1960s Timeline

Mar. 1, 1964 - Cassius Marcellus Clay, heavyweight champion of the world, paid a surprise visit to Harlem this afternoon. After...

Dec. 25, 1963 - Heavyweight champion Sonny Liston celebrated what he called “the nicest Christmas I ever had” today at his Denver home....

Dec. 22, 1963 - Boxing, the sport that played a major role in popularizing television 16 years ago, will disappear from the national...

Dec. 21, 1963 - Rubin (Hurricane) Carter twice smashed welterweight champion Emile Griffith to the canvas last night and scored a...

Dec. 7, 1963 - Joey Giardello, the scarred 33-year-old veteran from Philadelphia, took the middleweight title from Dick Tiger of Nigeria...

Nov. 8, 1963 - Cassius Clay, who is signed for a heavyweight title fight with Sonny Liston, has been ordered to report for a selective...

Nov. 6, 1963 - The proposed Cassius Clay-Sonny Liston heavyweight title fight was called a dangerous mismatch today by a California...

Nov. 5, 1963 - In Denver today, heavyweight champion Sonny Liston and challenger Cassius Clay signed at a packed, hilarious news...

Oct. 31, 1963 - Sonny Liston and Cassius Clay (pictured with neighbors in Louisville) will sign Wednesday at Denver for their heavyweight...

Oct. 25, 1963 - Joey Archer (right), a classic boxer from the Bronx, took the best punches of the slugging Rubin (Hurricane) Carter...

Oct. 15, 1963 - Willie Pep (left with Pat Marcune in 1953), the former featherweight champion who compiled one of the most amazing...

Oct. 14, 1963 - The press representative of heavyweight champion Sonny Liston (pictured in Finland in August) said today that Liston...

Oct. 11, 1963 - Cassius Clay was rapped on the knuckles today for refusing to meet George Chuvalo, a Toronto heavyweight, after signing a...

Sept. 21, 1963 - They once called Jim Braddock the “Cinderella Man” because, after working as a longshoreman, he won the heavyweight...

Sept. 12, 1963 - Sonny Liston became a firm favorite with Scottish boxing fans today after wearing a kilt, playing bagpipes, and kissing...

Aug. 10, 1963 - Dick Tiger put on a brilliant display before his fellow Nigerians tonight, battered Gene Fullmer into a bleeding,...

Aug. 10, 1963 - Joe Louis (right with Sonny Liston) has put Cassius Clay in his place — third place among the heavyweight contenders. The...

Aug. 6, 1963 - Heavyweight champion Sonny Liston has postponed until “sometime next year” his proposed September Philadelphia title...

July 31, 1963 - The self-proclaimed greatest, prettiest, and most colorful fighter in the world, Cassius Clay, will cut his first...

July 27, 1963 - Heavyweight champion Sonny Liston has accepted the Rev. Edward P. Murphy (left) as his spiritual guide. Liston is not a...