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LEWISTON, Maine (AP) -
Heavyweight champion Cassius
Clay, knockout conqueror of
Sonny Liston in the record time
of one minute for a heavyweight
title fight, hollered for "the rab-
bit - Floyd Patterson" today
while the boxing world buzzed
with talk over another fiasco.
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A short right hand to the jaw
knocked out the aging, former
champion for a "12 count" in a
confused and controversial fin-
ish that had many of the 4,280
fans in the heavily police-guard-
ed Central Maine Youth Center
yelling "fake" and "fix."
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But the undefeated Clay, un-
perturbed over the reported threats
on his life, shouted, "That was
my secret - it was a phantom
punch. It was lightning and
thunder - fast as lightning and
booming as thunder from the
heavens."
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"It was a good, right-hand
punch," said the unmarked, 31-
year-old Liston. "No, I didn't
quit. The blow landed on my left
cheekbone. I've never been
knocked down before. It made
me groggy. I got to my knees
but fell the second time because
I was off balance.
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"It was a good lick," said
Patterson the two-time former
heavyweight king and the rabbit
Clay wants next in about four
months. "He really hit him. I'm
more anxious now than ever to
meet him."
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"There was nothing suspi-
cious about it as far as I'm con-
cerned," said George Russo,
cahirman of the Maine State
Boxing Commission. "The only
thing is that it ended too soon.
The people didn't get their mon-
ey's worth."
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Nothing much happened
in the early moments as Clay,
hands down, danced and circled
from the plodding former cham-
pion, out to nail Clay with one
punch. Then the 23-year-old
Clay caught Liston with the
right.
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The stocky, heavy-set Liston
fell on his back in a delayed
fall. Sonny rolled over, got to
his right knee and then fell on
his back again.
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In the meantime, referee Jer-
sey Joe Walcott, the former
heavyweight champion, never
counted once. First he tried to
steer Clay to a neutral corner.
When he got back and peered to
the knockdown timekeeper
across the ring, Liston had fall-
en back on the canvas.
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When Liston arose, Walcott
rubbed Liston's glove and
looked towards the timekeeper.
With the referee gone, Clay and
Liston started slugging away.
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By then Walcott had been in-
formed by the timekeeper.
Francis McDonough, that he
had counted to 12 before Lis-
ton got up and that Clay had
won on a knockout. Walcott
rushed back and seperated the
fighters, and declared Clay the
winner on a knockout.
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It was then the fans let loose
with a chorus of boos.
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"It would have been different,
no confusion if the timekeeper
had a microphone so he could
be heard," said Walcott.
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"Walcott was looking at the
crowd, not at me," said
McDonough. "What was wrong
with him?"
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"Clay hit Liston with a right
hand," said Walcott. "I was
trying to keep the fighter (Clay)
away and move him into a neu-
tral corner. I let the timekeeper
start the count while I was
busy. By the time I got the
champion aside I couldn't hear
the count. I could see someone
trying to shout at me."
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"It was really a 12-count,"
said McDonough. "When it got
to 12 I clicked the stop-watch.
Walcott was supposed to pick up
the count when I did. There is
no question in my mind that
Liston was knocked out."
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Russo verified that the knock-
out time was one minute.
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Thus Clay, now calling him-
self "king of the ring" as well
as "the greatest" broke one of
the oldest records in the book.
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