In the eyes of so many, Muhammad Ali is the greatest boxer of all time.
He captured the attention of millions of people all over the world, with his unique boxing style and one of a kind personality outside of the ring, he remains one of the most significant and influential figures in the sports history.
Inside boxing, he is perhaps remembered the most for those two iconic battles with George Foreman and Joe Frazier, dubbed the ‘Rumble In The Jungle’ and the ‘Thrilla In Manila’ respectively.
And despite facing, and beating, some of the other great heavyweights to ever grace the sport, he has named the one man who left a lasting impression on him as being the toughest opponent of his memorable career.
Speaking to Ring Magazine, ‘The Greatest’ named Sonny Liston as the toughest man he ever locked horns with.
“The toughest would be my fight with Sonny Liston when I won the title in 1964. I was young and a great admirer of Liston’s talent.
He could do just about everything except dance. But outside of myself, there’s never really been a dancing heavyweight. Liston had a tremendous jab, could punch with either hand, was smart in the ring and as strong as any heavyweight I’d ever seen.”
Ali and Liston met for the first time in February 1964, and after an iconic build up, Liston retired in his corner at the end of the 6th round.
The pair rematched one year later, with ‘The Greatest’ prevailing once again, beating ‘The Big Bear’ with what has been often described as a ‘phantom punch’, leading to some speculation that the second battle was actually fixed.
