Clay vs. ListonI was probably overrated in terms of impact. Liston was old and a smaller version of Clay(his name then), Eddie Machen gave him a close fight.

No one picked the young brash Louisville Lip and Lt. Heavyweight Gold Medalist Cassius Marcellus Clay aka The Greatest to beat the menacing Sonny Liston. Liston who had just beaten the world's first two time Heavyweight champ Patterson to a pulp twice and inspired folk to label Floyd P. China Chin, which was more a manifestation of Liston's power, unseen up to that point in boxing history. Clay / Ali turned out to be sooo much more than a boxer. He was and still is nobody's boy inside or outside of the ring. Not even would he become a yes man for the U. S. War Machine. He even beat the draft (and is part of the reason along with Vietnam you will not see another draft!). One of a kind, a revolutionary man produced by revolutionary times. I do not think my son will ever have the pleasure of seeing someone like Ali in action, maybe Roy Jones, Jr., esp. outside of the ropes. Simply the worlds intro to The Greatest I am thnakful to have seen him on TV for free in the late 70's, as a young boy, even at the twighlight of his career.

I've always wished very much that Sonny Liston would win that one.

Liston underrated Clay in the first fight ! In fact the last 3 Liston's fights before Clay were KO 1 and he had just watched Clay almost losing against Jones and Cooper ( anyway 2 legitimate victories). Clay fought with great class and attention. The second fight was a farce. Clay was a good but not devastating hitter and Liston had a great chin... I can't believe in what happened ! The first fight was good but not great !