Muhammad Ali Meets The Beatles Before Either Were Really Themselves: GIF Spotlight

The first Ali/Liston match was coming up at the end of February, 1964, when the meeting took place. We are a few weeks shy of the 54th anniversary of the first "shock the world" moment for The Greatest. The Beatles were in America, making the rounds, generating attention. Beatlemania was still young in the U.S of A. They reportedly tried to meet with the heavyweight champion of the world, Sonny Liston, and Liston refused to pose for a photo op with those "sissies," as he'd allegedly called the fellas.

So, their next stop was to instead go pose with the loudmouthed and undefeated challenger who would try to take Liston's title, in the very unlikely event he survived long enough to do it. There are several stories about this meeting. Some say Ali had no idea who The Beatles even were. But in the special from PBS that this GIF comes from, American Experience, it seems Ali was still perfectly happy for the opportunity to ham it up with some British rock band if it made them both more press and, hence, more money. So it went:

Ali would go on to defeat Liston twice in a row in that year and the next, and he'd remain an undefeated champion until 1971. Liston would be, for all intents and purposes, blackballed from big fights after the rematch with The Greatest. That's what happens when a fighter takes advantage of Beatlemania and his opponent does not.


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