Ali called it "the anchor punch". He said it was taught to him by comedian and film actor Stepin Fetchit, who learned it from Jack Johnson. However, Ali was unsure immediately after the fight as to whether or not the punch connected, as footage from the event shows Ali in the ring asking his entourage, "Did I hit him?"

May 24, 2021 · Learn more about Muhammad Ali's so-called "phantom punch" that put Sonny Liston on the mat. Gbenga Akinnagbe treasures this large reprint — autographed by Muhammad Ali himself — of the famous...

In 1964 Muhammad Ali shook up the world by defeating Sonny Liston. Afterwards, many believed the occurrence to be a fluke. Their second fight should have ...

May 25, 2015 · The most famous punch in boxing history had just secured Muhammad Ali's claim to the heavyweight championship, stopping Sonny Liston in the first round—at least in the official narrative.

May 25, 2024 · Films show that Ali did connect with a chopping counter right hand to the side of Liston’s head — he later dubbed it his “Anchor Punch” — and the challenger then toppled forward before rolling onto his back.

Mar 31, 2020 · According to the Guardian, Ali was even heard shouting "Did I hit him?" He stood over his opponent, yelling at him to get up and saying "Nobody will believe this." The damage was done. The finishing blow became known as "the phantom punch," since it almost appeared never to have existed in the first place.

Ali (the former Cassius Clay, who had taken his now-famous Muslim name after defeating Liston in their first title bout in 1964) knocked out Liston with a first-round right hand to the head that, all these years later, is still known as the “phantom punch.”

Jan 23, 2022 · Was it a knockout punch, or a dive? Muhammad Ali towering over a floored Sonny Liston at their second encounter for the heavyweight title (May/1965). Speculation remains that Liston took a dive on a "phantom punch".

May 24, 2015 · Many experts agree the Ali punch that knocked out Sonny Liston wasn't a punch that could knock out a former heavyweight boxer. The press dubbed the punch as 'the phantom punch' because...

In the first round of a world heavyweight title bout at the Central Maine Youth Center, Muhammad Ali knocked out Sonny Liston with a blow so quick and compact that many of those ringside didn’t see it.