Of course, Jersey Joe was brought in as the 'Celebrity Referee' for the Lewiston, Maine,,,,,,,Ali vs. Liston II 'fiasco' Anyone know, who Jersey Joe replaced. The change was made 3-Days before the fight took place. Who made that decision, and why did both camps agree to that. Jersey Joe, avoided all interviews concerning that bout.
did I hear somewhere that the ref was originally meant to be Jimmy Braddock?? Am probably completely wrong - I don't know??
The Maine State Boxing Commission had a state licensed referee to be the third man in the ring. 3-Days before the fight, the promoters Inter-Continental Promotions (which Sonny Liston was part of) changed the Referee slot. Jersey Joe Walcott was brought in as the 'celebrity referee' against the wishes of the Boxing Commission. Who was the originally set referee?
I found it........ The original referee,,,,,,,,,,,,Peter J. Bennett Originally slated to referee the fight, but Maine State Boxing Commissioner, George Russo, for some odd reason allowed Jersey Joe Walcott to be put in the position. Another twist to the bizarre fight.
From the info you have given us from both the clay liston fights its is blatantly obvious that both fights were fixed.
Interesting. Am I right in thinking Walcott had refereed a heavyweight title fight before ? (Patterson-McNeeley ?) On the face of it, it looks like Walcott really messed up in the fight, when he ran over to speak to a ringsider (was it the timekeeper or Nat Fleischer) then ran back and stopped the fight. On the other hand, I've always thought this was intended to be a one-round fight and I've never felt Walcott to be above suspicion either.
It's obvious that the 'wheels were turning' in both fights. Just for thought. Not one insurance company would underwrite this fight against losses, and no casualty company would put up a bond. It was really 'cash in' time for the 'connected crew'. No one wanted Sonny Liston anymore. Sports Vision, Inc. The contracted closed circuit operator had already lost a boat-load of money, regarding the first cancellation (back in November), and they needed this fight to go through 'now', to recoup their investment. Fred Brooks, Head of Sports Vision, had lost nearly $400,000 in the first promotion in November, for the Boston Garden fight. Since Sonny Liston was involved, Fred Brooks could not obtain an 'insurance against loss' policy from any Life Casualty Comapny, with Sonny Liston involved in any event.
M-G, Sports Vision, Inc, had lost nearly $400,000 on the the first cancelled fight. Plus, the 'Live Gate' for the Lewiston, Maine fight only brought in $200,000 Sam Michael and Arena A.A., the local fight promoter who set-up the bout at the Central Maine Youth Center (St. Dominic's Arena), needed a 'sell-out' (approximately 4500 ticket sales) to make $20,000.
Walcott was considered an experienced and competent referee. Just a month before this fight he had refereed the 15-round Lightweight Championship fight between Ismael Laguna and Carlos Ortiz.
Jersey Joe had worked several fights before, so I don't think the term an 'inexperienced' referee was a fair judgement. He may have had poor judgement in his ruling, but he didn't create the fiasco. Not sure why a 'celebrity referee' was needed though. Nobody was coming to that fight to see Jersey Joe. Maybe it was to validate the fight, as trying to be an honest Championship Fight. Ticket sales were floundering before the fight, as their was an 'ill-feeling' about the fight.
