Featured Exhibit
A souvenir program from SportsVision, Inc., with details about the upcoming fight and its respective telecasts.
On loan from Lonnie Ali.
Rematch Rescheduled
When the rematch was finally rescheduled for May 25, both fighters had work to do to get back in shape, but especially Muhammad Ali. According to the doctors who examined him in February to clear him to fight, Ali had gained twenty-five pounds since his operation in November. He trained in a ballroom at the Schine Inn Hotel in Chicopee, Massachusetts, where his training sessions were open to the media and filled with showmanship. In true Ali fashion, he taunted Liston in interviews, shouted predictions of what round he would win in, and did what he knew worked to get people to the fight.
Sonny Liston, on the other hand, trained at a gym in Dedham, Massachusetts, about 10 miles outside Boston, to maintain some sort of privacy. His camp was closed to the public and media for the most part. Liston focused on conditioning and strength, working hard to silence critics who questioned the ending of the first match and whether or not he'd taken Ali seriously enough. The former champion was determined to earn his title back.
Both fighters' training camps and the fight's promoters felt things were going well. The fight was projected to earn approximately $5,000,000 from live gate and closed circuit sales, along with royalties from future use of the fight footage. However, the Massachusetts State Boxing Commission began reviewing the upcoming bout more closely, particularly scrutinizing Liston’s criminal background and the arrangements made by the fight’s promoters. Despite initial agreements and excitement for the fight to take place in Boston, thing began to slowly fall apart for the already controversial fight.
