FBI suspected that Ali's KO of Liston was fixed

[cambay411]

Liston was owned by the Mob, if they wanted him to lay down in a certain round so they could bet huge amounts of money on it he would have had to play ball.

Its common knowledge Liston was Mafia owned

ESPN Classic - Liston was trouble in and out of ring

I always heard he layed down because he received threats from the Nation of Islam. I think that's what Chuvalo says.

[ykdadamaja]

Liston may have just decided to stay down because it would have been a repeat performance of the first fight....

Remember, the first fight he was gassed and couldn't continue. And plus, Ali was blind for most of the fight.

Liston just decided that he couldn't go on... Ali could take a punch, unlike another gold medalist in Floyd Patterson.

[p4pking]

Gun to my head I'd say it was. Like Smashup said, the mob had total control of Liston and could have had him lose any way they wanted. The punch may have been much better than it appears, but either way I think Liston just decided he wasn't getting up. Whether the fight was fixed for that round, or what affect the punch actually had, who knows. Nobody even knew how old Sonny was at that point, and he had quit in the first fight so no outcome can really be ruled out.

I'm more interested as to whether Listons death was a cover up. He was found dead in his home of a "heroin overdose", with no apparent history of using the drug, no paraphernalia present and apparently the man had a serious fear of needles.

[cambay411]

Gun to my head I'd say it was. Like Smashup said, the mob had total control of Liston and could have had him lose any way they wanted. The punch may have been much better than it appears, but either way I think Liston just decided he wasn't getting up. Whether the fight was fixed for that round, or what affect the punch actually had, who knows. Nobody even knew how old Sonny was at that point, and he had quit in the first fight so no outcome can really be ruled out.

I'm more interested as to whether Listons death was a cover up. He was found dead in his home of a "heroin overdose", with no apparent history of using the drug, no paraphernalia present and apparently the man had a serious fear of needles.

You can snort Heroin lol and smoke it I believe. But you can definitely snort it.

[p4pking]

Gun to my head I'd say it was. Like Smashup said, the mob had total control of Liston and could have had him lose any way they wanted. The punch may have been much better than it appears, but either way I think Liston just decided he wasn't getting up. Whether the fight was fixed for that round, or what affect the punch actually had, who knows. Nobody even knew how old Sonny was at that point, and he had quit in the first fight so no outcome can really be ruled out.

I'm more interested as to whether Listons death was a cover up. He was found dead in his home of a "heroin overdose", with no apparent history of using the drug, no paraphernalia present and apparently the man had a serious fear of needles.

You can snort Heroin lol and smoke it I believe. But you can definitely snort it.

Yeah I'm aware of that, apparently they pointed to injection sites on Listons arms as evidence or something though. He'd been in a car accident shortly before his death and was given an IV, so they could have been from that. Not saying he didn't just develop a habit and OD given his career was over, but it's also possible he was taken out.

[IamInuit]

I'm more interested as to whether Listons death was a cover up. He was found dead in his home of a "heroin overdose", with no apparent history of using the drug, no paraphernalia present and apparently the man had a serious fear of needles.

Liston's cause of death was officially listed as natural causes believe it or not. There was no needle found but heroin was found in his system. He also had track marks even though his wife swore he had a needle paranoia. It was actually the fact that no needle was found that started the forced hotshotted rumors. He'd been dead for at least a week when he was found.

Its widely accepted that Joe Louis was a heroin user but hated the idea of having to go out and get it so Sonny would go get it for him. After the Ali fight Liston fled to Sweden for several fights because of the backlash. His last fight was against Wepner who he destroyed prior to Chuck getting his shot at Ali. Sonny made a measly 13 grand. Its thought that he may have been dealing a little on the side and dipping into some of the profits provided by Louis and others in their circle.

Just a few tidbits brother.

[p4pking]

I'm more interested as to whether Listons death was a cover up. He was found dead in his home of a "heroin overdose", with no apparent history of using the drug, no paraphernalia present and apparently the man had a serious fear of needles.

Liston's cause of death was officially listed as natural causes believe it or not. There was no needle found but heroin was found in his system. He also had track marks even though his wife swore he had a needle paranoia. It was actually the fact that no needle was found that started the forced hotshotted rumors. He'd been dead for at least a week when he was found.

Its widely accepted that Joe Louis was a heroin user but hated the idea of having to go out and get it so Sonny would go get it for him. After the Ali fight Liston fled to Sweden for several fights because of the backlash. His last fight was against Wepner who he destroyed prior to Chuck getting his shot at Ali. Sonny made a measly 13 grand. Its thought that he may have been dealing a little on the side and dipping into some of the profits provided by Louis and others in their circle.

Just a few tidbits brother.

Cool, definitely didn't know any of that. Either way, Liston had some very bad people around him throughout his career, hell of a story I'm sure.

[johnsebastianmiran]

I have always been a fan of Ali's but I always wondered about that fight so I came to a decision. It didn't look legitimate but it was at best a hard arm punch. There's more, he was going backward and then moved tohis right. He was also on his toes. There isn't much more to say. He doesn't have that kind of power and Liston wasn't hurt as the film rolls on he reminded me of Jack Johnson but there was no sunlight overhead to make him shield his eyes. I loved watching Ali fight but not this rematch. Liston was just disgusted so he looked for a comfortable spot and said good night. Ali really was confused and so was the audience.