Cassius clay 1963

[Il Duce]

June 1963

Cassius Clay picked up a nice $75,000 pay-check, for his off the canvas
TKO 5 over Henry Cooper 27-9-1, in Wembley, England.
55,000 fans cheered, as the 29 year-old Cooper deposited
'The Lousiville Lip' on the seat of his pants at the end of Round 4.

Clay, to fulfill his prophecy, initiated a furious onslaught in the next round, that had the British Empire Heavyweight Champion's left eye pouring blood, resembling newly ground hamburger.

Referee Tommy Little stopped the slaughter after 1:15 of Round 5.
Cassius Clay is now 19-0-0 (16 KO's)

It was one of the largest crowds to witness a fight (outside the U.S.)


July 1963

In the wake of Floyd Patterson's second 1st Round Knock-out loss
to Sonny Liston.

The new WBA Rankings;
#1 Cassius Clay
#2 Doug Jones
#3 Cleveland Williams
#4 Billy Daniels
#5 Ernest Terrell
#6 Henry Cooper
#7 Floyd Patterson
#8 Zora Folley
#9 Roger Rischer
#10 Thad Spencer

20 year-old Thad Spencer 5' 11" 200 lbs, with a record of 16-1-0 (7 KO's), a prospect to watch, has challenged
former champion Floyd Patterson for a fall-1963 bout.

[Il Duce]

T-N-T

It was United Kingdom promoter, Jack Solomon
who had hoped for the young Cassius Clay to win the title in 1964.

None of the European fighters wanted to fight Sonny Liston.

Solomon, had them all lined up.
Henry Cooper
Brian London
Karl Mildenberger
Billy Walker
Dick Richardson
Johnny Prescot
Joe Erskine

[Il Duce]

May 1963

Joe Louis offers Cassius Clay $50,000, to fight Harold Johnson, if the
Light Heavyweight Champion defeats Willie Pastrano on June 1, 1963.

The former World Champion Joe Louis has been promoting fights in
Los Angeles, California.
His $50,000 offer is a guarantee, plus a percentage of the 'live gate'.

[slugger3000]

nice article.

[Seamus]

The new WBA Rankings;
#1 Cassius Clay
#2 Doug Jones
#3 Cleveland Williams
#4 Billy Daniels
#5 Ernest Terrell
#6 Henry Cooper
#7 Floyd Patterson
#8 Zora Folley
#9 Roger Rischer
#10 Thad Spencer

What a godawful, horrible division.

[Il Duce]

Eddie Machen had droppeed out the rankings, due to a personal illness.

George Chuvalo was just outside the Top 10, at #11.
Ingemar Johansson was #12.
Tony Alongi was #13.

Nothing real exciting there.

Both Light Heavyweights, Harold Johnson and Willie Pastrano were considered
Top 5 Heavyweights too.

[Il Duce]

July 1963

'Cassius Not All Mouth, Fighter Has heart Too'

Although his boxing opponents might not attest to it, talkative Cassius Clay has a soft spot.
Clay recently lowered his guard in an act of compassion toward a boyhood hero now stricken with multiple sclerosis.

Robert Carpenter, 24, a scholastic and basketball star at Louisville's Central High School
before Cassius entered high school in 1957, had his sports and pre-law studies
at State University of Iowa disrupted by illness.

Clay visited the former prep cage star at the hospital, when he heard about his illness.
Cassius Clay provided Mr. Carpenter with a mechanical bed, a phonograph, a stack of records and a check for $125.

A thankful and smiling Carpenter declared, 'Cassius is right, he is the Greatest.'

[turpinr]

Originally Posted by Il Duce

T-N-T

It was United Kingdom promoter, Jack Solomon
who had hoped for the young Cassius Clay to win the title in 1964.

None of the European fighters wanted to fight Sonny Liston.

Solomon, had them all lined up.
Henry Cooper
Brian London
Karl Mildenberger
Billy Walker
Dick Richardson
Johnny Prescot
Joe Erskine

all at once ??

[Il Duce]

Originally Posted by turpinr

all at once ??

He probably could have cleaned up that group, in a one-a-month tour.

A nice European vacation.