Eyewitnesses Recall Muhammed Ali's Wild Night In Denver

DENVER (CBS4) -  In the 1960s a young, brash fighter named Cassius Clay had his sights set on the heavyweight championship of the world. Standing in his way was the most intimidating fighter of his time, Denver resident Sonny Liston.

"He was a very intimidating fighter," said Liston friend and boxing promoter Harry Barnett. "When he would do that growl and that stare, he could be pretty intimidating."

"What do you think of Cassius Clay," Liston was asked.

"If he comes to me, I'll kill him. And if he runs, I'll catch him and kill him," Liston responded.

Liston lived on Monaco Parkway near the old Stapleton Airport. One wild night in the champ's front yard served as a springboard to his championship fight with Clay.

A young, confident Clay bought a bus and made the trek from Chicago to Denver. News of Clay's late night arrival spread and a young Jess Mora wasn't about to miss what was about to happen in the wee hours of the morning.

"Actually I had to sneak out of the house," Mora said. "My mom said where are you going? I said right over here. I got there and my feeling was I was going to see Liston kick his butt."

When Clay and his entourage arrived at Liston's house on Monaco street, they weren't shy about chapping the hide of the champ.

"There was just all this racket across the street from me," neighbor Dee Badley remembered. "Cassius must of had a bullhorn or something because you could hear him saying 'I am the greatest.' I wasn't annoyed, I was more curious about what in the hell was going on."

Eventually Liston emerged and while many considered this a publicity stunt, the Champ wasn't amused.

"I think he was more than upset, he was pissed off," Mora said. "He was ready to go get him but people were holding him back."

The two argued for over an hour before the police came and stopped the skirmish.

"The scene we had that night would have made you think Martin Luther King was demonstrating," recalled Clay in a later interview.

Clay's antics continued the next day in Downtown Denver when the two men signed a contract to fight for Liston's title.

"Sonny might be great but he'll leave in eight," boasted Clay at the press conference. "If he wants to go to heaven, I'll get him in seven. He'll be in a worse of fix if I get him in six and if he keeps talking jive, I'll get him in five."

Clay an 8-1 underdog backed up all his bragging dominating Liston and winning his very first heavyweight championship.

"I don't think Clay's antics unnerved Sonny totally, Ali was better than his antics it turns out," recalled Barnett.

He certainly was and to think a modest house on Monaco Street was a staging point for one of the most memorable moments in Muhammed Ali's illustrious career.

"He came out in the middle of the night in his robe and he had a big stick," recalls Clay. "He said, 'You get out of my yard,' and I said 'You big ugly bear you, I'm going see you tomorrow at the signing and I'm going to knock you out in eight."