Psychological Greats

[THE THIRD MAN]

Not Really

Cassius Clay was certifiable 'Nuts', but Charles 'Sonny' Liston was not in the least bit intimidated by him.

95% of that stuff was 'choreographed' for the Press.

Larry Holmes definitely 'psyched out' Muhammad Ali before their match. Muhammad knew he that was going
to get a beating, and he knew that there was no way in Hell that he was going to win a 'single' Round, let alone beat Larry.

Not until they actually met in the ring and Liston couldn't believe how big Ali was, this proved to be a huge problem for him with Ali standing 3 inches taller than the formidable Liston.

[Bill Paxtom]

Not Really

Cassius Clay was certifiable 'Nuts', but Charles 'Sonny' Liston was not in the least bit intimidated by him.

95% of that stuff was 'choreographed' for the Press.

Larry Holmes definitely 'psyched out' Muhammad Ali before their match. Muhammad knew he that was going
to get a beating, and he knew that there was no way in Hell that he was going to win a 'single' Round, let alone beat Larry.

Not until they actually met in the ring and Liston couldn't believe how big Ali was, this proved to be a huge problem for him with Ali standing 3 inches taller than the formidable Liston.

Third Man

You make it sound like Sonny Boy never saw or met the 'Draft Dodger' Cassius Clay before they
walked into the Ring in February 1964.

Who are you kidding...........

[Master]

Bill the only person you are kidding is yourself.

[THE THIRD MAN]

Not Really

Cassius Clay was certifiable 'Nuts', but Charles 'Sonny' Liston was not in the least bit intimidated by him.

95% of that stuff was 'choreographed' for the Press.

Larry Holmes definitely 'psyched out' Muhammad Ali before their match. Muhammad knew he that was going
to get a beating, and he knew that there was no way in Hell that he was going to win a 'single' Round, let alone beat Larry.

Not until they actually met in the ring and Liston couldn't believe how big Ali was, this proved to be a huge problem for him with Ali standing 3 inches taller than the formidable Liston.

Third Man

You make it sound like Sonny Boy never saw or met the 'Draft Dodger' Cassius Clay before they
walked into the Ring in February 1964.

Who are you kidding...........

He only ever saw Ali from a distance or when he gatecrashed his training sessions in the pre - fight build up. Most of the time Liston was in the ring training. He had never met Ali up close until the weigh in. Many of those watching at ringside were surprised during the referee's instructions to see that Ali was considerably taller than Liston. While receiving instructions, Liston glowered upward at Ali, while Ali stared back and stood on his toes to appear even taller.Ali might've been shitting himself, but i reckon Liston had just realised a huge problem was in front of him and not just some nut!

[Bill Paxtom]

The Third Man is out in the Rafters.

Sonny Liston and Cassis Clay met up close many times in 1962 and 1963.

In November 1963, they were all buddy-buddy, both in Denver and in Las Vegas.

[Master]

There is an article in Boxing Monthly where it says B Hop came deliberately at 156lb, 2lb under the agreed weight to have a psychological advantage against Oscar De La Hoya. Oscar said he never realised that but there is a picture of Mayweather Snr looking in disbelief at the weight. Hopkins said the other camp thought he had over trained and that Oscar took him lightly because he started coming in and fighting which led to the body shot that stopped Golden boy.

[Spicoli]

May have been a one, two time thing but Bramble leading into Mancini looked to have an effect on Ray. Some of it was low but the press ate it up and Mancini def came off shook in the 1st fight.

[Bill Paxtom]

Larry Holmes to Muhammad Ali >

'Nobody understands a word you're saying. You're embarrassing yourself Old Man."

"Ali tells the World that he's fighting for them, the little people. Bullshit. He has 4 Homes,
3 Rolls Royce cars, a Bentley and a Boat. He even has a Mack Dump Truck that he doesn't
even know how to drive."

"Ask Ali if any of those little people can come visit him. The man is a Phoney. A 100% Fraud
made of Rayon."

"He needs a beating, and I'm here to do it for the real little people."

Muhammad Ali was completely psyched out.

[Master]

Larry Holmes to Muhammad Ali >

'Nobody understands a word you're saying. You're embarrassing yourself Old Man."

"Ali tells the World that he's fighting for them, the little people. Bullshit. He has 4 Homes,
3 Rolls Royce cars, a Bentley and a Boat. He even has a Mack Dump Truck that he doesn't
even know how to drive."

"Ask Ali if any of those little people can come visit him. The man is a Phoney. A 100% Fraud
made of Rayon."

"He needs a beating, and I'm here to do it for the real little people."

Muhammad Ali was completely psyched out.

You are the only person psyched out by Ali.

Holmes got his when he was smashed by Tyson. Circle of boxing life.