LOUISVILLE, Ky. — It’s the rarest news film known to exist of the tall skinny kid, aged 15, known at the time as Cassius Clay.
WHAS-TV news archives show him weighing in for a Louisville youth boxing match. It’s the first time it’s been seen since it aired in January of 1957.
It was the beginning of the journey of Louisville's Cassius Clay versus Sonny Liston, their first meeting in Miami, Tuesday February 25, 1964.
This would be the future champ's last fight as Cassius Clay. The 22-year-old would become Muhammad Ali right after the match, the underdog defeating Liston in a major upset.
Long before the Liston fight, our newly generated news film shows Clay as a young fighter, polishing his nickname as “The Louisville Lip”, saying about an upcoming fight, “This chump came in this morning feeling my muscles called me a welterweight! Who does he think he is, you in TWO! The prediction is round TWO!”
Louisville was all abuzz with the Liston fight. Clearly the talk of the area had become Clay's wild self-confidence and boasting.
His grandmother Mrs. Herman Clay sat down with WHAS-TV’s reporter, David Dick, to shed some light.
Reporter: Does he mean what he says?
Mrs. Clay: No. He keeps talking to be talking.
Reporter: Anyone listening to the match with you tomorrow?
Mrs. Clay: No! I don't want anyone, I want it to be QUIET.
WHAS-TV went to Central High School and got reaction to his rising fame.
Reporter: You think Cassius talks too much?
Female student: YES, he talks too much but it's more for the publicity than anything else. He’s still a child.
Liston gave up at the opening of the 7th round in Miami. In Louisville that night, WHAS-TV was on the streets, outside a watch party getting reaction. One young man said, “I thought it was a good fight. Clay made Liston look like a BUM!”
WHAS-TV’s legendary Sports Director Cawood Ledford starting covering Cassius Clay as a high school boxer in the 1950’s.
In the early 1970’s, then Muhammad Ali, showed up to the WHAS at 6th and Chestnut, and recorded an interview on film with Ledford.
“Cawood: Muhammad, you used your personality to draw the crowd, but lost the fight. What happened?”
The champ, a bit humble now, after the recent loss responded, “Not living up to my religious convictions. Staying up late at night. It's a lesson I needed, we all at times get too proud or cocky, but I got what I needed.”
As WHAS-TV’s David Dick summed up his report on the morning of the fight, the world was waiting, “Not everyone agrees with him, but they all seem to be pulling for him. This David Dick at Central High School Louisville.”
Foot note: David Dick left WHAS-TV for a coveted job as a CBS News correspondent on the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite, where he worked from 1966 to 1985. When he retired from CBS, he came back to his home state of Kentucky, hired as Journalism professor at UK. I had the great honor of being in his first class at UK. He was an amazing journalist and great teacher. He also published several award winning books about Kentucky. He died in 2010. His son Sam is currently the longtime news anchor on WKYT Channel 27 in Lexington.
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