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LEWISTON, Maine (AP) -
Cassius Clay will defend his
world heavyweight boxing title
against Sonny Liston Tuesday
night in a controversial rematch
that was chased out of Boston
and finally found a haven in a
high school hockey rink in this
textile city.
Huge Receipts
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Only 4,900 seats are available
in the Central Main Youth Cen-
ter and there has been no rush
for the $100 top tickets. How-
ever, the promoter expects total
receipts to top $5 million from
other sources, mainly closed
circuit television.
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Fight time for this 15-round
match is 9:30 p.m. (EST),
which means that the Early
Bird satellite will be beaming
the action into England at 3:30
Wednesday morning.
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Despite the weird event at
Maimi Beach Feb. 25, 1964,
when Clay won the title when
Liston quit in his corner claim-
ing an injury to his left should-
er, there appears to be a
groundswell of interest in the
rematch. The close circuit peo-
le have more than a million
seats in 258 locations. They
expect to sell 630,000 seats. If
receipts live up tp estimates,
the fighters will get about $690,
000 each.
Clay
Confident
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Liston, a 7-1 favorite in the
first fight, has been the choice
in the rematch but the odds
have reportedly shortened from
9-5 to 13-10.
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The gabby Clay, known as
Mighty Mouth, the Louisville
Lip and any number of other
nicknames, appeared supremely
confident. He arrived at his
headquarters in neighboring
Auburn Sunday afternoon and
dashed into a round of press
conferences and autograph sign-
ing parties. he reminded all
that he is to be called by his
Black Muslim name, Muham-
mad Ali.
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Police have been keeping an
eye on Clay to guard him
against any possibility of trou-
ble from the Black nationalist
supporters of the slain Malcolm
X. The avengers had threatened
Clay at the time of the assas-
sination. However, the police ap-
peared to have decided to leave
cassius on his own Monday
when he jogged in his final
workout. Police cars which had
been prominent before were no
longer in evidence.
Hasn't Picked
Round
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"I fear no living man, only
Allah," said Clay. "That talk
about guns only scaresd Sonny
Liston. He's scared enough al-
ready - scared of my two fists.
"If I told you what was going
to happen, you wouldn't even
bother to show up."
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Clay normally calls the round
but he hasn't picked any this
time. When they were training
for the original Nov. 16 date in
Boston, posponed when Clay
suffered a hernia attack, the
champion said it would end in
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Clay, only 23, has not been
beaten in his 20 pro fights. Lis-
ton claims he is 31, but many
think he is much older, perhaps
40. Sonny, an ominous man with
a police record, has a 35-2
record and was stopped only
once - by Clay, when he didn't
come out for the seventh round
in Miami Beach.
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"I made a mistake I ain't
gonna make again," said Lis-
ton. "I got new plans. If he
comes to fight, it'll be short. If
he comes to run, I'll have to
trap him."
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Liston, ponderously slow in
the first fight, has been working
on a plan to trap Clay in a
corner and set him up for his
bombs. But Clay, a fleet danc-
ing master with a fine left jab,
is not an easy man to trap. He
also tried to quit in the first
fight, claiming he couldn't see.
he blamed an irritant on Lis-
ton's glove.
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"That big bear is going to be
in trouble agian." said Clay.
"He's got no legs on him. He
stands there and shuffles. he
moves like a freight car."
Press opinion, almost unani-
mousle for Liston in the first
fight, has shifted to Clay. Of 74
newsmen polled by The Asso-
ciated Press, it was 42-32 for
Clay.
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