Barney Felix (3rd Man the Ring; Liston vs. Clay)

An article that was printed in the 'Newark Evening News',
Barney Felix was from New Jersey.
The article was printed in 1968..

No one had interviewed Barney Felix up to that point, something he always thought as
odd.

I'll post more if it.

Crazy stuff, as he mentions that Chris Dundee was also the big wrestling promoter down in Miami Beach.
Dundee promoted wrestling events on Friday nights at The Convention Hall on Friday 2/21 and Friday 2/28,
as well as events at The Auditorium.

Barney Felix, said the 'feeling-in-the-air' was that the fight had a wrestling atmosphere to it.
Especially the 'liniment-in the-eye's bit',,,,,and old 'wrestling gag'.

 

,,Thanks,,,,,,,,Mr. Un and alexvoce.

More from Barney Felix,

During the 5th round, Sonny continued to force the action.
After about 40-seconds or so, Cassius Clay was fine, as his eyes were clear, and he was
not blinking.

Cassius Clay was fine, and Sonny was landing some good jabs, so if there was any
foreign substance on Listons gloves, where did it go?

From the mid-way point in the round (1:30 thru to the 2:30 mark), Sonny landed his best punches.
Though they did not carry real power, they were scoring, and Clay was back-peddaling throughout.

As the latter half of the round progressed, Sonny started to slow down, and his arms appeared heavy.
Then his footwork slowed down, and Sonny was moving like a statue.

Then near the last 25-seconds of the round, Sonny attempted to throw a left lead to Clay's head, but
Clay side-stepped quickly to his right. Sonny then stopped in attempting to throw the punch as he was coming forward,
and he nearly stumbled and fell.

At that moment, I could tell Sonny was having leg problems.

 

Barney Felix,

After the 5th Round, there were no complaints of 'eye burning' issues from Cassius Clay's corner.

Later, I found out that Mark Jannsen did go over to Sonny Liston's corner to take a
look, but he found nothing.

After 5 Rounds, I had Sonny Liston ahead 3-2 in Rounds. I was thinking of a possible
10-8 round for Liston, as he did dominate the round, and actually staggered
Cassius with a good left upper-cut mid-way through the round, but Clay did hold his own for the last 25-seconds.

As for the later complaint of problems with Sonny Liston and his left shoulder, I had a clear view into his corner and could hear what they were saying, and there was no immediate concern or problem.
I never saw an ice-pack on his shoulder or anyone working on it.

What I did notice, simply was, that Sonny was just getting tired, arm-weary and heavy-legged.

And in Cassius Clay, he was the one breathing with an open mouth. But he did have the better legs, and
still had the quicker reflexes.

There was one instance, near the end of the round, as both fighters were near the ropes, Clay pulled back with
his hands by his side, and Sonny had a wide-open shot for a big left hook, as Clay was within range.
But, Sonny couldn't let go with the punch.

Looking back, maybe Sonny did pull something in his shoulder, very late in the 5th Round. That was the only time
something could have happened, based on my observations in the ring with these guys.

 

Before the 6th Round, I did look into Sonny Liston's corner, to see if anything out of the ordinary was going on, and I didn't see anything, other than Joe Pollino working
on the cut under Sonny's left eye.

Jack Nilon, Sonny's manager was talking to Sonny, while Willie Reddish was rubbing
Listons left shoulder.

I looked over to Clay's corner, but I was blocked from a clear view. But it was apparent that there was no issue with his eye's anymore.

Cassius Clay was up quick, before the round started, as Sonny was still on his stool.

 

I'm sure Barney Felix must have seen the replay of the fight more than several times,
to refresh his view.
But, I'm sure he was careful in the words he used in the newspaper interview,
because he was still an active referee.

He did shed some light on issues, such as the illegal substance. And his thought, that it came from Cassius Clay's own corner, to delay the start of the 5th Round.

Later in the interview, he stated, Cassius Clay's eyes were blinking a little, but they were clear. And usually, when you have something in your eyes, they will tear up to cleanse themselves, or become red due to irritation.

Clay's eyes had neither.

 

MR. UN,

In the article, Barney Felix does not make any statement about working on
Sonny Listons shoulder or giving him massage treatment before the bout.

Though Barney Felix was also a Physical Education teacher, he may have worked in
the Health and Fitness Spa at either the Casablanca Hotel in South Beach, or the Fountainebleau Hotel
in Miami Beach.

He had been in Florida, since 1963.

I'm wondering, if Barney Felix was the boxing-fitness therapist that treated Sonny back in March 1963, when Liston was preparing for Floyd Patterson, before the bout was cancelled and re-scheduled.