Fall Premier Auction 2013

Beautiful full unused ticket to the much anticipated rematch between Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston for the World Heavyweight Boxing Championship held at Lewiston, Maine on May 25, 1965. Due to licensing problems in Massachusetts the fight was moved to a small Maine auditorium, where only 2,434 fans where able to attend. This was the smallest crowd ever for a World Heavyweight Championship bout. The resulting fight still ranks as one of the most controversial in boxing history. Midway through the first round, Liston mysteriously fell to the canvas, in what many have argued was not a legitimate knockdown. Referee Jersey Joe Walcott, a former world heavyweight champion himself, appeared very confused as 20 seconds passed on the clock. Ali refused to retreat to a neutral corner, instead standing over Liston, gesturing and yelling at him, "Get up and fight, sucker!" After the 20 seconds had passed Liston rose to his feet and resumed boxing. Nat Fleischer, publisher of The Ring magazine, who was there with no official authority, alerted Walcott that Liston had been down more than the requisite 10 seconds. Walcott then stopped the fight and awarded the title to Ali. The blow that ended the fight became forever known as "the phantom punch" because most people watching the fight, both at home on TV and in the arena, never saw it. An outstanding piece of boxing history, the full unused ticket is Slabbed NM PSA 7 by PSA.