I didn't bet on Sonny Liston to win

It was exactly 50 years ago last Monday on Memorial Day, that I reclaimed a lost bet. On that 25th of May 1965, Heavyweight Champion of the World Muhammad Ali knocked out the former champion Sonny Liston, in the first round. I won an entire dollar on that fight! My connection to that fight and boxing can be traced far back into my early life.

Professional boxing held a loftier place in the sports world when I was a kid. Every Friday night, the "Gillette Cavalcade of Sports" aired for two hours on NBC. The show carried a series of boxing matches from Madison Square Garden, in New York City, culminating with a featured or championship bout, at the end of the evening.

The late Frank Emery and family friend had bought one of the first televisions in the area. We used to go to their home in Milo on Friday nights, to watch the fights. About all I can remember about that television, was that the wooden box was huge, but the actual screen was quite tiny.

Frank and my father were avid boxing fans. Frank's oldest son Randy, and I were the same age. We loved to pretend to be fighters ourselves. Our dads had bought us child-sized boxing gloves, and we proudly boxed between rounds for them, "in our jockey shorts!"

We even took the names of boxers for ourselves. Randy called himself Rocky Marciano, after the then undefeated heavyweight champ. I had seen this other fighter on the Friday night fights named "Kid Gavilan." I always thought that was a great name, so that was whom I called myself during our bouts. When I began to research this article, I was surprised to learn that Kid actually was a Cuban fighter, whose real name was Gerado Gonzalez.

In the late '50s, a Swedish boxer named Ingemar Johansson defeated the reigning Heavyweight Champion, Floyd Patterson. The fight was not carried on television, but we did listen to the bout on the radio. If you never heard a boxing match announced on the radio, you have missed a unique experience.

In the rematch, Patterson defeated Johannson with one of the most memorable knockouts ever seen. Again, we listened on the radio to the live bout. A few weeks later, my father took me to the Trail Drive-In Movie Theater. In those days, they rebroadcast a movie version of the fight.

We continued to follow boxing, but the regular weekly fights on NBC ended. The only television fights were usually championship bouts. In the early '60s, boxing crowned a new Heavyweight Champion named Sonny Liston.

If there was ever a boxer that looked the part of a champion, it was definitely Sonny Liston. According to Wikipedia, Liston had learned to fight during his time spent in the Missouri State Penitentiary. He was a magnificent specimen of power. He had huge arms, that some fighters like Patterson said, "hit him harder than he had ever been hit before."

It was Liston's imposing stare that made him perhaps appear even more invincible. When he stared at the other fighter before the fight started, he looked quite simply, like a "killer."

Thus, when the first fight between the young upstart Cassius Clay was scheduled for February of 1964, few experts gave the brash young fighter any chance at all. Perhaps more importantly, I didn't think Clay had a prayer either.

I made a 50-cent bet on Liston with a classmate of mine. I was sure that I would win. Most of the world and myself were stunned, when Cassius Clay defeated Liston. Many of the same experts thought the fight might have been fixed, or that Liston had underestimated Clay. They were sure that in a rematch, the outcome would be different.

Having lost 50 cents on the previous fight, I decided to not take a chance on this second bout. I told my friend, that I wanted to bet on Clay this time, "double or nothing."

We had to wait for over a year for the rematch. There were lots of issues happening for both fighters. Clay announced that he had become a Muslim, and taken the name of Muhammad Ali. Liston had some more issues with the law, this time involving a handgun.

There were also issues with finding a place to hold the fight. After several states would not issue a license for the fight, it was finally allowed to take place in the obscure location of Lewiston, Maine.

This was one of the first fights to be offered, only on a pay for view basis. You had to go to a movie theater or convention hall to watch, and pay a hefty ticket price.

In one of the most bizarre endings in boxing history, Ali knocked out Liston, at 1:44 of the first round. At the time, many fans suspected that the fight was again fixed. That sentiment might have persisted, if not for the fact, that Ali went on to become one of the greatest fighters of all time. In fact, for me, and many others, he had no equal.

More importantly for me, I won my dollar on the double or nothing bet. For as long as he fought, I never again bet against Ali. Whether you liked him or not, he remains one of the greatest legends in our sports history.

I didn't have a bet on this last fiasco of a so-called fight between Mayweather and Pacquiano. I haven't even bothered to watch a replay.

I'm from the old school of boxing fans. I was blessed to see the greats, back when boxing was at its heights. If you want to see some real fights, go back and watch any of the three Ali vs. Frazier bouts. Whatever you do, don't bet on Sonny!