Have no fear…the Memorial Day Weekend is here and there really isn’t too much to fear. A big fat area of high pressure will continue to generally dominate. A couple of frontal systems will try to penetrate but will come up empty. A front late Sunday may sneak far enough south to get into the middle part of Indiana and may be sufficiently close to conspire with afternoon heating to create a couple of renegade afternoon t’storms. However, most people should remain dry and if I were you, I would not curtail any activities. I certainly won’t….I’ll be working!
This Date In History On May 25 in 1965, Muhammad Ali defeated Sonny Liston a second time to retain the heavyweight championship he had won from Liston on February 25, 1964. I’ll spare you most of the details as they are well documented. But, did you know that the fight was supposed to come in November 1964, but Ali had a strangulated hernia. Not sure what that is but it sounds like it hurts. Then they rescheduled it for Boston. But, the promoters didn’t have a license to promote fights in Massachusetts. For some reason, instead of getting licensed, they moved the fight to Lewiston, Maine. Why they would be licensed in Maine and not Massachusetts is beyond me. If you find out what the story is, you can share it with us. Anyway, because it was in Maine’s second largest city, only 2434 people saw the fight live. The bats draw more than twice as much as that on a daily basis. It was the lowest attended championship fight of all time.
Sonny Liston was feared. Many boxers wouldn’t fight him. Top contender Henry Cooper said if Ali won he would seek a shot at the title but not if Liston re-claimed the crown. Later, another boxer, George Foreman was feared. Ali overcame any fear he may have had, accepted the challenge and secured his lore as one of the greatest of all time. While the first fight against Liston was amazing and along with Ali’s 1960 Olympic gold medal put him on the boxing map, the second fight started the legend of Muhammad Ali…and it also stands as testament of what can happen when one’s faith is great enough to overcome one’s fears.
BTW….my email is rsymon@wlky.com. Some places on the web page are not correct. I apologize on behalf of Brian the Webhog for misleading some of you. He assures me it will be corrected….please don’t think I’ve been trying to avoid your comments.
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