Muhammad Ali's phantom/anchor punch

I will always admire Ali as a boxer hugely.
But the 'phantom punch' he knocked Liston out with,is defined by its own name.
Phantom ie. Something that does not exist !

 

How can it not exist when footage clearly shows the punch landing??

 

The punch hit Liston's head. No one disputes that. But the knockout and the circumstances that surrounded it was something suspicious, which raises the suspicion of a fix.
That fight was very strange indeed.

 

In 61 fights and thousands of punches thrown, only two of them were perfect?
Hard to believe.
In the immediate aftermath of the Liston fight, Ali didn't even know whether he KOd Liston with a left or a right. He said he would have to look at the tapes to see.

 

Well said.
It is interesting to note that Liston 2 was the only first round knockout throughout Ali's entire career ...

 

Fix fix fix!

 

If anyone doubts it was a fix, Liston's behavior after the fight should change your mind. It removes all doubt.
The fight was a robbery, regardless what you think about the punch.
Liston was never counted out. A count was never started because Ali wouldn't go to a neutral corner.
Walcott made the worst call in boxing history by calling it a KO.
It violated every rule of boxing.

Yet, Liston never uttered a word in complaint. Neither did his manager.
Immediately after the fight, Liston was smiling and calling it a fair fight.
The fight ended the way Liston wanted and intended it to.

 

The right hand DID land...

This has been conclusively proven.

 

That much is probably fair to say.

 

agreed for once :good

 

It did land and the anchor punch is able to stun and stop when thrown with conviction (I was taught it early in my golden glove years) but the right Ali landed had so little on it. Caught by suprise it could have lightly stunned Sonny but it was in no way a ko punch.

 

Ali turned it over, adding torque to the blow, and caught Liston undefended, leading forward and on top of the head. Those circumstances are often all that's needed to produce a knock-down.

 

Ali claimed his anchor punch would "knock anybody out".
I'll ask the same question I've asked before.
Why did any of Ali's fights last more than one or two rounds?

 

:deal

:deal

You got it Bill. Yes, Ali landed a punch and maybe it was enough to knock Liston off balance but it wasn't a huge punch. Liston got up and referee Walcott was letting it continue but Nat Fleischer had to open his big mouth. Walcott should have stood his ground and told Nat to cool it, I'm the ref.