No one thinks the “phantom punch” is real…right?

The grassy knoll, the moon landings and the phantom punch - the three definitive conspiracy theories of the 1960s.

Don’t worry about what I think about the first two, just know that Liston took a dive, plain and simple.

 

Jimmy Cannon was a great writer but he was a man of his time who didn’t have the advantages we have today of slow motion and high definition video that shows the physical effect the punch had on Liston. He relied on his eyes and human eyes are faulty and imperfect and subject to the personal biases and prejudices of the owner of the skull in which they reside.

Honestly, a lot of the residue from this is colored by people’s feelings on Ali, IMO. Liston in some ways has become almost a side character. Like Paul Gallender’s stuff
… I have screamed at him on TV a few times … where he’s like “All things being equal and even and fair there is zero possibility of Ali beating Liston so it had to be a fix,” which is idiotic.

I think the punch was legit. I have said that everything else that took place that night was a complete s**t show. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were some shenanigans, it’s boxing which as much as I love it has perpetually had various aromas attached to it. But the only human organism who knew with metaphysical certitude what Sonny Liston did that night was the man himself, and his carcass has been decomposing under 6 feet of dirt in Las Vegas for 53 years. So we will never know for sure. So none of us should be taking this so seriously.

 

Donald Trump is pretty good with that line.

 

Liston robbed Ali of a great victory. Ali would have lumped him up on the way to a mid round stoppage. Ali feasted on sluggers. Swarmers were his kryptonite as it is for all out boxers.

 

Did Liston take a dive after receiving nothing more than a love tap is kind of like asking if Howdy Doody has wooden balls.

 

Sonny had to have a huge dong.

Could you imagine handling even an average to large dong with those oversized hands to take a leak? - it would appear relatively microscopic.

Are dongs treated as separately legal entities?

I mean, they do have their own head and they can think for themselves - albeit not too wisely on the occasion...but then, that’s what makes them human too.

Otherwise, they often stand up for what is right - so they do have their own principles also...and many people even give them their own name..

 

I mean, we have a poster here named John Thomas. That was literally the name of Liston's dong. It was so large that it didn't even have the same surname or zip code.

 

Sounds like a Sci-Fi porno with some actual dialogue for a change.

 

I wonder what Sonny’s answer would be if you asked him ‘tell me, which metaphysical certitude, what happened in the ring in the second Ali fight.’

 

I don't think Liston ever paid Ali his dues. When Ali was asked , many years later, what he would say to Liston he said, "Man, you scared me ."

 

The punch landed and it stunned/hurt Liston. But the fact he put his gloves out to brace his fall indicate to me he wasn’t that hurt by the shot. Why he got to one knee and decided to comically roll back over could be anyone’s guess. The referee lost control so maybe he thought he could get more time and not have to get up right away? Maybe he said to himself forget this I’m in for a long night? No one knows. He did get up and the fight continued before someone that was not an official for the fight (fleischer) screamed that he was down for more than 10 seconds and Walcott waived the bout over as Sonny and Ali were mixing it up.
Just a mess of a round that obscures the truth.

 

Question: What evidence has ever been produced to prove Liston took a dive in that fight ?

 

There is hypnosis to increase the size of your dong (great euphemism, isn’t it?).

They basically suggest to your subconscious that your hands will “appear” to you to be half their actual size - thus, an instant doubling in size of the old sausage.

However, I don’t know if they can make Trump believe that his hands are any tinier than they actually are...so he just has to be thankful for what God didn’t give him.

It all has something to do with Planck’s length...or some other such, minuscule scientific value - a rocket surgeon could explain it better....

 

All good. I just think its funny y'all are having in depth conversations of another mans Dong. Lol.

 

The view at the time … disproved by modern video presentations … that the punch “couldn’t have crushed a grape.” Residual dislike and disrespect for Ali and a refusal to acknowledge that peak for peak he was a superior fighter to Liston. The mistaken belief that he didn’t pack a punch. Jersey Joe Walcott’s incompetence. Nat Fleischer’s shenanigans; someone should have told him, “Butt out you old fart, nobody asked you.” The wild conspiracy stories. The pure sleaziness of the whole deal.

In other words there is none.

Honestly I am beginning to warm to the idea that if I had a genie’s lamp and could rub it and change history, the whole thing should have been a no contest and thrown out as not even happening. Boxing has managed to survive worse s**t.