Muhammad Ali, Sonny Liston rematch still a debate, 50 years later

What exactly happened on the night of May 25, 1965, when tiny Lewiston, Maine, became the scene of one of the most infamous heavyweight boxing championship bouts in history?

The record books say Muhammad Ali defeated Sonny Liston on a first-round knockout, vanquishing the man he had upset 15 months earlier to claim the title. But the circumstances of the evening were far less clear-cut. Many in the crowd chanted 'Fix!' at the sudden and surprising finish and even veteran ringside observers couldn't agree on whether there had been a knockout punch or the work of other unknown factors.

The Press Democrat asked two of its own seasoned pros — columnists Robert Rubino and Lowell Cohn — to give us the real story. And naturally they disagreed.

Rubino believes there was a punch, a significant blow, and that the fight was more fiasco than fraud.

Cohn, too, says there was a punch, but an off-balance weak attack, and the rest was a case of Liston's bad acting.