SPOTLIGHT
Raising Ali: Round 2
Now in Production
A Film by Gary Robinov
On February 25, 1964, in Miami, Florida, the then 22-year-old Cassius Clay dethroned Liston as the reigning world heavyweight boxing champion in a seventh-round technical knockout. The fight was the boxer’s last under the name Cassius Clay, as he converted to Islam the day after and adopted the name, Muhammad Ali.
Ali’s connection to Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam had already caused a controversy in the news — Clay’s father claimed his son to be “brainwashed” — and the big fight was almost canceled.
The rematch between Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston in 1965 faced significant hurdles before ultimately being relocated to Lewiston, Maine, as Massachusetts was reluctant to host it due to concerns over Liston’s mafia associations and objections from the World Boxing Association. The Massachusetts Boxing Commission’s apprehensions regarding the organized crime connections with Liston’s team forced the fight to find a new venue, highlighting the complexities surrounding this pivotal boxing event.
Lastly, Malcolm X had just been assassinated several days prior, on February 21, 1965, and Ali was thought to have a target on his back for his association with him.
The promoters needed a new location quickly to fulfill their closed-circuit television commitment. Governor John H. Reed of Maine stepped in, and within hours, Lewiston, Maine, a mill town with about 41,000 residents, was chosen as the new site, 140 miles (230 km) north of Boston. Inter-Continental secured a permit and worked with local promoter Sam Michael.
The venue was the Central Maine Youth Center (now The Colisée), a junior hockey rink. Lewiston became the smallest city to host a heavyweight title bout since Jack Dempsey fought Tom Gibbons in Shelby, Montana, in 1923, and it remains the only heavyweight title fight in Maine.
We will now explore the details of that unforgettable night, while following the creation of a Bronze sculpture to commemorate that event and the place where sports, small-town history, and monumental art converged.
