Why does everyone think Ali was the underdog in the Liston fight?

Good Post.

 

Justified or not, several factors contributed to Ali’s underdog status.

For one, I see the old story of a puncher’s (Liston) accrued aura commanding that extra, illusory margin of perceived advantage.

Foreman and Tyson were afforded same until their own bubbles were shockingly burst.

No question, Liston deserved to be installed as a solid favourite but it didn’t help that Ali’s last two fights were tougher fights than people might’ve imagined they would be.

Ironically, while those fights might’ve served to
seal some people’s view that Liston would obliterate young Ali - those fights were also valuable learning experiences that contributed to the somewhat more matured, developed, better focused and experienced Ali that ultimately faced Liston.

I don’t know if and by how much the odds might’ve changed between the weigh in and actual fight - many thought Ali was unhinged by fear and questioned whether he should be even getting in the ring to fight Sonny...left of field Garcia recently garnered the same concerns before fighting Haney - but it became immediately apparent that he was fine once the fight started.

Perhaps another “swerve” for many pundits was the fact that Ali was also 10x more serious vs Liston than against any prior opponent. He wasn’t ever going to **** around with Sonny - it was all business and I personally rank it right up there with his best performances.

Most filmed predictions that I’ve seen favouring Sonny had Liston KO’ing Ali via the short route - without entertaining how it might unfold if Ali did somehow survive the early rounds.

I think some pundits might’ve also had their objectivity distorted by their dislike of Ali - their predictions seemingly expressed with an air of smug relish, implying that they were looking forward to the “Big Mouth” finally getting his trap shut -

 

Because he was.

You know how people give Holmes issues for fighting green undefeated HWs who only had 2 or 3 notable opponents? Well with no future knowledge thats with Ali v Liston looked like.

 

A better question is why wouldn't he be?

 

No one gave this reason.
Liston knocked out Patterson in two consecutive fights; world champion in the first round.
imho

 

Yeah, I also noticed that absence. Liston looks absolutely fantastic in those fights, especially the rematch. That one was 7 months prior.

It's kind of funny how hard it seems to say the simple "because Liston looked unbeatable".

 

Because he was.

Liston was seen as a killer at that time,

Ali was seen as being a good boxer but with not enough power to discourage Liston.

It turned out Ali was just way too fast of hand and foot to get caught by Liston.

 

It would be interesting to identify who thought young Clay had a serious chance. One noteworthy commentator favoring him was Tony Galento.

 

Interesting that Liston’s relative “inactivity” going into Miami wasn’t dissimilar to Foreman’s going into Zaire.

Basically, Sonny and George being too good for their own good, with a very low number of rounds boxed over a fair period prior before going into fight Ali - with Ali also being the best fighter they had ever or would ever face.

The ease with which they tore through their more recent opponents likely also lent to the same degree of over confidence that Liston and Foreman had developed by the time of the those respective fights - Miami and, 10 years later, Zaire, Ali incredibly playing the same Big Spanner on both occasions.

The Legend of Ali was well earned and Liston and Foreman might well have enjoyed reigns that much longer without Muhammad on the scene.