WHAT HAPPENED AT THE FIGHT.

WHAT HAPPENED AT THE FIGHT. Elmer, Bruce Abel, Peter Metro and I assembled at Jack Sharkey’s bar, across from the Boston Garden. It was appropriate because Sharkey had been heavyweight champion at one time. It was a long, narrow room with black and white photos from Sharkey’s fights. The evening copy of the Boston tabloid (the Record-American?) was passed around the bar. The headline story was that Clay’s pulse that morning was twice the normal reading. A doctor had opined that Clay was scared to death. The room was filled with men who were going to the fight and men who seemed unaware of the fight and looked as if they had never left the room and their drinks. As we were leaving, I put the tabloid down carelessly on a table, and one of the drinkers took offense. We hurried out and he sat back down.

The large screens in the Garden showed a blurred image. What we could see was Liston attacking and Clay retreating and surviving. And then Liston did not come out for the seventh round. As people were standing in excitement and surprise, I heard a voice behind me saying loudly: “It was in the bag.”

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