1962 ~ Cassius Clay goes from #10 Ranking to #2 ~ "What the F***"

[Bill Paxtom]

February 10, 1962

Cassius Clay's '1st-Bout' in 1962.

Madison Square Garden ~ New York, New York

Nationally Televised Bout

Cassius Clay ~ 10-0-0 {7 KO's} ~ 6' 3" ~ 194 lbs. ~ {Age; 20 years, 1 month}
vs.
Lucien 'Sonny' Banks ~ 16-2-0 {14 KO's} ~ 6' 2" ~ 191 lbs. ~ {Age; 21 years, 7 months}

Lucien Banks was a young and powerful Detroit Heavyweight, with a 'big and quick' left hook.
He had been only competing in the Pro Ranks for 21-Months {Turned pro; May 19, 1960}

Lucien had several monikers "
* Sonny
* Six Gun
* KO
* Detroit Bomber
* The Young Joe Louis
* Assemblyman Hammer

'Sonny' Banks was a hard-hitter yes. Offensively he was devastating. But he had a porous defense and had
problems with fast-handed fighters. He also had a 'shaky' chin, primarily because he came in straight forward
with his hands held too low.

'Sonny' was riding a 10-Bout winning streak, with '9' bouts coming way by a 'Knockout'. In the Rankings, 'Sonny'
was listed at #24.

'Sonny' was the Michigan State Heavyweight Champion, and was coming off a {KO 2} over Tunney Hunsaker
on {October 16, 1961}, the same fighter who took Cassius 6-Rounds in his Professional debut.

Betting Odds ........ 5-1 {Cassius Clay}

The best bet for Sonny Banks, was to come out bombing, and try to catch Cassius with his left-hook. Sonny would
have major problems with Cassius' speed and elusiveness, and would run into big problems if the bout went past
4-Rounds.

The Fight

In front of a crowd of 2100 at Madison Square Garden >

The fight started off at Center-Ring, as both fighters looked to score and counter.

As expected, Cassius exploded at the mid-way point in the3 session, and tried to overwhelm Sonny Banks with a
'two-fisted' barrage. Cassius caught Sonny with a flurry and drove him backwards into the front left Neutral-Corner
at the 1:35 Mark.

Cassius then poured it on, but left his guard down. Suddenly, Sonny exploded with a quick 'wicked-ass' left-hook'
counter that caught Cassis flush on the chin at the {1:47 Mark}

'BOOM' down went Cassius on his 'ASS'. But, he bounced back up at the 2-Count, and moved to Center-Ring. The
Referee administered the 'Mandatory 8-Count' as Cassius backed up on 'shaky-pins' to the back left Corner.

While there, Cassius 'grabbed' the top strands of the Ropes. At {1:56} the action resumed. The action was
'even' for the rest of the Round as both fighters exchanged good punches.

By the beginning Round 2, Cassius had cleared his head.

Cassius was then back to boxing while Sonny went back to stalking and looking for the 'one-punch' left-hook.
By the {1:00 Mark}. Cassius was starting to get the better of the action, and appeared to shake Sonny as
he landed a fast-flurry on Sonny as he was coming in.

At the {1:39} Sonny went down near the left-side Ropes as he was coming forward. Sonny was up immediately,
and the Referee ruled that it was a 'Slip'.

The action resumed, with Cassius firing straight 'one-two' punches as Sonny again looked for the Home-Run. At
the {2:19 Mark}, Cassius caught Sonny with left-hook to the chin near the front Center-Ropes. Sonny went
down on the 'seat-of-his-pants, but got up immediately at the 1-Count.

After Sonny took the '8-Count', the action resumed at the {2:29 Mark} as Sonny looked to be fine. Cassius
scored with a few more 'left-right' punches as Sonny swung with a few wide hooks as the Round ended.

In Round 3, Cassius did the boxing and Sonny was doing the catching over the first 2-Minutes. Sonny was
having trouble with Cassius' speed and was forced to a defensive posture.

At the [2:30 Mark} Cassius opened up. It was all Cassius, as he repeatedly stung Sonny with 'left-right'
combinations to the head. Sonny appeared to not take a good punch well, and was badly shaken several times.

But each time that Cassius poured it on, Sonny would recover and counter with a left-hook.

Near the end of Round 3, Sonny was wobbling as he walked back to his corner.

Surprisingly, Sonny came out aggressive for Round 4. But at the {0:18 Mark} of the Round, he was stung by a
combination, and then moments later he was wobbled by a 'grazing' left-hook to the temple area. Sonny then
moved sideways to the Front-Center ropes. Cassius then added in a straight 'left and right' to the head, and
the Referee moved in and stopped the bout at {0:26 of Round 4}

Sonny, who was not floored, complained about the apparently fast stoppage.

The 2100 fans at Madison Square Garden vehemently boo'ed the quick stoppage.

Result > TKO 4
Referee > Ruby Goldstein

It was a very good offensive performance by Cassius. But it did show that he was vulnerable to a quick left-hook to the chin.

Cassius did show that he could take a solid blow, and get up from it, and fight well afterwards.