The Pitters' Place

...you heard me.

Cus D'Amato and Ali messing about

Young Ali acting a fool at the weigh-in for the Liston fight. He was such an underdog in this fight...no one thought he had a chance. It was a complete joke to everyone. Liston was the big bad monster of the time. Ali's antics, which were always entertaining because they were so over-the-top and lighthearted, were used mainly for promoting the fight and psyching himself up(and getting under his opponent's skin...or, at least, confusing them). Most thought he was just scared to death...which I believe there is some truth to because they checked his pulse rate and it was really high .



And part of the genius of the style of promotion was that it made white people hate him..and pay good money to see him get beat. White people really did not like a loudmouth, confident black guy. It infuriated them, and he knew it. He once said he would hear white folks go up to his opponents(his black opponents) and say "make sure you knock that nigger out".

And Malcolm X talks a bit about that here.

I found this interesting.

This is pretty decent analysis of what would happen if prime Ali and prime Tyson fought.