22.03.06 – By Stuart Cornwell: During the halcyon decades of boxing, sometime before the game was virtually destroyed and left for dead by the alphabet boys and their pernicious allies, there was such a thing as The World’s Heavyweight Championship. The World’s Heavyweight Championship was the richest prize in sport, to be defended by its holder to the last drop of blood – if not for the money or the fame then for the honour and the prestige. To surrender the championship without fighting to the finish was almost inexcusable. To throw away the championship on purpose was worse than unforgivable. Yet in the 20th Century there were – on three separate occasions – widespread rumours that the champion had done just that.
The first of these occasions was in 1915 when Jess Willard took the title from Jack Johnson with a knockout in the 26th round of a fight in Havana, Cuba. Johnson himself later claimed that he had faked it.
The second occasion was in 1933 when Primo Carnera knocked out Jack Sharkey in the 6th round in a fight in Long Island, New York. Sharkey lived a long life after that fateful night (he died in 1994, aged 91) and gave interviews up until the last few years of his life . He remained adamant throughout that the fight had been above board. The third occasion was in 1964 when Cassius Clay won the championship from Sonny Liston with a 7th round “TKO” at Miami, Florida. Sonny Liston claimed an injured shoulder. He died less than seven years later in mysterious circumstances.
Viewing footage of the fights now, I think that what we have here are two genuine knockouts and a probable fix. The Johnson-Willard film clearly shows an aged and tired old Johnson being clobbered with a spear of a right-hand from big Jess. A knock-out punch if ever there was one. In telling his tall tale , Johnson had taken advantage of the fact that the distribution of fight films was outlawed in America at the time and that the film of this particular fight was very late to surface (I might be wrong but I have a suspicion this film was not in circulation until sometime after Johnson’s death in 1946). The only visual records of the fight available were still photographs, one of which showed Johnson on his back on the canvas with his arms apparently shielding his eyes from the blazing sun. With such a photograph it was easy for Johnson to portray it as a “dive”, and a leisurely rest on the canvas. But in reality he had been vanquished fair and square, beaten by a younger, bigger, better-conditioned opponent who simply outlasted him in a long-distance fight and took him out with a solid punch.
The controversy surrounding the Sharkey-Carnera affair seems to stem from the assumption that Carnera could not fight a lick, much less punch, and that many of his wins were fixed fights. Furthermore, Sharkey had beaten him comprehensively over 15 rounds in a non-title fight two years earlier. However, the film of the fight shows Sharkey getting knocked out with a thunderous uppercut. The camera angle does not allow the clearest of views but it appears as if Sharkey bounces off the ropes straight into the hardest punch Carnera could muster. And while Carnera’s punching power generally left something to be desired, he was still an immensely strong muscular 260-pound giant and a punch like that would have at least hurt any champion that ever lived. James P.Dawson reporting for the New York Times described it as “A terrific right hand uppercut to the chin which almost decapitated Sharkey”. The film actually appears to show that the punch was followed through with Carnera’s ham-sized forearm, further adding to the damage inflicted upon Sharkey. Always an erratic performer, Sharkey simply did not have the beating of Carnera on that night ; Carnera had improved tremendously since their first meeting. Also it must be noted that Primo Carnera was not the fraud that some boxing historians and modern boxing writers have portrayed him as – he was not a great champion but he was a good fighter.
The Liston-Clay match differs from the other two in that there is no knock-out. Liston retired on his stool claiming a shoulder injury. Only six rounds of the fight had been completed. No clear advantage had been gained ; the fight was even on the score cards. While it is true that Clay looked the fresher of the two, and that Liston had picked up a small cut on his face, it cannot be said that Liston was a beaten man. The end came as a shock to the audience. Viewing the film, it certainly looks as if Sonny Liston threw the fight. He claimed his shoulder was hurt but I find it hard to believe that Liston would surrender the title so timidly without another incentive. This was a man who had fought tough fights on his way to the title, his threshold for pain had been tested. He was a streetwise tough guy who had brawled with club-wielding cops throughout his formative years. It seems inconceivable that such a man would throw the championship away on account of a sore shoulder and a small cut on his face. An X-Ray showed no dislocation or damage to the shoulder joint, but a doctor diagnosed a muscular or tendon injury in the area. Some people claim that Liston must have quit out of frustration, humiliated by the superb slippery boxing style of Cassius Clay. Others go as far as to say Liston was afraid of being knocked out by Clay so he quit. But it is apparent from the film that this is a fairly even fight. If Liston is being outboxed he is certainly not being trounced. To say Liston threw the fight is not to say that Cassius Clay could not have beaten Sonny Liston in a fair fight – it is merely to say that Cassius Clay did not beat Sonny Liston in a fair fight.
There is no proof that the Liston-Clay fight was fixed but I think it is highly probable that it was fixed. Liston was a mob-controlled fighter and they would have reasoned that throwing a fight could prove more profitable than having him defend the title once a year for the next ten years. Liston had cleaned out the division, credible opposition was disappearing fast, the mob was being driven out of boxing, and along comes a marketable 8-1 underdog. Liston is told to fight “handcuffed” for a few rounds (the odds against it going beyond 4 or 5 rounds were attractive) then make his exit. And with a rematch clause in the contract he gets to fight for the title again ! Of course, no one said that rematches cannot be fixed too …….