“What’s happening with his right hand.” “Nothing. I can’t see them too good.” And then there was the famous “no one will forget what you did here tonight” speech. What was the doctor’s input?
It was all Futch, Frazier wanted to go on for the 15th. Conversely there are sources who were there that said Ali considered quitting.
There were reports that many in attendance, who were accustomed to seeing far worse than we see today, were even calling for the fight to be stopped - Willard also didn’t exaggerate his injuries, he himself in fact denied the reports of a broken jaw, loss of teeth etc. Willard displayed HUGE courage and his wise decision to call it quits was in no way a discredit to the man. Particularly with no neutral corner rule and when you know the ref would sooner see you beaten to death than appropriately stop the fight. Maybe Jess should’ve (as many have done) quietly quitted - by not arising from one of the many knockdowns - he was knocked down so badly, if he stayed down no one would’ve blinked.
Nothing. Eddie made the decision based on his experience as trainer and just being around boxing. They had said he personally witnessed 7 ring deaths.
Patterson would be #1 (and perhaps #2 if you're double counting his defeats to Liston.) Who would the other(s) be?
Didn't Machen have better results than Williams? It's an interesting and potentially thread worthy question in itself who Liston's 2nd and 3rd best victories are.
Machen fought to survive. Cleveland Williams took the fight to Liston. He shook Sonny up in the first couple of rounds.