The Night He Shook Up the World
“If you like to lose your money,
be a fool and bet on Sonny.”
(Before fighting Sonny Liston)
Cassius Clay became Muhammad “The Champ” Ali on February 25, 1964, when he knocked out the seemingly undefeatable Sonny Liston for the heavyweight championship. It was a surprise KO, and bookies that put odds as high as 10 to 1 on it were biting their nails.
Photo by Bettmann/Getty Images
Ali became an overnight celebrity and established a concrete place in American sports history . Moments after his victory, he declared: “I shook up the world.” Well, it turns out that he shook up the music world, too.