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Sporting Witness: Muhammad Ali vs Sonny Liston World Heavyweight Championships 1964

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Muhammad Ali vs Sonny Liston

01/03/2014

Muhammad Ali vs Sonny Liston World Heavyweight Championships 1964

BBC World Service - Sporting Witness, Muhammad Ali vs Sonny Liston World Heavyweight Championships 1964

How the young Muhammad Ali became boxing world champion after two controversial fights.

How the young Muhammad Ali became boxing world champion after two deeply controversial fights.

In February 1964, Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston fought the first of two of the most controversial boxing bouts in history. The 22-year-old Ali - then still known as Cassius Clay - was the young pretender taking on a veteran with a reputation for knockouts. He became world champion in circumstances that are still disputed to this day. Witness speaks to an American sportswriter with a ringside seat.

PHOTO: Hulton Archive/Getty Images.

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