adminNEW YORK. — The gloves Muhammad Ali wore when he beat Sonny Liston to win his first world heavyweight boxing title fetched US$836 500 at Auction on Saturday, almost 50 years to the day after the fight. The gloves were part of Heritage Auctions’ Sports Platinum Night Auction, and the price was posted on their website. The buyer was not identified.
The gloves were used by the young fighter from Louisville, Kentucky, then named Cassius Clay, to launch a legendary boxing career that made him a global sport icon.
Clay won a gold medal at the 1960 Rome Olympics and four years later faced a heavily favoured Liston at Miami Beach. Liston was coming off back-to-back first-round knock-outs of Floyd Patterson, the first to end Patterson’s six-year reign in the heavyweight division and the second to defend the crown. But along came Clay, a brash and outspoken 22-year-old who taunted Liston.
On February 25, 1964, Clay stopped Liston in the seventh round to claim the crown, screaming as he jumped around the ring with his arms raised. “I shook up the world,” said Clay, who the next day announced that he was changing his name to Muhammad Ali. — AFP.
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