Ali called it "the anchor punch". He said it was taught to him by comedian and film actor Stepin Fetchit, who learned it from Jack Johnson. However, Ali was unsure immediately after the fight as to whether or not the punch connected, as footage from the event shows Ali in the ring asking his entourage, "Did I hit him?"

May 25, 2014 · In a sport known for its chaos and corruption, not much has ever topped the heavyweight championship fight between Charles “Sonny” Liston and Muhammad Ali in Lewiston, Maine, on May 25, 1965. The furor over the fight started the …

Learn more about Muhammad Ali's so-called "phantom punch" that put Sonny Liston on the mat. Gbenga Akinnagbe treasures this large reprint — autographed by Muhammad Ali himself — of the famous...

May 25, 2024 · Films show that Ali did connect with a chopping counter right hand to the side of Liston’s head — he later dubbed it his “Anchor Punch” — and the challenger then toppled forward before rolling onto his back.

Jun 8, 2018 · The most famous punch in boxing history had just secured Muhammad Ali's claim to the heavyweight championship, stopping Sonny Liston in the first round—at least in the official narrative.

Sep 24, 2015 · Muhammad Ali, born Cassius Clay, retained the heavyweight championship of the world by knocking out Sonny Liston with a perfectly valid, stunning right-hand punch to the side of the head, and...

Mar 31, 2020 · According to the Guardian, Ali was even heard shouting "Did I hit him?" He stood over his opponent, yelling at him to get up and saying "Nobody will believe this." The damage was done. The finishing blow became known as "the phantom punch," since it almost appeared never to have existed in the first place.

Jun 4, 2016 · Some 4200 people were gathered to witness a fight for the heavyweight championship of the world between brash Muhammad Ali (then known as Cassius Clay) and fearsome Sonny Liston.

Ali (the former Cassius Clay, who had taken his now-famous Muslim name after defeating Liston in their first title bout in 1964) knocked out Liston with a first-round right hand to the head that, all these years later, is still known as the “phantom punch.”

On May 25, 1965, Muhammad Ali defeated Sonny Liston in the first round of a heavyweight bout that produced one of the strangest finishes in boxing history as well as one of sports’ most...