1960s Timeline

July 23, 1963 - Former heavyweight champion Joe Louis said today he believed Floyd Patterson would retire. “After the knockout last...

July 23, 1963 - A thoroughly vanquished Floyd Patterson, wearing a white fishing cap and a sport shirt, said last night after his second...

July 22, 1963 - Charles (Sonny) Liston blasted Floyd Patterson into oblivion after 2 minutes 10 seconds of fighting tonight at the Las...

July 21, 1963 - Cassius Clay (pictured last month with a young fan in Great Britain), who mixes pugilism and poetry, will be one of...

July 20, 1963 - Charles (Sonny) Liston (pictured with 11-year-old Mike Zwerner, a family friend), who won the heavyweight championship of...

July 18, 1963 - Undefeated heavyweight Cassius Clay made a loud landing in Las Vegas today and immediately delivered his forecast for...

July 5, 1963 - Cassius Clay responds to a report that he had been seen wearing a Black Muslim star-and-crescent membership pin and had...

June 21, 1963 - Sonny Liston says he has unfinished business with Floyd Patterson and then he will take care of Cassius Clay “and his big...

June 3, 1963 - Cassius Clay (pictured today clowning with 6-year-old fan Patrick Power), disappointed by reaction to his boasts about...

May 27, 1963 - Heavyweight contender Cassius Clay (seated right) says the trouble with Sonny Liston is that he is too ugly. “He’s nothing...

Jan. 24, 1963 - Cassius Clay, self-proclaimed “Louisville Lip,” disposed of a former professional football player, Charlie Powell, in...

Jan. 23, 1963 - “So you people will believe in me, Powell must now go in three.” So reads the latest entry in the verse anthology of...

Nov. 16, 1962 - World heavyweight champion Sonny Liston said today he would defend his title “wherever the price is right.” Both Liston...

Nov. 16, 1962 - Following his devastating four-round victory over Archie Moore at the Los Angeles Sports Arena last night, cocky...

Nov. 15, 1962 - Just as he predicted, brash young Cassius Clay knocked out aging Archie Moore tonight in 1 minute 35 seconds of the...

Nov. 15, 1962 - Cassius Clay takes the biggest step in his brief boxing career tonight when he enters the ring against the experienced...

Nov. 12, 1962 - Twenty-year-old heavyweight Cassius Clay will face Archie Moore— who is anywhere from 42 to 50 depending on who you ask —...

Aug. 9, 1962 - Archie Moore and undefeated Cassius Clay signed today to meet in Los Angeles in a 12-round heavyweight fight on Oct. 23....

Headlines: President Kennedy takes on the AMA; in Vietnam, an American general’s son is wounded; Martin Luther King predicts the future;...

May 19, 1962 - Cassius Clay, whose ebullient personality and knockout predictions have brought a refreshing breeze to boxing, scored a...