Wayne, Nope. Cleveland Williams fought Ali after he was champ. Ali went through the older top ten, Cleveland, Zora Folley, Karl Mildenberger, Floyd, once he was champ.
The guy who gave Ali fits on the way up was Doug Jones. They had a fight just before the Liston bout and it was the first one where Ali's knockout predictions didn't come true. Lots of folks say Doug Jones beat Ali. I agree that it was a tough fight, but I thought Ali barely did enough to win. Unlike the second Ken Norton fight where Ken really won but the big money wasn't in having Ken Norton as champion. BTW, I think Cleveland beat Doug Jones, but my memories from those days are kinda dim.
There were lots of complaints about fights being stopped quick for cuts early on in Ali's career, but I never bought them. I saw Billy Daniels, who said he was winning the fight and just about to knock Clay out when the ref stopped it. The guy's face looked like ground round and there was real risk to his eyesight.
Still, when I look at our current heavyweights, I agree with the sentiment of Chuck E. Weiss in his song, "Sonny Could Lick All Them Cats." |
