The Phantom Punch: The Story Behind Boxing's Most Controversial Bout

The two bouts between Cassius Clay and Sonny Liston are widely considered the most anticipated and controversial fights in heavyweight boxing. Cassius Clay won the first bout in Miami Beach in February 1964, when Liston refused to come out for the seventh round. The second fight took place in Lewiston, Maine, fifteen months later in May 1965. Halfway through the first round, Ali countered a left from Liston with a fast right, knocking Liston down. He did not get up. Ali’s right was so fast many spectators never even saw it. It was quickly dubbed the Phantom Punch and rumors began to swirl that Liston had thrown the fight. Many who believed Liston—a brutal fighter who picked up boxing in prison—had also thrown the first fight the year before in Miami were now vindicated. Journalist and sports historian Rob Sneddon takes a fresh look at the infamous Muhammad Ali–Sonny Liston fight of May 25, 1965, which ended in chaos at a high school hockey rink in Lewiston, Maine. Sneddon digs deep into the fight’s background and comes up with fascinating new takes on boxing promotion in the 1960s; on Ali’s rapid rise and Liston’s sudden fall; on how the bout ended up in Lewiston —and, of course, on Ali’s phantom punch. That single lightning-quick blow triggered a complex chain reaction of events that few people understood, either then or now. Even if you’ve seen films of the fight and think you know what happened, this book will change your perspective on boxing’s greatest controversy.

About the Author :
Rob Sneddon is a contributing editor at Down East magazine and a sports historian. In addition to the four major sports, he has written about everything from candlepin bowling to the Daytona 500. He has ridden across America on a bicycle and flown around the world on a record-setting flight aboard the Concorde. He lives with his wife and son in New Hampshire.

Review :
"Sneddon has done a great job of detective work on a subject that sportswriters have stumbled over and around for decades. .. . vivid and highly readable account should have a long life as well." - Allen Barra, Chicago Tribune In this exhaustively researched, intriguing chronicle, sport historian and Down East Magazine editor Robert Sneddon examines the infamous “phantom punch” that ended Ali-Liston II in May of 1965. The controversy that followed Cassius Clay’s 1964 upset of the menacing Sonny Liston in their first bout was multiplied a thousand fold when Clay pledged allegiance to the Nation of Islam and changed his name to Muhammad Ali. White America couldn’t decide which black man it hated and feared more—the former criminal with mob ties or the adherent to Islam. Against a backdrop of political assassinations and the rising turmoil of the 60s, one venue after another rejected the chance to present the rematch, leaving Lewiston, Maine, to claim the spotlight. While Sneddon’s ostensible subject is the phantom punch—a seemingly innocuous blow that KO’d Liston in the first round—he is equally concerned with New England characters such as promoters Sam Michael and “Suitcase” Sam Silverman. Diligent historical research allows Sneddon to convincingly evoke the surreal marriage of a heavyweight title bout with an economically struggling city. While Sneddon doesn’t solve the mystery behind the punch (and dismisses any claim of a fix), he vividly recreates the social upheavals that brought the most glamorous contest in boxing to the northeastern hinterlands of the nation. ' this book was not one that tried to sway readers one way or the other, especially those that already have their minds made up. Instead, it seemed that the target audience would be for readers like me who have never seen the punch or the films of it and instead wanted to learn about this controversy. For this goal, the book hits its mark and is an excellent account of a heavyweight championship fight that will be talked about as long as boxing remains a sport. ' "Sneddon’s book will be in demand in collections devoted to works on Ali, and it should have strong regional appeal."