Monthly Auction #5

Perfect looking, MINT PSA 9 Full Unused Ticket(Standing Room Only $50 - Orange Version) to the World Heavyweight Championship rematch between Cassius Clay and Sonny Liston on May 25, 1965 at Lewiston, Maine before only 2,434 spectators. The ending of this fight remains one of the most controversial in boxing history. Midway through the first round, Liston fell to the canvas, in what many have argued was not a legitimate knockdown. This was the famous phantom punch that has been debated over and over many times since. Referee Jersey Joe Walcott, a former world heavyweight champion himself, appeared confused after Ali refused to retreat to a neutral corner. Instead, Clay stood over his fallen opponent, gesturing and yelling at him, "Get up and fight, sucker!" Clay then raised his fists in the air celebrating the knockdown. While Walcott tried to sort out the situation, 20 seconds passed, and by then Liston had gotten to his feet and resumed boxing. Nat Fleischer, publisher of The Ring, took it upon himself to climb into the ring and tell Walcott that as Liston had spent over 10 seconds on the canvas he had been KO'd. Walcott stopped the fight — awarding Clay a first-round knockout. However Fleischer was quite wrong in his interpretation of how the rules applied: since Clay had deliberately not gone to a neutral corner, Walcott had been correct in not counting Liston out; the actual time Liston had been down was beside the point. The counting officially begins only when a fighter is in the neutral corner. Unused ticket appears perfect in every way.