I didn’t actually see the first fight, I listened to it aboard ship in the Tonkin Gulf. Of course we all watched Howard Cosell go through his metamorphosis of disbelief to acceptance, I never advanced especially after Liston conveniently turned up dead.
I am wrong. The “phantom punch” that “knocked out” Liston was in the second fight not the first. I should know better by now than to rely on memory.
My Dad was a huge boxing fan, having learned it in the Navy and he read up on Cassius Clay in SI in the dentist office. He liked his style and his mouth. When he refused induction though, he rooted against him in every fight.
Not sure if we had the radio on; nor am I sure if the championship fights were televised. I do recall that a lot of them were shown in theatres in the cities - not in our small town, though.
Gillette’s Friday Night Fights was a big deal, though - both for Daddy and Granddaddy.