an apparently innocuous punch that few people at ringside even saw. The infamous 'phantom punch' enraged Ali - who screamed at the downed Liston to get up and continue. "You're supposed to be so bad! Nobody will believe this!" he cried. Sprawled flat on his back, Liston would roll and stumble and then roll again. That scene, of Ali imploring Liston to get up, would produce one of the most iconic photographs in sports history.

Muhammad Ali stood over Liston shouting at him to get off the canvas

The phantom punch has been analysed and debated down to its finest details. While many believe it was a solid right-hand that caught Liston, many others have argued that he took a dive because the fight had been fixed by the mob.Even Geraldine had her suspicions: "I think Sonny gave that second fight away," she told a TV journalist 35 years later. "I don't know whether he was paid [but] that's my belief, and I told him."

Whatever the truth, the public jumped at the opportunity to label Liston corrupt. He was embarrassed on boxing's biggest stage amid fierce accusations that he was little more than a mafia stooge.

In the years following the Ali loss, Liston moved to Las Vegas and reverted to form. He was virtually broke - his earnings likely skimmed by his mob handlers - and he was forced to make money outside the ring in the only way he knew how. Allegedly, according to those who knew him, by working for the city's loan sharks and