Featured Exhibit
Attorney Gordon B. Davidson to the Massachusetts State Boxing Commission Letter, January 25, 1965
On loan from Lonnie Ali.
February 1965
Following the hernia repair, Muhammad Ali was unable to train for a minimum of three months. At the end of the three month period, the surgeon who operated on him and the physician employed by the Massachusetts Boxing Commission would examine him. Even after being cleared to train once again, the postponed fight would not take place until May at the earliest, allowing time for both fighters to get back into shape. The fighters, their camps, and the fight's promoters awaited anxiously for what would turn out to be a very eventful February.
On February 8, 1965, Muhammad Ali was examined at Boston City Hospital and cleared to return to light training. On February 21, Malcolm X walked on stage to speak at the Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan, New York, and was immediately shot and killed. The same day, hours later, a mysterious fire broke out at Muhammad Ali's apartment in Chicago, Illinois. The next day, Ali's rematch against Sonny Liston was scheduled for May 25 in Boston, Massachusetts.
Letter to the Massachusetts State Boxing Commission, January 25, 1965
