Liston, in the pre-fight weigh-in Clay heavily taunts Liston ( such as calling Liston a " big ugly bear ") but Liston vows to " Fuck him ( Clay ) up ".

In the fight Clay is able to dominate the early rounds of the match, but halfway through the fight Clay complains of a burning feeling in his eyes ( implying that Liston has tried to cheat ) and says he is unable to continue.

Once Clay is able to see again he easily dominates the fight and right before round seven Liston quits, therefore making Cassius Clay the youngest heavyweight champion at the time.

* February 25 in Miami Beach, Florida-Cassius Clay defeated Sonny Liston by TKO in the 7th round to win the World Heavyweight Championship.

Although Clay had converted to Islam long before his memorable first match with Sonny Liston in 1964, it wasn't until the day after he'd defeated Liston for his first heavyweight championship that he publicly identified himself as a Muslim and demanded to be called " Muhammad Ali ".

* February 25-Cassius Clay, in his own words, shocks the world, with a seventh round knockout of Sonny Liston to win the world's Heavyweight title, in Miami.

Henry Cooper said that if Cassius Clay won, he was interested in a title fight, but if Liston won, he was not going to get in the ring with him.

" The Los Angeles Times ' Jim Murray observed, " The only thing at which Clay can beat Liston is reading the dictionary ," adding that the faceoff between the two unlikeable athletes would be " the most popular fight since Hitler and Stalin — 180 million Americans rooting for a double knockout.

During training, Clay took to driving his entourage in a bus over to the site in Surfside, Florida where Liston ( nicknamed the ' Big Bear ') was training, and repeatedly called Liston the " big, ugly bear ".

However, author David Remnick states that he spoke with one of Liston's corner men years after the fight, who told him Liston could have continued: " shoulder was all BS.

" Liston was unsteady when he finally got to his feet, and the fight continued momentarily, with Ali connecting with four additional unanswered punches before Walcott belatedly declared the knockout, ending the contest.

After the fight with Liston, Wepner needed over 120 sutures in his face.

After the breakdown of his marriage in the mid 1980s, Michael had a relationship with a woman named Angela Liston.

After a first-up defeat in the Liston Stakes, he was undefeated for the rest of the season, and, in successive races, took out the Feehan Stakes, the Turnbull Stakes, the Cox Plate, the Mackinnon Stakes, the Japan Cup, and, in the new year, the Blamey Stakes and the Australian Cup.

* September 25 – Sonny Liston and Floyd Patterson fight for the boxing world title.

The film tells the story of boxing icon Muhammad Ali, played by Will Smith, from 1964 to 1974 featuring his capture of the heavyweight title from Sonny Liston ( Michael Bentt ), his conversion to Islam, criticism of the Vietnam War, banishment from boxing, his return to fight Joe Frazier ( James Toney ) in 1971, and, lastly, his reclaiming the title from George Foreman in the Rumble in the Jungle fight of 1974.

Then Walcott looked outside the ring ( presumably to the ringside count keeper ) as Ali and Liston went at each other before Walcott instructed them to keep on fighting, then Walcott approached the fighters and abruptly stopped the fight.

On May 25, 1965, Goulet mangled the lyrics to the United States National Anthem at the opening of the Muhammad Ali-Sonny Liston heavyweight championship fight in Lewiston, Maine.

At the time of the first Liston-Clay fight on February 25, 1964, Sonny Liston was the world heavyweight champion, having beaten Floyd Patterson by a first round knockout in September 1962.

When the fight began it became apparent that Liston was out of condition.

If the fight didn't go off in Boston, it was feared that there would be no rematch between Clay and Liston and a lucrative payday would be lost.

The latter theory was supported by Mark Kram's book Ghosts of Manila, which included an interview with Liston conducted years after the fight.

Williams recovered from the Liston fight to score more wins, but was again stopped by Liston in 2 rounds in their rematch on March 21, 1960.

* Heavyweight boxer Eddie Machen graduated from Preston's boxing program and went on to fight such boxers as Ingemar Johansson, Sonny Liston, Floyd Patterson, and Joe Frazier.

Ali was scheduled to fight WBA champion Ernie Terrell ( the WBA stripped Ali of his title after his agreement to fight a rematch with Liston ) on March 29, but Terrell backed out and Ali won a 15-round decision against substitute opponent George Chuvalo.

Before the first Cassius Clay-Sonny Liston fight in 1964, Levinsky would heckle Clay telling him that he had no chance, but not to worry because after the Liston fight they could sell ties together.

I'm gonna give him to the local zoo after I whup him ... if Sonny Liston whups me, I'll kiss his feet in the ring, crawl out of the ring on my knees, tell him he's the greatest, and catch the next jet out of the country .").

The prison was home to a number of infamous Americans, including: former heavyweight champion Sonny Liston, assassin James Earl Ray, and bank robber Charles " Pretty Boy " Floyd.

Located inside the Charlie Richard Outdoor Sports Facility, Liston Stadium, built in the 1930s, is home to football, track, and select soccer matches.

I told him what Liston had said and he said Liston was a double-crosser and said anything he ( Liston ) got was through a keyhole.

Walcott lost the count as Ali circled around a floored Liston and Walcott tried to get him back to a neutral corner.

He famously said when promoters were trying to match Henry with Sonny Liston: " I would not allow ' Enery into the same room as him, let alone the same ring.

" Liston was an ex-con with ties to organized crime whose ominous, glowering demeanor was so central to his image that Esquire Magazine caused a controversy by posing him in a Santa Claus hat for its December 1963 cover.

Clay's brashness did not endear him to White America, and in fact, made Liston a more sympathetic character.

Slow motion replays show Ali connecting with a quick, chopping right to Liston's head ( known as the " Anchor Punch " according to Ali ) as Liston was moving toward him.

These fine efforts landed him a match with veteran former champion Sonny Liston on December 6, 1969.

Rather than attempting to slug with the bigger and heavier Liston, Martin stayed away from him, boxing and waiting for the older man to tire.

Despite a close call in the fourth round when Liston caught him with a booming left hook that knocked Martin down, the plan worked to perfection.

In 1823 Liston handed over to him the whole charge of his anatomy classes, retaining his interest in the school as a pecuniary venture ; the arrangement did not work smoothly, and a feud with Liston arose, which did not terminate until twenty years later, when Syme settled in London.