It is one of the most iconic matches in boxing – and sports history. One that has been ingrained in all of our minds. Even if you weren’t alive to see it. A moment in sports that is forever frozen in time in one of the greatest sports images as Muhammad Ali stands over Sonny Liston; following a first-round knockout in a rematch witnessed by boxing fans all over the world. Now, a piece of this history-making match is up for auction. And its projected to bring in a jaw-dropping sum of at least a half-million dollars.
The walk-out robe that Muhammad Ali donned as he prepared to take on Liston in the famous 1965 fight has just gone up for sale on the Goldin Auction site. And, according to TMZ Sports, the rare piece of boxing history from the legendary moment will likely be fetching an unprecedented sum of over $500,000 once it hits the auction block.
Ali wore the robe on his way to the ring where he was set to take on Sonny Liston in the infamous rematch. A moment in boxing history that many deem to be among the most memorable fights of all time.
Muhammad Ali Makes Boxing History
Muhammad Ali had won his first heavyweight title with a win over Liston just a year before this match. However, Ali sealed his reputation as one of the best boxers in the history of the sport during the 1965 rematch when he took down the former champ in a first-round KO.
This robe also is the first to officially don the moniker Muhammad Ali. Following his initial 1964 boxing match against Sonny Liston, the boxer made the move changing his name from Cassius Clay. A name to which he refers as “a slave name” to Muhammad Ali. Ali never fought under Cassius Clay again.
“Days after beating Sonny Liston to become the WBC Heavyweight Champion on February 25, 1964, Cassius Clay stunned the world by announcing he had joined the Black Muslims,” notes a description of the iconic boxing robe on the Goldin Auctions website.
“A month later the Champ defiantly declared, “Cassius Clay is a slave name. I didn’t choose it and I don’t want it,’” the description continues.
The First To Officially Don the Ali Moniker
As the website goes on to note, many of the boxer’s fans as well as multiple news outlets initially refused to acknowledge the athlete’s new name. This, of course, fueled Ali’s determination. And, it was just over a year later that Ali went up against Liston once more at Central Maine Youth Center in Lewiston, Maine.
This 1965 rematch against Liston was, of course, the first fight in which Ali boxed under his chosen name. Making the robe the first time the moniker was publicly displayed ahead of a boxing match.
