In 1965, Muhammad Ali faced Sonny Liston for the much awaited rematch. Before their first fight, Ali was a 7-1 underdog who scarcely anyone gave a fighting shot to. But with the controversial, yet defining, victory over Liston, after he refused to continue fighting at the begining of the 7th round, Ali was now, to the suprise of millions, the Heavyweight Champion of the World.

          When they finally met again, the tables and roles were switched; Ali was the reigning champion and Liston was the challenger. What a turn of events! People were claiming Ali had a fluke in his first fight and that Liston would get him this time around. However, to the astonishment of many, Ali not only defeated him again, but in a more humiliating manner: first minute of the first round. Because the fighters had barely gotten warmed up and the punch with which Ali had connected seemed to have not been so hard, many claimed that Liston had purposely taken the fall. Some say the Mafia forced Liston to purposely lose the fight because of pending dues he had with them. Others say that Liston himself was reported as stating that he threw the fight for fear of the black muslim sect that was campaigning Muhammad Ali’s boxing career. Due to being hard to see on regular speed, the punch that knocked out Liston was coined “the phantom punch.”

           Though some may discredit the phantom punch as the consequence of a corruption or exhortation, for those who do believe the punch do have connected flush it is an inspiration. No matter how many may count you out, if you believe in yourself nothing is outside your reach. Muhammad Ali, formerly known as Cassius Clay, demonstrated to the world that “Impossible is nothing.”

Muhammad Ali vs Sonny Liston (1965)

ALI Phantom Punch