the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Ali vs. Liston in popular culture Calypsonian Lord Melody recorded a song entitled "Clay Vs Liston", which was released as a single in 1965. The song's lyrics deal with the first fight between the two. The song appeared on the 1994 CD compilation Precious Melodies. Ali, a movie by director Michael Mann, was released in 2001. Will Smith was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Ali. Former boxer Michael Bentt played Liston. Robert Townsend directed a 2008 movie about Liston entitled Phantom Punch. Ving Rhames starred as Liston, and Andrew Hinkson portrayed Ali. A wax model of Liston appears in the front row of the iconic sleeve cover of The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. He is seen in the far left part of the row, wearing a white and gold robe, standing beside the original-look Beatle wax figures. As a homage to Sonny Liston, a bronze copy of a marble statue made by Alfred Hrdlicka in 1963/64 was put up in 2008 between Old Castle and Karlsplatz in downtown Stuttgart, Germany. In NCIS, director Leon Vance, a former boxer, has a framed photo in his office of Ali gloating over the floored Liston at the end of the second fight. In "Last Man Standing", he discusses the photo with Gibbs and mentions the fixing allegations. A play entitled One Night in Miami opened in 2013. It tells the story of the night Ali—then Cassius Clay—beat Liston to take the World Heavyweight Championship. It takes place in a hotel room after the fight where Clay, Jim Brown, Sam Cooke and Malcolm X talk about their lives and their hopes for the future. A film adaptation of the play was released in 2020. The Mad Men episode "The Suitcase" from Season 4 revolves around the second fight, with Don Draper creating a commercial inspired by the famous photo. References Further reading Hutchison, Phillip J. "From Bad Buck to White Hope: Journalism and Sonny Liston, 1958–1965." Journal of Sports Media 10.1 (2015): 119-137. online Olsen, Jack. Black is Best: The Riddle of Cassius Clay, (1967). Steen, Robert. Sonny Liston-His Life, Strife and the Phantom Punch (JR Books, 2008). Tosches, Nick. The Devil and Sonny Liston (2000) excerpt Liston World Boxing Council heavyweight championship matches 1964 in boxing 1965 in boxing Boxing in Florida Boxing in Maine Sports