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Sonny Liston vs. Floyd Patterson II

July 22, 1963

On September 25, 1962, Sonny Liston knocked out Floyd Patterson in two minutes and five seconds for the world championship belt, becoming the first man to earn a first-round knockout over a heavyweight champion. It had done nothing for his popularity.

Liston’s disdain for the civil rights movement alienated him from contemporary blacks and his brutish tactics and mob affiliations made him a target for white journalists eager to pen broad generalizations and racial slander. Speculation abounded that Sonny had used his underworld connections to fix the fight in his favor. Incensed by such groundless accusation, Liston arranged a rematch to be fought in ten months’ time - plenty of time for Patterson to iron out whatever problems had limited him in their first meeting.

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