I'm watching a documentary. One man, I think a writer, claims to have been with Sonny and his entourage in Vegas before the first Ali fight. This guy who is being interviewed believes that what started Listons destruction at the hands of Ali was when the entourage was at a casino. Liston stopped walking and held his hand up, everyone behind him stopped and were bumping into each other. He walked over to Ali who was at a craps table, and tapped him on the shoulder. As Ali turned around Liston smacked him in the mouth. Ali said "Wha-wh-whatd you do that for!?" And Sonny said "Because you too bleeping fresh" He turned walked away, and everyone followed. Then he said, to the man telling this story, "I got the punks heart." Very interesting if true! It shows how "evil" Ali's mental warfare was. Cant be as bad as getting smacked in the mouth! :yep Liston : Scariest man in boxing history
I dont buy it. Would have heard of this years ago had Liston actually struck Clay. I read years ago that Liston DID turn the tables once and that he pulled out a gun (dunno whether it was loaded or a toy but it was planned and not a spur of the moment thing)
i red it also i got this book on ali called king of the world by david remnick and there it says the same story
I suspect it might be the same incident (?) i recall seeing film of Clay with his entourage Heranging Liston, Who makes a (Presumably) Mock Charge for Clay, and Clay, briefly wide eyed, quickly retreats, and as you (and i suspect Clay and Liston) would expect, both parties assoiates jump between them, Clay is Bundled away still popping off at the mouth. in this meeting no contact was made, i am not sure if this is before Clay went to Listons Home with a Bear trap and a jacket emblasioned "Bear Hunting" on the back, baiting Liston to come out and get it on there nd then. I am sure Liston was counselled to keep cool, and not blow the supposedly easy payday by doing something silly, with the added Promise/premise that he could dish out some legally sanctioned GBH to clay, and get paid for doing it. there were other occssions Liston might of Blown a fuse but didnt....he must of belived it was simply a matter of time..
Sorry lads, im a bit confused here. Are some of the replies saying that it did happen or that they read it happened? Or the one i mentioned about the gun?:thumbsup
That they read it happened. In King of the World it talks about the incident and says at a craps table in Vegas Liston walked up to Clay and slapped him. It says Clay had thought the whole thing was a charade to hype a future fight between the two until Liston slapped him. The book refers to it as a "jailhouse moment" where you don't back down and the other man does, so you have his heart and he is "yours". Its a good book. I've never heard that about the gun, was that at a craps table with Ali too? Or was it a separate incident, because I've read before about Liston pulling toy guns as a joke
Been a while from i read it but i think its something similar. In fact, its near identical only instead of a slap Liston pulled a gun (real with blanks or a toy, i cant remember), whilst Clay took off
IMO, Thomas Hauser's book gives the correct version of the Clay encounter. No slap took place, but Sonny took him into a corner and threatened him. Ali admits that Sonny scared him "bad". Here it is: http://books.google.com/books?id=6aaV0p8jaeUC&pg=PA59&lpg=PA59&dq=ali+liston+scared+me+bad&source=bl&ots=U5YcedPpCJ&sig=LV-Vt38N_oGTIrv2XRiaHhsT4qk&hl=en&ei=0mqTTYLHGozWtQPa4uzCBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CCQQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=ali%20liston%20scared%20me%20bad&f=false
