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As Nation Mourns Muhammad Ali, Lewiston Remembers 'The Phantom Punch'

State Library and Archives of Florida
/
Wikimedia Commons
Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston fight in Miami Beach, Florida, in Feb. 1964.

“The Worst Mess in the History of Sports.” “The Phantom Punch.” In May 1965 Muhammad Ail fought Sonny Liston for boxing’s heavyweight championship title in a match that was moved from Boston to Lewiston.

We featured an MPBN Community Film about the fight, “Raising Ali: A Lewiston Story,” in May 2015, which can be watched — in full — below. The director, Maine filmmaker Gary Robinoff of White Dog Arts, was interviewed earlier this week on All Things Considered, and MPBN alumnus Tom Porter wrote a feature on the film in May 2015.