Ali-Liston II Boxing Gloves Auction of the Century
By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
On May 25, 1965, Muhammad Ali, previously known as Cassius Clay, retained the World Heavyweight title in Lewiston, Maine, with a controversial first round knockout over former champion Charles ‘Sonny’ Liston. Referee Jersey Joe Walcott blew the count as Ali stood over the downed Liston and taunted him, after either hitting him or not hitting him with a phantom punch. Arguments by boxing historians over the interpretation of the outcome of the bout persist to this day.
The bout was Clay’s first official bout as Muhammad Ali after his conversion to Islam.
Fight fans booed the outcome in Lewiston, in part because Liston was still very popular.
Liston died in Las Vegas in 1970, purportedly from a drug overdose. His connections to the Vegas Mafia underworld were not proven to have played a part in his accidental death.
The existence of the four infamous red Frager brand gloves is the one element of the bout not in question. The two sets of boxing gloves, used by Ali and Liston, were seized by the then Maine Boxing Commissioner George Russo, who later sold them to a collector. Ali signed them in Lewiston on 1995 on the thirtieth anniversary of the infamous bout. Maine is one of three states (Alaska, Maine and Wyoming) which do not have a boxing commission today.
Heritage Sports Auctions is handling the sale, which could attract bids of a million dollars or more on the fiftieth anniversary of the Ali-Liston bout. Whether or not the golden anniversary translate into golden cash remains to be seen.
Muhammad Ali versus Sonny Liston remains a famous event in the history of professional boxing, a heavyweight result in the same mold as Jack Johnson versus James Jeffries, Jack Dempsey versus Gene Tunney, Riddick Bowe versus Andrew Golota, John L. Sullivan versus Gentleman Jim Corbett, the Riddick Bowe versus Evander Holyfield ‘Fan Man’ bout, Marvelous Marvin Hagler versus Thomas Hearns, so on and so forth. There is no measuring meter to determine which boxing gloves from which event appreciate in value and why. In a sense, it is like an Andy Warhol Campbell Soup can creation, teasing the bidder to dare to put his or her own value on the memorabilia. However, the gloves from Ali versus Liston, quietly, have withstood the test of time as a major piece of boxing history. They may not be worth a million dollars, but their sentimental value is priceless!
Ali’s boxing gloves from when he won the World Heavyweight championship from Liston in their first bout as Cassius Clay fetched $836, 500 at auction in 2014. Given that outcome, it is safe to stay motivated boxing memorabilia collectors will go higher in the bidding war for the gloves in Ali-Liston II. Ali’s behavior caused referee Walcott to blow the count, and as in Dempsey versus Tunney II and referee Eddie Forbes and the ‘long count’, the referee’s reactions turned the boxing events from ordinary into extraordinary legend, wherein the dollar value of the items from the ring battles skyrocketed as a direct result.
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