Was Ali secretly scared of Liston?

Yes. In his later years he was asked what he would say to Sonny Liston now and he said, "Man, you scared me." Who in their right mind wouldn't be scared of that guy?

 

He admitted he was afraid of Liston. During the weigh in his heart rate was spiking very high and he was likely trying to convince himself he wasn't scared by making a big spectacle. Liston was absolutely terrifying back in the day.

 

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"Keep talking. I'mma **** you up." -Sonny Liston

 

I think Liston’s powers of intimidation also went beyond the harm he could cause IN the ring.

Ali used the adrenalin produced by fear/heightened wariness to perfection in fight 1 - the mobility was extraordinary even for Muhammad - but the offence was always readied.

Though, to be fair, Ali was still a kid in Miami who was growing up fast.

He held himself with pure confidence in the rematch - the mobility was still great, but by then, less twitchy. even more fluid, calm and calculating.

Whatever the causes of that debacle in Maine, I think we were ultimately robbed of one of Ali’s greatest performances in potential.

Though lighter, he looked stronger in physique and, at least for the time it lasted, he appeared demonstrably stronger in action.

 

Knowing Liston's background and how he dismantled poor Floyd Ali would had to have been objectively stupid not to fear him.

 

Ali was terrified of Liston, doctors say that his heart rate was so high before the fight that they were thinking of stopping the fight from happening.

 

“Scared to death”

https://youtube.com/shorts/RHlAWpdVD4M?feature=share

 

Yes. I'll go one further. If he wasn't scared, he likely loses.

 

That is interesting...They took his pulse?
Also I read thawhen he created a scene at a weigh in, they thought he was terrified because of the hyperactive way he was yelling & jumping around.
But right after this he was really calm, with a LOW pulse rate.

I think sometimes it was either an act or exaggerated to both garner P.R. for a fight, & try to psych Liston out.
Both purposes worked out pretty well for him.

 

My Aunt Ida said that she had a baby once and that while Liston was known to be nice to children, he ate it. She would never have another child, scared of ole Sonny "The Sinner" coming back to eat that one too, so she claimed. Should Ali have been afraid of that? No. My Aunt Ida was batcrap crazy and she also thought Ed McMahon lived in her toilet and would only come out at three in the morning to have relations with Lana Turner, who lived in her microwave. She was always trying to Lysol the microwave. I wrote Ali a note once, to explain all of this and asked Ferdie Pacheco to pass it to him, but I fear he never did. Pacheco could never be trusted. He probably wanted Ali to think that about Ed McMahon.

 

Not as much as the Liston was scared of the mafiosos.

 

Along with the text, the split photo at the start of the article (below) also tells the story, Ali barely kept properly still when his heart rate was being measured, lol.

Ali holds up 8 fingers, Liston two. A collaborative prediction perhaps? 8 minus 2 = 6.

https://hidden1960s.wordpress.com/2013/11/12/1964-liston-v-clay-weigh-in/

 

Aunt Ida?

So, was she the daughter of your 7-11, birthday suit grandma who was hooked on Angel Dust?

Just checking, because I do take notes and I wanna make sure I get all the facts right here.

Addictive personalities and madness (often entwined) are very strong, passed down, genetic traits.

Fortunately, you must’ve dodged those genetic bullets because you sound absolutely fine.

At least you understand that Sonny didn’t really eat your cousin, don’t you?

In your family, you must’ve felt like Marilyn from The Munsters.

I bet they made you feel like YOU were the odd one out - because that’s what the odd ones always do.

 

BoB, let’s be perfectly accurate here.

Sonny ONLY had a fear of Needles - who, just as it so happens, was a psychopathic contract killer working for the Mafia.

Of course, Needles scared the f*ck out of everyone. He was, to excuse my French, the ultimate pr*ck.

Evidence of Needle’s work was found at the scene of Liston’s death, despite Needles trying to make it look like the handy work of another Mafia hit man, Stitches.

Needles and Stitches were integral features to the Mafia fabric.